Happy Monday! I can’t believe this is it, the last week of our Mitten Garland Advent Calendar. For this final mitten I had to do a tomte. Here is yourAdvent Calendar Mitten 24 Chart.
For those of you not familiar with Scandinavian folklore, the tomte (or nisse in Norway and Denmark and tonttu in Finland) is a a mythological creature typically associated with the winter solstice and the Christmas season. According to tradition, the tomte lives in the houses and barns of the farmstead, and secretly act as their guardian. If treated well, they protect the family and animals from evil and misfortune, and may also aid the chores and farm work. However, they are known to be short tempered, especially when offended. Once insulted, they will usually play tricks, steal items and even maim or kill livestock. At Christmas, the tomte will deliver gifts at the door. It is customary to leave a behind a bowl of porridge with butter for the tomte, in gratitude for the services rendered.
I used duplicate stitch in a few areas of this mitten to prevent having to carry a third color long distances for just a few stitches. I duplicate stitched, the white at the tip of the hat, the eyes and the hands. Other than that it is pretty straightforward and I kept the colors to two a row.
And there is my whole set. This was something I started on a whim and I’m really charmed at how it came out. Thanks so much to everyone who knit along. The group on Ravelry really kept me going.
I hope you’ll all join us in January for a mitten knit along to celebrate National Knit Mitten Month.
© 2005 – 2015 Kathy Lewinski & Susan Cornish
Thank you so much for the beautiful Advent Calender pattern. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year <3
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Stunning. Absolutely stunning. This one is my favorite–although it is very hard to choose. Well done.
We always laugh in the knit along group that each new one is our favorite.
Thank you so much for this sharing these wonderful patterns! It has been so much fun!!
Every one of these mittens is wonderful! I was not able to knit along to do them one at a time, but this is high on my priority list once I finish my Christmas gift knitting. I plan to knit a pair of each at a time (OMG – 50 mittens!) so that each grandchild can have their own set of Advent Mittens. If I start in January, I hope to have them done by December 1, 2016! You are so generous to share these patterns. THANK YOU! I look forward to seeing what your next project will look like.
I’ve been downloading and saving each mitten pattern as it came out. I will be making these for my grandchildren NEXT year– will use three primary colors and assign one color to each of the three kids– that way, each child will have 8 mittens and the enclosed little gift– and each child will then have 8 mittens to take with them as they leave home (in several years– the oldest is only 12!) I may have to do another set for the great-granddaughter — she arrives March of 2016, so I have some time yet before she is old enough for an Advent calendar of some sort!
You saved the best for last! My Danish mother told stories about the nisser, including one about a farmer who got stuck with a bad nisse, and finally decided he had to move, and sold his farm. He got everything loaded onto his wagon, and as he pulled out, there was the nisse, sitting on top of the load, saying “I see we’re moving today!”
Thank you so much for sharing all of your patterns! I will make mine next year. Have a wonderful holiday season….