Today was the deadline for a big project at HV Skola.  The idea was to present my work and hear presentations of the group but I have been laid low by a vicious cold virus that rather unhelpfully developed as a chest infection. Several steam inhalations and Lemsips later I am slowly on the mend.  I thought I could share my project here since I worked my socks off to get this project done on time!  I hope it might inspire any budding designers out there to get pen and paper to hand and start drawing up ideas!

First, I hadn’t actually made mittens before and to design everything from scratch and to master the “tumkil” or “thumb gusset” was indeed a challenge.  There was much “provstickning” that is “test knitting” and there was also quite a bit of calculation in terms of tension, yarn type, sizing, shaping, etc.  Most of all there was inspiration and I hope my pictures help to show that.

Iznik pottery comes from the Turkish town of the same name where decorative ceramics were produced from the late 15th century until the end of the 17th century.  Colourful Iznik tiles are featured inside the 16^th Century Rustem Pasha mosque, also in Turkey.  The style is a combination of Ottoman tradition and Chinese influence in intricate designs that immediately catch the eye and capture the imagination. The original colours available consisted of a darker cobalt blue and contrasting turquoise covered with a transparent glaze.  Later, more colours became available and these can be seen in the pictures below.  For ease of knitting, I have limited the yarn palette to only three colours: dark blue, light blue and white using Spelsaugarn, a traditional Swedish wool.

I have written up a pattern as part of the project and wonder if anyone in cyber-knitting world might like to try it.  For now here is the project in pictures.  Enjoy and happy mitten season … yes, it is starting to get cold here in Sweden.