Two of my favourite Anglo-Saxon poems are The Wanderer and The Seafarer. Both speak of the hardships of life on the hrímcaldeas (frost-cold or rime-cold sea) or íscealdnaes (ice-cold sea), the speaker from the former longing for home while in exile, and the speaker from the latter expressing a desire to once again journey the seas despite this hardship: “Even now my heart / journeys beyond its confines, and my thoughts/ Over the sea, across the whale’s domain,/ Travel afar the regions of the earth,/ And then come back to me with greed and longing.”*

As the Seafarer is irresistibly drawn to once again travel the hwælweg (whale-road), I was drawn irresistibly to the idea of
describing this same seascape on mittens and a hat using stranded colourwork depicting waves and the minke whales that so often frequent the North Sea.

“The Seafarer”A Choice of Anglo Saxon Verse, translation by Richard Hamer, Faber and Faber Limited, 1970, pp. 189-191.

Sizes
Hat: S (M, L, XL)
Sample shown in Size L

Mittens: One Size

Finished Measurements
Hat:
Circumference: 43 (49, 53, 58) cm / 17 (19¼, 21¼, 23¼)“
Length: 21 (23.5, 25, 27.5) cm / 8¼ (9¼, 10, 10¾)”

Mittens:
Circumference at cuff (unstretched): 15 cm / 6”
Circumference at palm: 20.5 cm / 8”
Circumference of thumb: 10 cm / 4”
Cuff Length: 8 cm / 3¼“
Hand Length: 20.5 cm / 8”
Total Length: 28.5 cm / 11¼”
Length of Thumb: 8 cm / 3¼“

Gauge 

Hat:
32 sts / 36 rnds = 10 cm / 4” in stranded Stocking stitch with larger needles, blocked


Mittens:
34sts / 36 rnds = 10 cm / 4” in stranded Stocking stitch, blocked


Materials 



Yarn:

Ancient Arts Fibre Crafts Herlig DK
50% Viking Norway Wool/50% Merino Wool, 100g/3.5oz, 250m/273yds

Hat or Mittens only: 1 skein in MC, and 1 skein in CC.
Both Hat and Mittens: 2 skeins in MC and 1 skein in CC.
Samples Shown in Au Naturel (MC), and Periwinkle (CC).



Yardage Estimate:
Hat: Approx 100 (115, 130, 155) m / 109 (125, 142, 170) yds of MC, 40 (45, 50, 60) m / 44 (49, 54, 65) yds of CC.
Mittens: Approx 158 m / 172 yds of MC, 99 m / 108 yds of CC.



Needle sizes:

Hat: One set size 2.75 mm / US 2 double-pointed or circular needles; one set size 3.0 mm / US 2½ double-pointed or circular needles, or sizes needed to achieve gauge.

Mittens: One set size 2.75 mm / US 2 double-pointed needles, or size needed to achieve gauge.



Notions:
Hat: 8 stitch markers, and one more in contrasting colour for beginning of round.

Both: Tapestry needle.

Mittens: 2 stitch markers to mark thumb gusset, and one more in contrasting colour for beginning of round.