 Knitting
Traditions offers this Lovikka Mitten pattern for children
in two sizes as a thank you for our Internet visitors.
You can get information about the Lovikka Mitten pattern
for all five sizes by clicking here.
THE STORY
The Lovikka Mitten was developed in northern Sweden
by a woman named Erika Aittamaa in 1892. The story,
according to Sheila McGregor (The Complete Book of Traditional
Scandinavian Knitting) goes like this: Erika lived with
her poor family in a wooden cabin and knitted for the
people in town. A woodsman requested a pair of very
thick, long-wearing mittens, and so she set about to
spin and knit two pairs of really thick mittens which
she felt would last several seasons. When the customer
came back, he was not pleased and even said she had
"spoiled good wool". So, Erika took them back,
and washed and brushed them. The mittens were a hit
and she got many orders for them. She later added the
turned back, embroidered cuffs.
These Lovikka mittens are cushiony, being made of
two strands of yarn and then fulled (felted)! After
fulling to the desired size, the mitten is brushed,
inside and out, for warmth and coziness, with optional
embroidery and braid on the cuff for a traditional look.
SIZING
Palm Circumference: Small Child - 6" ( Medium Child-
6.75")
These mittens are LARGE when knitted, to allow for
shrinkage during the fulling process. You have the option
of NOT fulling them, and knitting a smaller size, adjusting
for the lengths. The fulled sizes are approximate, based
on what I got under my conditions in my home. You can
always full your mittens longer to obtain a shorter
or narrower mitten. The following measurements were
made before and after fulling. The lengths were taken
of the mittens with cuffs extended (not turned up).
| |
Unfulled |
Fulled |
| Length: |
9.25 (11.25) inches |
8.75 (10.25) inches |
| Width: |
3.75 (4) inches |
3.5 (3.75) inches |
MATERIALS
For The Mittens
- Yarn: Two 100-g skeins of Creskeld Aran Wensleydale
or Masham Wool (133 yards per skein) OR any heavy
worsted weight wool yarn that is hairy.
- Needles: One set of five double-pointed needles,
size U.S. 10 (6-mm).
For Fulling By Hand
- Ivory Dish Soap
- Lots of hot water
- A cookie rack (used for cooling cookies) or a felting
board
For Fulling By Machine
- A washing machine and clothes dryer
- Laundry detergent
GAUGE
3.5 sts/inch and 5 rounds/inch in st st. After being
fulled: 4 sts/inch, round gauge varies. TO SAVE TIME,
TAKE TIME TO CHECK GAUGE
DIRECTIONS
CUFF
With a size 10 dpn and two strands of yarn held together
as one, cast on 24 (28) sts.
Arrange the sts equally on 4 needles and knit around
with the fifth. Slip on a marker for the beginning of
the round. Join by purling the first stitch with both
the tail and the working yarn. This technique reduces
the "jog" common to circular knitting. (Remember
on the next round that these four loops of yarn are
one stitch.) Finish the round in purl.
Purl one more round.
Knit 6 (7) rounds.
BODY OF MITTEN
The knitting will now be turned and worked in the opposite
direction so that the right side of the cuff, when turned
up, will show. Normally, a hole will develop if the
knitting suddenly reverses. Following is a method for
closing up the hole as you begin knitting the other
way:
Push the knitting inside out, and face what used to
be the inside, but is now the outside of your mitten.
Your yarn is coming from the left needle; make sure
it is at the back of the work, ready to knit a stitch.
Pick up the horizontal bar of yarn between the first
and last stitches of the round. Place this bar on your
left needle and k2 tog. Next, choose and work either
the Traditional Fit Option or the Modern Fit Option.
Traditional Fit Wrist Option:
The Lovikka mitten traditionally does not cinch in at
the cuff. Work in st st for the next 18 (21) rounds,
or desired length to base of thumb.
Modern Fit Wrist Option:
The Lovikka mitten traditionally does not cinch in at
the cuff,. as we are so used to with our modern day
mittens. If you want your mitten to hug your wrist a
bit, you can work some K2,. p2 ribbing where it will
not show as follows: Knit for 3 rounds. *K2, p2, rep
from * for 6 (7) rounds. Knit for 9 (11) rounds, or
to desired length to base of thumb.
Thumb Placement for Left hand mitten:
Next round: Knit 3, then slip 3 (4) sts onto waste yarn.
Cast on 3 (4) stitches onto your right needle. Go on
to finish the round.
Thumb Placement for Right hand mitten:
Next round: Knit to last 6 (7) sts of the round, then
slip 3 (4) sts onto waste yarn. Cast on 3 (4) sts onto
your right needle and finish the round.
Continue to work in st st for 12 (15) rounds.
TIP SHAPING
Check to see that all four of your needles have the
same number of sts on them: 6 (7) sts. *SSK, knit to
the end of the needle, repeat from *, until there are
only 4 sts left (one stitch on each needle). Break off
the yarn and pull the tail through rem sts, then to
the WS. Weave in ends.
THUMB
Slip 3 (4) sts from waste yarn onto one needle. Join
yarn and knit across these, pick up 1 stitch in the
corner, pick up 3 (4) sts along the back of the thumb,
and pick up 2 (1) sts in the other corner. Total: 9
(10) sts. Arrange the stitches onto three needles and
knit around with the fourth.
Work st st for 8 (8) rounds.
Decrease tip of thumb by working an SSK at the beginning
of each needle until there are 3 or 4 sts left.
Break yarn, pull through to WS and sew in.
FULLING
Fulling is the process of felting woven or knitted fabric.
Felting refers to this process as applied to unspun
fibers. Wool fibers are comprised of overlapping scales
which enmesh with each other when subjected to agitation
and sudden changes in temperature. It cannot be undone,
as many of us know who unwittingly threw that new cashmere
sweater in the washer and it came out sized for our
three year old. Fulled garments will wear longer, and
they won't unravel if a hole develops. They are very
warm, as there are no gaps for the wind and cold to
penetrate. It's amazing that when one WANTS to full
something, it takes a bit of work and time. But it's
not hard and really is fun! Intentional fulling is an
intuitive process, and you may want to practice and
gain confidence on your gauge swatch before trying to
full your mitten. If you are new to fulling, try the
first method, by hand. Here you have much more control
over the process, it happens more slowly and you can
stop it whenever you see that the garment is the size
you desire. For you impetuous knitters out there, the
machine method may suit your personalities better, but
keep a close eye on your work -- don't take a nap in
the middle of the cycle! The more tightly the yarn is
spun, and the tighter the fabric is woven or knitted,
the less the garment will shrink. Also, drape and flexibility
of the fabric are reduced, the more the piece is fulled.
It is possible to full too far, so that one's hand can't
bend inside the mitten! (Yes, we still joke about my
"armored mitten" around the house...) I like
to full to the point where the individual knit stitches
would not unravel, but they are still visible.
Fulling by hand—the classic way:
There are two advantages to this method! One, if your
hands give you problems muscularly, the hot soapy water
soak will benefit you! And two, you can choose the direction
in which your fulling occurs. If your mitten turned
out too long, but OK width-wise, rub the mitten in the
lengthwise direction and it will shrink in length much
more than width. Conversely, if your mitten is too wide,
but OK in length, rub the mitten back and forth across
the width and it will shrink more in width than in length.
So, fill your kitchen sink with hot sudsy water (I use
Ivory dish soap, but some people use Murphy's Oil Soap)
and immerse the mitten. You can just use your hands,
gently rubbing back and forth on the surface of your
mitten. Or, you can use a cookie cooling rack (or a
specially made felting board) and rub the mitten in
the direction which opposes the bars. This is a gentle
motion, not a rough, exhausting one. Keep trying on
the mitten (or measuring it) to see if it has reached
your desired dimensions. You can immerse it in really
cold water and that will shock it into felting more
too. Then back to the hot water again. When you are
satisfied with the size, rinse your mitten in a fresh
sinkful of clear water, roll in a towel to get rid of
the excess water, and lay flat to dry.
Fulling by machine—the impetuous way:
Throw your mittens in with a load of wash--the more
full the load, the better the felting because there
will be more agitation from bumping up against other
clothes. Just be sure that white mittens go into a light
load, and dark mittens into a dark load. I use my regular
laundry detergent, and the normal time I do my wash.
Use the hot water setting if possible; warm, if you're
worried about your other clothes bleeding. Check the
mittens every 10 minutes. If, after the whole wash,
rinse, and spin cycles are complete, your mittens still
aren't the size you want, throw them in the dryer on
high and check every 5 minutes. I found with my clothes
dryer that there was no change for 10 minutes, but after
15, the mitten had fulled down to the size I wanted.
It can happen all of a sudden!
FINISHING
Brushing: Once the mitten is dry, turn
it inside out and brush it with a hair brush or pet
brush. Don't brush the cuff. The stitch clarity needs
to be maintained so that it will be easy to embroider.
Turn the mitten right side out and brush the outside,
until the surface is fuzzy and soft.
 Embroidering
the Cuff: Here are several different stitch
patterns used on Lovikka mittens, from several sources.
Use a single strand of contrasting yarn in a tapestry
needle. You can use more than one color too.
ENJOY! :) |
