Boat's Bow: Skolt Sami Mittens by Laura Ricketts

Boat's Bow: Skolt Sami Mittens

Knitting
November 2014
one ball of #174 red (CC)
two balls in #101 offwhite (MC)
Rauma Strikkegarn (100% Norwegian 3-ply wool yarn, DK weight; 115yards [105m] /50g [1.75 oz.] ball)
DK (11 wpi) ?
12 stitches and 16 rows = 2 inches
in over stranded pattern, worked in the round and blocked
US 2 - 2.75 mm
300 - 325 yards (274 - 297 m)
Women's L = 8” circumference & men's M = 8.5” circumference Gauge: 12 sts x 16 r = 2 in
English
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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 worked every other stitch; it has a plain hand, peasant thumb with cupped tips and is finished with a braid and tassel.

This pattern was copied from a mitten donated to the Vesterheim Norwegian - American Museum in Decorah, Iowa. The author has also viewed a similar mitten from the Sør-Varanger area of Norway, part of the Skolt Sami’s traditional homeland.