Icelandic Leaves: mittens and tam

“Icelandic Leaf mittens and matching tam are inspired by the traditional Leaf mittens in the West fjords of Iceland. As their name suggest, they were decorated with a leaf pattern. They were different types of leaves which were given names fimmtandi, sextandi, sjöundi referring respectively to the numbers 5, 6 and 7, according to the number of row repeat needed for one leaf. The biggest the leaves, the biggest the mittens. My mittens also have different types of leaves according to sizes. The smaller patterns, such as the “check”, “small leaf”, “tong” or “twist”, were used to get the right size for the mittens and were also an opportunity to use the tiny bits of leftover colors. I used much thicker wool, the Icelandic Léttlopi, worked rather tight, to make really warm and cozy mittens; It’s also much quicker to knit! The tam is my new take on the tradition and is sized in the same manner than the mittens with different leaf motifs according to size. It’s constructed like many mittens place together and the tips rejoingning at the center. The set is a perfect color match with my Brynja lopi sweater.”

To know more about the tradition of Leaf mittens in Iceland, also read the story of Lauf, a charming top inspired by that same tradition.

The pattern was first published in the book Knitting hats and mittens from around the world: 34 heirloom patterns in a variety of styles and techniques, Voyageurs Press (2012).

Sizes: S(M, L) small (medium, large)

Mittens: finished measurements of hand circumference 20.5 (22.5, 24) cm / 8 (8.75, 9.5)”

Tam: finished measurements 24 (26.5, 29) cm / 9.5 (10.5, 11.5)” diameter across top (can be blocked to bigger dimensions), to fit head circumference up to 48 (53, 58) cm / 19 (21, 23)”.

Gauge: 10×10 cm = 20 sts and 28 rows in st st on needle 4 mm

Wool: Léttlopi from Ístex, 100% Icelandic wool, 50g/skein, 50g = 100m

MC #0053 (brown) 2(2,3) skeins
CC1 #0051 (white); CC2 #1404 (turquoise); CC3 #1409 (red); CC4 #9264 (mustard); CC5 #0059 (black): half skein of each (10-20 g used)

Needles: circ needles 3 mm and 4 mm/US 3 and 6 (using Magic loop) or DPN’s.

Notions: markers, darning needle

Techniques: Knitting in the round, stranded knitting, jogless join, Magic loop.

Pattern: once you’ve made your payment, you will receive an email with a link to download the pattern PDF . We don’t send patterns by snailmail.

Errata: no mistake was found in this pattern.