Maine Fishermen’s mittens, knitted of white wool, extra large, shrunken and fulled by the fishermen themselves, and worn wet! Sounds like a fish story? But it’s true.

… . none are as thick as these. the originals were knitted by Iantha Blake of South Brooksville, Maine, who knitted them by alternating two strands of creamy white yarn. They looed like every description I have ever heard of fishermen’s mittens, but like none I had ever seen before: They were nearly a foot long -- huge -- and white. They were thick, a little puffy.

The technique is similar to twined knitting, a technique discovered in the Swedish mountains and re-developed by Dalamas Museum in the 1970’s. However, the yarns of fishermen’s mittens were not twisted around each other: two strands were alternated, with a yarn change after every stitch, giving the mittens the characteristically ridge appearance of pull-up knitting. Every seven or either mounds Mrs. Blake briefly changed the strand she was carrying ahead, and alternated it for several rounds before knitting another eight rounds with the same strand ahead.

More history and instructions for shrinking by fulling are included in the introduction to the pattern.

Sized for children, adult women and adult me.

Similar pattern by the same designer called “Chebeague Island Fishermen’s wet mittens” in her book “Favorite Mittens”
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/chebeague-island-...

Similar pattern by a different designer, but based on the same prototype called “Fisherman’s Wet Mitten” from Yankee Magazine (free pattern)
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fishermans-wet-mi...