Frostrosen & Nordasno Mittens

So far I've done four of the Nordic Fiber Arts mitten kits. Here are the Frostrosen mittens done in Rauma Finullgarn. I've also done Rosebord, Solhav, and Nordasno. I love the designs but the fit of these mittens is odd with excess mitten at the fingertips. I tried to change the design to make the mittens the right length with less-than-wonderful results on the Nordasno mittens as seen here.




Recently I found out that this extra length is apparently traditional. From Carol Rasmussen Noble's Knitting Fair Isle Mittens and Gloves,

" It was during World War II that women's mittens were introduced into Shetland with the influx of Norwegian refugees. Norwegian people usually wear mittens with stars on them; gloves are less popular. Suddenly in Shetland, mitts became popular and have remained so.

Rather than making a mitten that really fits the hand well, Shetland knitters make them very long to accommodate their design preferences - they need more room on the mitts to include the double motif they're so fond of...

To wear the mitts properly, you pull them down a ways on your arm, and they tend to flop a bit at the fingertips."

Well there you go. It seems Shetland (and I'm assuming Norwegian) mittens are supposed to be too long in the hand. Who would have guessed?

I really like Knitting Fair Isle Mittens & Gloves and am thinking of making the Tartan fingerless gloves next. They are the perfect project for knitting while watching my favorite tv show set in the gorgeous highlands of Scotland, Monarch of the Glen on BBC America.

Nordasno Mittens

These are the Nordasno mittens from Nordic Fiber Arts in Rauma Istra I believe. I could tell that the mittens were going to be way too long so I chopped off the pattern repeat on the top and just started decreasing. They fit the recipient perfectly although they do look a bit weird.

Although my self-imposed Lenten yarn and knitting book "fast" has been difficult, I do believe I'm going to extend it past Easter. I do like the idea of having less yarn and the credit card balance will appreciate it also.

I have often worried about running out of yarn which is silly because I have enough yarn to last me several years. Even stranger, I sometimes worry that not buying new yarn and patterns will make me lose my interest in knitting. It is good to challenge these erroneous beliefs. One thing that has helped is to keep a list of future projects to refer to when I wonder what to make next. I started putting future projects (yarn and pattern) in a drawer in our armoire to keep me motivated with new ideas.