Frysa Mitts

Frysa Mitts by Susanna Winter

What is Being Made

Frysa Mitts is a set of two fingerless mitts designed by Susanna Winter, inspired by cold Northern winters, dark nights, and the ethereal glow of the Northern lights. The name "Frysa" is Swedish for "to freeze," though these warm accessories are designed to keep hands protected during winter months. These are quick-to-knit wintry colorwork accessories that combine functionality with striking visual appeal.

Techniques Used

The primary technique featured in Frysa Mitts is stranded colorwork, also known as Fair Isle knitting. The colorwork pattern is straightforward in its color usage, employing at most two colors per row, making it accessible for intermediate knitters. However, the pattern does contain long floats that need to be caught to maintain structural integrity and prevent snagging. The mitts are worked from the cuff up in the round, creating seamless, tubular fingerless mitts.

Stitches and Pattern Details

The colorwork pattern in Frysa Mitts is charted only, providing visual guidance for color placement and stitch sequences. The pattern incorporates three colors of DK-weight yarn throughout the design, creating a visually dynamic Northern lights-inspired aesthetic. While the pattern is not considered challenging due to the limited colors per row, intermediate knitting skills are recommended to successfully manage the stranded colorwork technique and catch the longer floats appropriately.

Materials

• Yarn: Frysa Mitts are worked in Kässäkerho Pom Pom Suoma DK, a 100% Finnsheep wool yarn with yardage of 240 m per 100 g (262 yd per 3.53 oz). DK-weight yarn is used throughout, with three colors required for the complete colorwork design.
• Needles: Pattern is written for knitting in the round, requiring appropriate circular needles or double-pointed needles suitable for DK-weight yarn.

Pattern Information

The Frysa Mitts pattern is available as a downloadable PDF and includes both metric and US terminology, making it accessible to knitters using different measurement systems. The intermediate difficulty level makes these mitts suitable for knitters with some colorwork experience who are ready to tackle stranded knitting with float management.