Book Review: Mostly Mittens

Wow, I saved today’s post till the last minute, quite by accident. I got a little lost in the Department of Mysteries and before I knew it, it was 6:30 and I realized I hadn’t posted. I had wanted to come in here showing off my finished cardigan for my mom, but that Ministry of Magic is a bit of a maze…

So instead, I’m sharing with you a book review. As long-time readers will know, I’m a little… shall we say “obsessed” with mittens. Especially colorwork mittens. And I still don’t own any (but they’re on the schedule!). However, Charlene Schurch (of Sensational Knitted Socks fame) reissued her Mostly Mittens: Ethnic Knitting Designs from Russia (Martingale, 2009) last year and it’s a wonderful source of mitten inspiration.

This book is a must have for anyone who likes to knit traditional, ethnic colorwork designs. Much like the approach of Sensational Knitted Socks, Schurch provides a basic “recipe” for knitting mittens, and provides different colorwork charts for about 30 traditional Russian knitting motifs. The book includes an introduction to the Komi knitting traditions, as well as a quick little tutorial on different ways to knit in the round.

I love to flip through this book, looking at the motifs and the ways in which the stranded colorwork shows each motif to its best. These are just a few of my favorites.

Charlene even includes a few hat recipes at the back of the book, showing how you can incorporate the motifs into an earflap hat, a fez, and a basic toque. One of these days, I’ll have time to grab some yarn and needles and really dig into this book.