Friesland Mittens

When your breath fogs the air and frost paints landscapes across all the windowpanes, you’ll be so thankful to slip your hands into Friesland, a pair of plush and toasty thrummed mittens.

Thrumming is a technique from Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada, a place known for rough terrain and bitterly cold sea air. It incorporates wisps of fiber roving into your knitting to create a thick, insulating layer between your hands and winter’s chill.

Friesland mittens are a quick and easy way to learn this fun technique and get a pair of mega-warm and squishy mittens in the end. They are named after Friesland - the northern-most province of the Netherlands, which has little red heart-shaped symbols on its flag! Those cheerful little heart-like shape marching diagonally up a white field between bright blue stripes remind me so much of fiber thrummed into knitted fabric.

These mittens will be a go-to for everyone in your home as they step out into the snow.


SIZES

5 sizes: Baby (Child S, Child L) (Adult S-M, Adult L-XL)
2 thumb options: thumb gusset or afterthought thumb
2 top options: round or pointy
See photos for measurement details.

CONSTRUCTION

Knit in the round, Friesland mittens begin with a 1x1 (half-)twisted rib cuff and continue in stockinette with thrums evenly distributed throughout the body of the mitten. Thumb gusset or afterthought thumb stitches are left on waste yarn and the body continues until the top decreases.

In all options, you finish by grafting the mitten top with Kitchener Stitch and knitting the thumb. Now you just have to weave in the ends - and the mittens are ready to wear!

With time, the fiber on the inside of the mitten will felt creating a warm, insulating layer.

This pattern gives you a number of options to choose from to make the mittens fully your own:

• With thumb gusset or an afterthought thumb (without a gusset) – for all sizes, except the smallest one (baby mittens are worked ‘thumbless’);
• Pointy or round top;
• Add a button (with a buttonhole either in the second mitten, or an additional strap) to attach the mittens to each other, so that the pair doesn’t get separated when not worn.

PATTERN TECHNIQUES

• Classic Long Tail (or Old Norwegian/ German Twisted) cast-on method
• Backwards Loop cast-on method (only if working a thumb gusset)
• Knitting in the round
• Twisted stitches (knitting through the back loop)
• Reading charted instructions (optional)
• Increases: make 1 left/ right
• Decreases: knit 2 together, slip-slip-knit
• Grafting stockinette with Kitchener Stitch
• Thrumming (instructions included)

GAUGE (per 4” / 10cm)

Stockinette with thrums: 17 sts by 24 rnds with Needle B

YARN

Aran-weight yarn (~110-165 yd / 100-150 m per 3.5 oz / 100 g).

See photos for yardage details.

NEEDLES

You will need 2 sizes of your preferred type of needles for small circumferences: DPNs, or ~42-32” / 60-80 cm circular needles for ‘magic loop’, or 8-10” / 20-25 cm shorties.

Needle A (for twisted rib):
Suggested size US 7 / 4.5 mm (or 1 US size/ 0.5 mm smaller than Needle B)

Needle B (for stockinette with thrums):
Suggested size US 8 / 5 mm

NOTIONS

1 regular stitch marker, 1 locking stitch marker, waste yarn, tapestry needle, scissors, button, crochet hook (for strap)


Pattern tech edited by Olga Barshai

Ravelry: GingerHandcrafts
IG: @Ginger_handcrafts
Email: ginger.handcrafts@gmail.com

Copywriting by Katherine Majka

Raverly: Kasia-Knits
IG: @kasiaknits


I would love to see your versions of this pattern! Feel free to tag me (@saltandstoneknits) in photos and add these hashtags to your photos on Instagram!

#frieslandmittens #saltandstoneknits

If you have any questions about the pattern, please contact me at mieka@saltandstoneknits.com.