The Unfortunate Outlander Obsession continues.. as do the 18th Century Poetry Mittens.

Some quick historic notes: Poetry mittens were not all that common (there is one in the Smithsonian) and they are found in the latter part of the 18th century (some time after Culloden and the American Revolution). The poetry was generally a bible verse or uplifting piece, and the words wrapped around the mittens.. not, as I’ve chosen to reinterpret them, facing the wearer, but outward, to be easily read by someone else. Nor did these mittens have pictures on them. So at best we might say these are loosely (very) based on an 18th century art form.

That said.. The Skye Boat song was written by Sir Harold Boulton in 1884. An English baronet, not a Scot, and writing a full century after Culloden. He became interested in Scottish folksongs during his time at Oxford and in due course, penned a piece which is so famous the Fireside Book of Folk Songs chose it as the first song in the text. The Skye Boat Song is how many of us remember the flight of Bonnie Prince Charlie.. and, since it was rewritten for the first season of Outlander, the melody (said to be part of an old sea shanty, with the second half traditionally attributed to Annie MacLeod’s collection of tunes) is what many have come to associate with the Outlander series.

Thus, a mitten for Outlander fans.. season two.. based on the Skye Boat Song which is both dirge for a tragedy, and celebration of the Bonnie Prince’s escape.

Mitten uses a thumb gusset and incorporates flying geese (Gabaldon fans will recognize the symbolism from The Scottish Prisoner) and, of course, a white rose.

I have done two versions.. the first in grays and deep blues, reflecting the tragedy of Culloden and the defeat of the prince, using wool from The Farm at Morrison Corner in Icelandic. The Icelandic is an “unimproved breed” which means the texture closely mimics a period mitten. The second is a brighter mitten done with Knitpicks Palette, as more accessible to most knitters, and The Farm at Morrison Corner’s Icleandic / Angora fingering/sport (the white) which creates a particularly soft and warm interior.

The “recipe” is a series of charts which you can mix, match, and combine to make your own Outlandish mitten.