Description ~ Norwegian Knitting - Selbu Mittens and Symbolism in Norwegian Motifs

In 1857 a girl named Marit Gulsetbrua Emstad made three pairs of mittens featuring an eight-pointed star in bold black. She wore them to church, and soon her whole town was designing and knitting black and white mittens. Soon it became a cottage industry and mitten were knit and sold around the world.

In Kristin's book The Nordic Knitting Primer, she designed a pair of Selbu Mittens to symbolize the Scandinavian immigration to North America. Norwegian knitting motifs carry a meaning with them. In this class you will learn all about the symbolism and secret messages you can use to make the knitting you do for loved ones meaningful and personal. In this traditional Selbu mitten, Kristin used waves to symbolize the journey, the date could be added to reflect their family's immigration, a man or woman could be placed on the thumb to represent their member of their family that immigrated, a star pattern on the palm to symbolize the stars they saw crossing the Atlantic , a Selbu Rose to symbolize Norway, a compass to represent the voyage, and flowers on the cuff to remind us all to bloom where we are. The knitters can modify my mitten and knit a mitten that tells their story , knit Kristin's original design from her book, or design a mitten of your own from her e-book.

Materials Needed ~ Norwegian Knitting - Selbu Mittens and Symbolism in Norwegian Motifs

• Rauma Finullgarn - 1 skein 401 Natural White and 1 skein 410 Black.
• DPNs or Flexiflips in US 2 (2.75) for a women's Small/Medium gauge 29 stitches over 4 inches.
• Or for a women's Medium/Large US 3 (3.25 mm) or needles to get gauge 27 stitches over four inches.

Homework ~ Norwegian Knitting - Selbu Mittens and Symbolism in Norwegian Motifs

Swatch to get gauge in colorwork