| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| beekeepersgirl |
Posted - Sep 08 2014 : 11:57:29 AM
I'm looking for an old, out of print knitting book from Maine. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of it except it was something with "Geese" in the title. It had a pattern in it about making boiled mittens used by fishermen. I had a copy of this book years ago, and have lost it. I'd love to try making these mittens again. They were made with raw wool (not washed) and then boiled and frozen, then boiled again to shrink and felt them.
Thanks!
Luanne
beekeepersgirl #691
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
My blog: finallyafarmgirl.blogspot.com
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| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| atkinst2 |
Posted - Sep 12 2014 : 3:15:43 PM
So glad you found your book. Know how it can be when your looking for a pattern.
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| beekeepersgirl |
Posted - Sep 10 2014 : 3:45:05 PM
Thanks Theresa - that's great info. Another farmgirl also found the book for me on Amazon!
Farmgirl friends are the greatest!
Luanne
beekeepersgirl #691
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
My blog: finallyafarmgirl.blogspot.com
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| atkinst2 |
Posted - Sep 08 2014 : 2:20:24 PM
Found this on a google ... hope this holds you over until you find the book
The art of knitting these rugged boiled wool mittens, the choice of fishermen for hundreds of years, was in danger of being lost until the enterprising women of the Chebeague Island (Maine) Methodist Church Ladles Aid got together …
Time was that when a man went out in his boat in winter, he took his wool mittens off a nail on board, dipped them in the warm water from the engine, wrung them out, and put them on wet. Then he clapped and beat his hands and swung his arms until his fingers were so red they stung. After that he could work all day, hauling traps from the frigid salt water, working with sloppy, half-frozen bait, or even clamming, and his hands would stay warm.
When he peeled his mittens off at the end of his day, his hands were red and so warm they steamed in the cold air. He hung the mittens up again by little loops on their cuffs and went ashore.
The boiled wool mittens had an amazing insulating quality when wet. They may have been knit by his wife, or he may have bought them — handknit — from the same store that sold him his trap stock, boots, netting shuttles, and other gear. Wherever he got them, they were big, maybe a third bigger than his hand, and made of oily, cream-colored yarn. Some men took them home and soaked them in hot water; others put them in the bilge of their boats and walked on them all day while doing other work. And they shrank. The wool became thicker, the stitches tighter than can be knit, and as the fisherman wore them, wetting them each time in salt water, they shrank and matted even more until they were shaped to his hands and quite stiff when dry.
Fishermen wore mittens like these in New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces for hundreds of years. Some still do, when they can get them.
The downfall of the fishermen’s boiled wool mittens came with the rise of the insulated glove, which on the surface sounds a lot more reasonable. Bulky and rubbery, the insulated glove is warm enough, but doesn’t permit much fine finger movement or any feeling through its layers. Some fishermen use them only for the prickly work of handling bait, complaining that they “can’t work in them.”
In many fishing communities, the art of knitting fishermen’s mittens has been lost, and even those women who wanted to knit them for their husbands couldn’t. There were no mittens left to measure, and no women left who knew how to make them.
This was the case on Chebeague Island, off Portland, until a few years ago. Minnie Doughty, the one woman who had maintained the skill, died, taking her knowledge with her. Like many other coastal women, Mrs. Doughty had had a difficult life and had lost several of her six sons to the sea. In her lifetime she had knitted a great many pairs of fishermen’s mittens — so many that when she died, the single remaining new pair was treasured as a keepsake by her daughters.
One of the expert knitters of the Chebeague Island Methodist Church Ladies Aid, Elizabeth Bergh, took these old mittens, counted stitches, measured, found a loose end to determine the thickness of the yarn, and put together instructions for fishermen’s mittens. The Ladies Aid knitters tried out the instructions, then continued knitting until they had a small pile of mittens. They “sold like hotcakes” at their fair, Miss Bergh recalled.
If you have a fisherman in the family, or if you spend much of the winter by the sea, try knitting a pair of these remarkably warm, thick, almost water-repellent mittens for someone in your family.Here are Elizabeth Bergh’s instructions, based on Minnie Doughty’s mittens. They are probably the only instructions in print anywhere for this kind of mitten. But beware! They make a huge mitten that must be shrunk in salt water, and really can be used only in the traditional way.
The yarn traditionally used for these mittens on Chebeague Island is cream-colored, 3-ply natural Fisherman Yarn from Bartlett yarns in Harmony, Maine. This is half again as heavy as worsted weight yarn and makes an astoundingly dense mitten. Some women use Bartlett yarns 2-ply Fisherman Yarn, a worsted-weight, oiled, wool yarn, which is easier to knit and makes a lighter, more flexible mitten. The pattern is the same for the two weights of yarn. Any oiled fisherman yarn in these weights can be substituted for the Bartlett yarns Fisherman Yarn.
Instructions are for a man’s medium-sized mitten. To knit a child’s size, find a mitten pattern for worsted-weight yarn and knit a full size larger – for example, a size 8 for a six-year-old then shrink the mittens. Wool mittens shrink anyway, but few patterns take this into account.
Fisherman’s Wet Mitten Directions Yarn: Two skeins Bartlett yarns 2- or 3- ply fisherman yarn, or other worsted-weight wool with lanolin, used singly. Equipment: Four number 4 double-pointed needles, or size needed to knit correct gauge.
Gauge: 5 stitches equal 1 inch.
On size 4 double-pointed needles, cast on 12, 15, and 15 stitches, a total of 42 stitches on 3 needles. Knit 2, purl 1 until wristband measures 4 inches.
Then, first round: place last purl stitch on first needle. Purl 1, knit 2, purl 1. Knit rest of round, increasing 2 stitches on each needle for a total of 48 stitches.
Second round: start thumb gore. Purl 1, increasing 1 stitch in each of the next 2 stitches, purl 1. Knit around, and knit rounds 3, 4, and 5, maintaining the 2 purl stitches as a marker.
Sixth round: purl 1, increase in the next stitch, knit 2, increase in the next stitch, purl 1 (8 stitches, including 2 purls) . Knit around. Knit 3 more rounds.
Continue to increase this way every fourth row until you have 14 stitches for the thumb gore, including the 2 purl stitches. Knit 3 more rounds and place the 14 stitches on a string.Cast on 10 stitches to bridge the gap and divide the stitches 18 to a needle (total 54 stitches). Knit up 4 to 4-1/2 inches from thumb for the hand.
Begin decreasing in next round:
Knit 2 together, knit 7. Repeat around. Knit 2 rounds. Knit 2 together, knit 6, and repeat around. Knit 2 rounds. Knit 2 together, knit 5, and repeat around. Knit 2 rounds. Knit 2 together, knit 4, and repeat around. Knit 1 round. Knit 2 together, knit 3, and repeat around. Knit 1 round. Knit 2 together around. Break the yarn and draw up the remaining stitches on the tail, using a yarn needle. Darn the tail back and forth across the tip of the mitten. Thumb: Pick up from thumb gore 7 stitches on each of 2 needles and 1 stitch from each side of the thumbhole, a total of 16 stitches on 2 needles. Pick up the 10 stitches from the palm side of the thumbhole on a third needle. Knit 2 rounds, Next round, decrease 1 stitch on each end of the third needle. There are now 8 stitches on each needle. Knit 2 to 2-1/2 inches
Next round, decrease: knit 2 together, knit 2, and repeat around. Knit 1 round. Next round, knit 2 together, knit 1, and repeat around, Break yarn and draw up remaining stitches on the tall, using a yarn needle, Darn the end into the tip of the thumb. Work all other loose ends into the fabric of the mitten.
Crochet a loop at the edge of the cuff for hanging the mitten to dry. Use the tail left from casting on, if possible, To shrink: soak the mittens in boiling hot water, squeeze them out and dry them on a radiator. I shrink mine in the drier on the hot setting, but this takes out some of the oil. Some men say to dry them in the freezer. This takes a long, long time, Some Claim they soak their mittens in fish gore, then wash them in hot water. However you choose to shrink your mittens, the first shrinking will not complete the trick, but the mittens will continue to shrink in use. Don’t give up.
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