The May mittens have arrived, and so has warmer weather and the start of gardening season! The inspiration for this pair hails from Sweden's Bohuslan region, where it is still a chilly 42 degrees fahrenheit today. The little spots of color and the texture of the purls are reminiscent of the hyacinths and daffodils that have been poking their way through the fall mulch of our garden beds.
Courtney has designed a pair of mittens that will make a great introduction to the technique of Bohus knitting, made popular by Emma Jacobsson's Bohus Stickning Cooperative. The mittens feature a multi-colored corrugated ribbing and the traditional shaping used by many of the mittens on our journey. The Bohus-inspired purls are worked sparingly and in a simple easy to memorize pattern that is perfect for a color work novice ready to flex their skills.
SPECIFICATIONS
YARN: The Fibre Co. Cumbria Fingering (60% merino wool, 30% masham wool, 10% mohair): dodd wood (MC), buttermere (CC1), helvellyn (CC2), windermere (CC3), and castlerigg (CC4), 1 skein each.*
GAUGE: 28 sts and 32 rnds = 4” (10 cm) in St st on larger needles, after blocking.
NEEDLES: 1 - set US 1 (2.25 mm) dpns. 1 - set US 2 (2.75 mm) dpns.
NOTIONS: Tapestry needle, stitch marker, waste yarn of same gauge for thumb placement.
SIZE: 10.25” (26 cm) total length, 8.5” (21.75 cm) circumference.
SKILLS: Stranded color work from charts.
*A note on yardage requirements: The mittens require approximately 10 grams (33 yards) of each of the 3 contrast colors. You should have plenty left over of the contrast colors from previous months to complete this pair. buttermere: October Mittens
helvellyn: February Mittens
windermere: August Mittens
castlerigg: April Mittens
USEFUL TIPS:
• For more info on Bohus knitting visit the website Angora Garnet here, and check out our interview with Interweave here (plus find a free pattern)!
• For a tutorial on working from charts, visit our Charts Series here.
• For a tutorial on picking up stitches from waste yarn to work the mitten thumb, visit our tips and tricks here.
You can buy the individual pattern via our pattern page here, or on Ravelry here. If you are a subscriber to the full year of patterns, your update notification should be waiting for you in your inbox!
