View Single Post
  #8  
Old August 24th 04, 09:00 PM
Richard Eney
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

A long time ago there was a request for a knitting pattern
for a Sami/Saami/Saamelaiset mitten with the pointed tip and
the tie-string at the wrist (for tying the mittens together
to hang them over a belt while using bare hands for work).

I just got a copy of the Dover reprint edition of Sheila MacGregor's
book, _Traditional Scandinavian Knitting Patterns_. In that book
there is a photograph of a "typical Lapp mitten", and there are some
descriptions, though not an actual knitting pattern.

One of the typical differences seems to be that the wrist patterns
go all the way around, but the pattern on the back of the mitten does
not go across the palm, and the pattern on the thumb also doesn't go
all the way around. MacGregor seems to think this is because the
original designs were copied from mittens done in nalbinding, which
is a "sewn" technique that makes it easy to use lots of colors in
any row of an intarsia design. Diamond-shaped and zigzag designs are
apparently popular, as are many bright colors: red, blue, and yellow,
often also with green and white.

=Tamar
Ads