White Mittens - Traditional Twined Knitting

White mittens in traditional twined knitting. I have never knitted white mittens in twined knitting until now. I don´t know why ... I love the traditional aspects of twined knitting, and white mittens with crook stitch patterns often gets to represent twined knitting.

The model of the mitten is a traditional one with a thumb-gore. All crook stitch patterns are from Dalarna (Dalecarlia). The yarn is Wålstedts 2-ply for twined knitting, a total of 110 grams for these mittens (Woman´s sized). Dbpns 2,5 mm.

Knitting crook stitches is actually fun, and not difficult at all. While knitting, the pattern may not always stand out as it will in the finished item, so you need some patience until you can judge your finished result.

I used three threads of white yarn in the cast-on. Traditionally it is common to use one red and two white threads for the cast-on. But this time I decided to stick to an all white mitten.

 A fairly quick knit and very few ends to take care of when I was finished knitting. I will definitely knit more of these.

Striped mittens in twined knitting

Twined knitted mittens with stripes.  The first time I saw mittens with this pattern was when taking a class in twined knitting lead by Karin Kahnlund.

The rows in white and red makes it very easy to keep track of the number of rows and you get "identical" mittens without any effort.

Always make a thumb-gore - it improves the fit enormously.

The yarn used in these mittens comes from Ullcentrum.

Needles for Nalbinding (Nålbindningsnålar)

I have made needles for nalbinding with the help of my brother in law who has access to some woodworking machines. I asked him to prepare some pieces of wood, as blanks, so that I could make some needles for nalbinding. I did the shaping and the final "finish".

These four are made from ash. In old Nordic mythology the immense tree Yggdrasil was an ash tree. Since nalbinding in Sweden goes back to the Viking era I find it fitting to have needles made from an Ash tree.

These three are made from Beech. 

 These are made from wood from Thailand. I do not know the species.

Cowl in Tunisian Crochet

This cowl is made in Tunisian Crochet. I had thought of knitting a scarf but then got the idea to try Tunisian crochet instead. While planning the idea changed from a scarf to a cowl - since I like to make Tunisian crochet in the round. I was a bit hesitant about how to begin the cowl since I was not sure how to make a beginning that would not curl ... so I knitted a couple of rows in [1 knit, 1 purl] and after that I continued in Tunisian crochet.

The yarn used is dyed Blue Faced Leicester from Blue Moon Fiber Arts (about 170 grams for this cowl). They have yarns in fantastic colours and if they had been situated within the EU I would buy lots and lots from them. I am very pleased with this cowl. I got the drape that I wanted and the yarn is very smooth and warm.

I used a double-ended crochet hook size 5,00 mm for this project.

Brown Hat in Nalbinding (Nålbindning)

Making hats is a god way to try new stitches in nalbinding. The stitch used this time is often called "Dalby". I found a good description of it in the book "Gamla textila tekniker i ull" by Kerstin Gustafsson. It is described in a chapter called "Nålbindning efter Maj" (Nalbinding according to Maj). The stitch is common in the Dalby-area in the north of Värmland, Sweden.

The yarn used is a loosely spun single in 100 % wool, "Samo" from Marks & Kattens. I found it a little too loose, but I got used to it. This finished result is OK and dense enough to be warm and cosy.

I made the hat "long" enough so that one can fold the bottom part of it into a cuff, to get more warmth.

When it was finished I dyed it brown, and I am very pleased with the result. I found the Dalby stitch easy to execute. Done with a thinner yarn it would probably also make excellent mittens.