Jussi Tonttu Mittens

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When he first hopped off my needles, I asked my Finnish cousin to suggest a traditional name. Jussi is Finnish for John and, as it is pronounced “you-see”, it seemed the perfect name – “you-see tonttu”!

For this years’ Christmas design, I took my inspiration from folklore. Originally the Finnish Tonttu was believed to live in the nearby forests. He would protect the farmstead, its’ family and animals when treated with respect - offend him or misbehave and you would be punished! To thank him for his year-round protection it was customary on Christmas Eve to leave him out a bowl of porridge topped with a generous knob of butter.

Method: Featuring a cute tonttu and motifs based on traditional Finnish patterns, these stranded colorwork mittens are knit in the round from the cuff down. They have a thumb gusset created by lifted increases and can be worked in three or more contrasting colors.

The colorwork in this design is both charted and written out, you do not have to be comfortable reading charts to enjoy knitting these mittens!

Size: This pattern is written in 5 sizes. All instructions that differ depending on the size you are knitting are indicated with parentheses and color coded like this: XS (S, M, L, XL).

SizeMitten CircumferenceHand LengthXS6½”16.5 cm5¼”13.5 cmS7”18 cm6”15 cmM7⅝”19.5 cm6½”16.5 cmL8”20.5 cm7½”19 cmXL8⅝”22 cm8⅛”20.5 cm

Yarn: This pattern works well with three (or more) solid colors of DK yarn. You can use any DK yarn that you like and with which you can get tension/ gauge.

Please note I do not recommend using yarns with a high cotton content as cotton doesn’t stretch as much as other fibers and this will affect the fit of your mittens.

This is a great pattern to experiment with color and use mini skeins or any leftovers lurking in your stash. Be creative, have fun, but keep in mind changes will affect yardage and number of ends to weave in. The amounts of each color required will depend on how many colors you pick, where you choose to use them in the hat, and which size you are knitting. As a guide for the mittens pictured (size S in three colors) I used the following quantities of Cygnet Pure Wool Superwash DK:

MC – 208 White approx. 65 metres (71 yards)

CC1 – 2150 Tartan Green approx. 60 metres (66 yards)

CC2 – 2185 Geranium approx. 30 metres (33 yards)

Gauge: 6.5 stitches and 7 rows per inch (2.5cm) over colorwork pattern.

Needles: 3.75mm dpns, long circular for magic loop, or short circular (in which case you will still need dpns to work the thumbs and the mitten top decreases) or size needed for gauge.

3.25mm dpns (optional short circular/ long circular for magic loop for knitting cuff).

Other Materials Required:

3 Stitch Markers

Waste yarn/ dental floss as preferred

Tape Measure

Scissors

Darning needle for sewing in ends