This pattern is being introduced at the Ft. Collins Museum of Discovery on August 24 as a part of their Stitches in Time series of classes. After that time, the pattern will be available here on Ravelry.

Buff Knitting is a traditional knitting technique developed in the late 19th century Adirondack Mountains of New York state. Used mainly to create thick and rugged mittens for lumberjacks working in logging camps, the Buff Mitten is made by knitting a continuous texture of loops across the outer surface of the mitten. The loops are then cut and trimmed, and the mitten is shagged, creating a warm and weatherproof mitten. It is somewhat like knitting your own mitten-shaped chia pet!

I designed this mitten in keeping with the authentic Buff Knitting style of minimal “salt and pepper” color work, using a more modern loop stitch technique. The mitten is knit back and forth and includes a thumb gusset. For the full effect, I do not suggest knitting this pattern out of anything except 100% wool yarn.