Annika was designed to highlight a specialty yarn – a yarn that is highly variegated, handspun, or an art yarn that the knitter may have in smaller quantity. With Annika, the majority of hat is taken up with ivory yarn, a neutral “quiet space” where one’s eyes can rest. This provides a back drop upon which the Colinette’s colors can sparkle.

This bright, cheery mitten is from Arjeplog, Sweden. It is knit from ribbed cuffs to the mitten tip using five different colors of fingering weight yarn and mimics the popular, Swedish ‘rosengang’ woven fabric. This pattern has been in the Arjeplog area since the 1860s, and was soon translated to knitting. The knitter will need to use up to thr...

Belt Motif mittens are a lovely, traditional Skolt Sami

Birch Leaves is a traditional Skolt Sámi knitted mitten in the traditional colors of red, white and blue. The cuff contains kierrekerros, or bi-color braid, and the birch leaf motif. The thumb is a peasant or afterthought thumb; the mitten tips and thumb tip are cupped, and the cuff has a four-stranded braid.

Besides small scale reindeer herding, the Skolt Sami traditionally practice sea fishing and netting river salmon. This Skolt Sámi traditional pattern, Boat’s Bow, has the deep, sideways “V” like the prow of a boat. Boat’s Bow is a characteristic Skolt Sámi mitten: it has an open, patterned cuff with multi-row slyngborden border. The pattern is ...

This super stretchy baby hat adapts to encompass a large variety of baby heads.

Checks and Balances mittens are knitted in three colors of fingering weight wool at the gauge of 8 stitches to the inch. No more than one or two colors are knitted per row, so this could be a good, beginning colorwork mitten. Begun at the cuff with a 2 x 2 knit/purl ribbing, the mitten quickly progresses through multiple rounds of cheerful chec...

Please join us for the Comfort of a Friend Woman Shawl knit-along, starting April 16, 2013! (And don’t hesitate to join us late…)

This gorgeous merino/angora blend hat is as soft and fluffy as a baby bunny. The simple stitch compliments these yarn characteristics and doesn’t get lost in the fluff. A close fitting band hugs the ears and frames the face. Coupled with a slouchy crown, you get a look that says, “I’m classic and I’m cool.”

The knitter uses four different colors of fingering weight yarn to make this beautiful stranded project. Despite its fancy look, only two colors are ever knit on each row. I created this false entrelac mitten based on a museum-owned piece purchased in 1925 from Jukkasjärvi by Stockholm’s Nordiska museet. Braids and tassels finish off this north...

Fisherman’s Net mittens are a lovely, traditional Skolt Sami knit from the Petsamo region in modern day Russia. This area where Norway, Finland and Russia meet is the Skolt Sami homeland. Traditionally, Skolt Sami had small herds of reindeer and fished in rivers and the Barents Sea. The cross-hatch knitting pattern mimics a fisherman’s net, an ...

Anna-Kajsa Pavval’s mittens highlight a common motif of the north – knitted flowers. She was a master of combining colors with these distinctive flowers. This pattern is based on a scrap of a mitten in Erika Nordvall Falck’s Sami mitten collection.

The Jukkasjärvi Diamonds are based on an antique pair of mittens from Stockholm’s Nordiska museet, or the Nordic Museum. The hand knit mittens were acquired in 1925 from the northern Swedish village of Jukkasjärvi on the Torne river, the border between Sweden and Norway. A beautiful example of bright-colored Sámi colors, I nicknamed them “Masoc...

Skolt Sami knitter, Maria Gauriloff, made these mittens which were obtained by the Helsinki Museum in 1978. A traditional pattern from the Suonikyla area of the Skolt Sami homeland, Meandering Forest Trail utilizes the typical red and blue yarns, Kierrekerros (knitted braid), peasant thumbs cupped mitten and thumb tips and a five strand braid (...

The word “Michigander” is what we call someone from Michigan, and we Michiganders have a not-so-secret code. When anyone asks where we are from, our right hand rises, as if we are about to swear a solemn oath. Instead of placing our left hand on a stack of bibles, we point to a spot on our other hand, smile and say, “I’m from here!”

Enontekiö mittens are a lovely, clear red, white and blue and very similar to mittens from Kautokeino, Norway. Multiple small designs repeat around the mitten in bands, mimicking the stacks and stacks of ribbons on the gákti, or the Sámi national dress. This design is created with fingering weight yarn in three colors on size 3mm needles. It is...

The Naniboujou Fine Gauge Mittens were inspired by the

The Naniboujou Hat was inspired by the fantastic dining

The Naniboujou Hat was inspired by the fantastic dining

The Naniboujou Mittens were inspired by the fantastic dining room in Naniboujou Lodge and Restaurant on Minnesota’s beautiful North Shore of Lake Superior. Just east of Grand Marais, the lodge was built at the end of the Roaring 20s to be a luxurious retreat club with founding members like Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey. When the stock market

Skaite-Maria created this wonderful pattern about a hundred years ago. She was a Sámi lady from the Northern Sweden, near Tourpon and Jokkmokk. The world knows about her from the research and writing of Erika Pavval in Jokkmokk, Sweden. This historically accurate mitten requires three colors of yarn, with only two used on any row. Out of the Gr...

Per Kuhmunen is the Sámi reindeer herder who has led the Jokkmokk Market reindeer parade every February for the past 30 years. This mitten pattern is common in Karesuando, Sweden, where he was originally from. Four colors of dk weight yarn combine in small, fun,

This pair of mittens highlight a common motif of the north – knitted flowers. Porjus is the name of the town in which it was created. Both knitted word and date make this mitten a standout. Besides common colorwork, the knitter will need to use techniques to incorporate long floats and duplicate stitch. Braids and tassels finish off this northe...

This hat idea came to me from the construction of the yarn: soft and springy and full of form.

Irish Crochet can be an intimidating form of thread work to begin – it takes so much time and effort to produce such small, beautiful flowers. But, the Ring around a Rosie headband is a fun, satisfying project,

This mitten pattern is based on a pair of Sami mittens I observed at Stockholm’s Nordiska museet, or Nordic Museum. They were originally obtained by the museum in 1925 after an expedition to Jukkasjärvi in the far north Sweden. This pattern

This pattern is a simple, double-stranded scarf in a bold garter-stitch motif. The ends are pointed, and accented in an on-trend neon color.

Welcome to my world! Sha-ZAM is an easy to knit cowl with a Calm Lightening motif, knit in the round with lace made with yarn-overs and corresponding decreases. Knit in Malabrigo Rios, sha-ZAM! will keep you cozy warm even in the wildest weather.

The Sami people are Scandianvia’s only UN-recognized indigenous people. The Skolt Sami handcrafts are beautiful and diverse. This hat is inspired by several of the Skolt Sami knitted motifs, many of which I observed at the Sami Siida Museum of Inari, Finland, the Ä’vv Skolt Sami Museum of Neiden, Norway and in the Skolt Sami Heritage House in S...

Robert Frost wrote the beautiful poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, which evokes a carriage drive through falling snow. This hat was inspired by warm wool, a cool evening and the knitting poetry which comes from that combination. Nordic braids, an empty trellis and a snowflake on top add up to a great winter topper, warm enough for a wa...

This pattern is a copy of the sweater Prince Harald wore April 9, 1940. On that day, the Nazis invaded Oslo, and Crown Prince Harald, his older sisters Ragnhild and Astrid, their parents, Crown Prince Olav V and Princess Märtha, and his grandfather King Haakon VII fled the capitol. Over the next five years, Crown Prince Harald evaded Nazi captu...

Skaite-Maria made this Swedish Sámi knitted mitten around a hundred years ago. I have written this pattern for the workhouse yarn, Cascade 220 and slightly altered the decreases. The mitten is knit from the cuff up to the tip. It is sturdy, warm, and hard-wearing mitten, with a short braid at the cuff.

Wavy gravy was written to honor the Woodstock M.C., inspired by the colors in my Malabrigo Twist.

Wavy Gravy was the Master of Ceremonies for the Woodstock Festival of music. Now it’s a wavy ribbed hat, mittens, and scarf set as well! This super-stretchy ribbing provides textural interest, while remaining manly and neutral. Combined with clever decreases, Wavy Gravy will keep you in style in any cold season!

Wavy Gravy Mittens were designed to complement the Wavy Gravy Hat and Scarf. Knit out of 1.3 skeins of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky with size US10.5/6.5mm needles, it is a super-stretchy ribbing, with a clever top decrease.

Wavy Gravy Scarf was written to honor the Woodstock M.C., inspired by the colors of my Malabrigo Rios, and to complement my Wavy Gravy Hat and Mittens. Knit on US10.5/6.5mm with the Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky, this is a quick knit that requires only two skeins of yarn.

Wavy Gravy was the Master of Ceremonies for the Woodstock Festival of music. Now it’s a wavy ribbed hat, fingerless mittens, and cowl set as well! This super-stretchy ribbing hugs you and provides give where necessary. Combined with clever decreases, Wavy Gravy will keep you in style in any cold season!