With a Little Help From My Friends

I packed no less than three different knitting projects for my five-day-stay in Hälsingland. We spent Midsummer at my mum´s house, on the menu was pickled herring for lunch and rhubarb pie for dessert.

This particular project is the second sleeve for my son´s new Dragon sweater. It only needs a neck band and some sewing before it´s all done. It was easy to knit the second sleeve with the support of all my new furry friends (yes, as you can see my mum has quite a collection of cuddly, old teddies).

I also finished a lovely shawl in green mohair, but forgot to take photos while I was knitting it. I blame it on the loveliness of the yarn, it was mesmerising. 

But I didn´t even start on the third project, a hat from a new pattern because I couldn´t decided what kind of brim it should have. Making decisions is not one of my strong points, to put it mildly.

My mum (aka the Button Queen) does not only have a collection of about a hundred teddy bears and around 600 000 (gasp) buttons.

She also has a modest, but very nice collection of old Swedish mittens. Most of them have been worn and darned with love and care.

Perhaps the inspiration for this pair of mittens came from Norway. Although the star/rose pattern is pretty common in Sweden, too.

But maybe these mittens are Norwegian? Or maybe Swedish knitters also made thumb gussets?

I´m no authority – but I believe that most Swedish mittens didn´t have a thumb gusset. 

No thumb gusset – but I love this pattern! I guess the former owner did too – this mitten has really been worn to the bitter end.

Here the same flower is used in a different way. 

Notice how this mitten has a bit of shaping that is almost a thumb gusset. I love studying interesting little details like this and... Hello – anyone still there? 

Okay, I guess I need to talk some more to my therapist about this – close to unhealthy – obsession with thumb gussets.