Strikkenomaden

Mittens

Sauevotter

Felted mittens with a sheep motif, from the years I lived on a farm with sheep in Norway. Two sizes, three colours, and a spin in the washing machine at the end.

A pair of pale grey sheep mittens with lilac sheep and an ochre cuff, laid down in the snow.
Tine holds up a pair of pale grey sheep mittens in front of her face out in the snow, laughing.The same mittens held against weathered grey wood, so the felted texture shows.Two pairs of finished felted sheep mittens, one grey with a blue cuff and one white with a purple cuff.The men's mittens before and after felting. The one on the left is freshly knitted and larger, the one on the right is denser and smaller.

Advanced beginner

NOK 49

Buy the pattern

Downloadable PDF, sent to your email straight away. Terms of purchase

Add it to your Ravelry queue

An interactive version too

Along with the PDF you get an interactive version to keep on your phone while you knit: tick off the steps, count the rounds, and put the project down without losing your place. Next time you open it, it remembers where you were.

Yarn
Sandnes Fritidsgarn or similar
Amount
100 g main colour, 50 g cuff colour, 50 g motif colour
Needles
Double-pointed needles, 6 mm
Sizes
XS/S (women's) and M/L (men's)
Gauge
14 sts in stocking stitch on 6 mm = 10 cm, before felting
Technique
Stranded colourwork and felting
Language
Norwegian and English

About the pattern

These come from the years I lived on a farm with sheep. When I saw Sandnes’ marius mittens, I thought there ought to be a pair with sheep on them — and I had the models right outside the window.

The mittens are knitted in three colours on 6 mm double-pointed needles, and felted at the end in the washing machine at forty degrees. That makes them dense and warm, and they hold whatever shape you give them while they are still wet.

The pattern comes in two sizes, each with its own decreases. If you want them longer, simply knit more rounds before you start decreasing.

The motif is my own. The idea came from Sandnes’ marius mittens.

What you get

Chart and written

The sheep motif as a chart, and the whole pattern written out in words.

Two sizes

XS/S (women's) and M/L (men's), each with its own decreases, so both actually fit.

How to felt them

How the mittens felt in the washing machine, and how to shape them afterwards.

See it done

Stranded colourwork leaves long floats across the back of the work — easy to catch a finger in once the mittens are done. Here I show how to catch them as you go, one film for each of the two strands. The films are spoken in Norwegian, but hands say more than words here.

The films are free. You do not need to buy the pattern to watch them.

PlayThe video only loads from YouTube when you press play.
Avoiding long floats — part 1Knitting with the strand that sits nearest the work.
PlayThe video only loads from YouTube when you press play.
Avoiding long floats — part 2Knitting with the strand that sits furthest from the work.

While you knit

Electrolytes that cost pennies

Half a litre you mix yourself for next to nothing. With what the research actually says about the salt — including the part that is not on the packet.

Read the recipe