Folk Mittens (Folk Knitting series) by Marcia Lewandowski

Author:Marcia Lewandowski [Lewandowski, Marcia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781620332436
Publisher: Interweave
Published: 2013-02-24T23:00:00+00:00

Mittens from Lapland

The Baltics

The Baltic countries of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania line the heavily forested eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Men harvested fish, eels, seals, and sprat while women tended to the crops and home. When these chores were finished the women took up their knitting.

Baltic knitting is famous for its intricately detailed patterns from the region’s mythology. Human and animal motifs, believed to bring bad luck, were avoided. Surrounded by the stark colors of long, dark winters, knitters chose boldly dyed yarns of red, blue, yellow, and green.

Mittens played an important role in traditions of courtship and marriage in the Baltics, particularly in Latvia. A maiden’s worth was measured in part by her skill in knitting and by the number of mittens she had made. When a young woman accepted a marriage proposal, she sent her suitor a pair of mittens. He would drape them over his belt as a sign that he was committed. On the wedding day, the couple’s relatives and all who helped with the marriage were presented with a pair of mittens or socks. The newlyweds ate the marriage feast with mittened hands, and the marriage threshold could be crossed only after a pair of mittens had been laid down. A proper marriage required a hundred or more pairs of mittens.

Baltic Mittens

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