Time was, when a man went out in his boat in winter, he took his mittens off a nail on the boat, dipped them in the warm salt water cooling the engine, wrung them out good, and put them on wet. Then he began hauling and baiting his traps. His hands stayed warm in the wet wool mittens even working with wet traps dragged out of a frigid Casco Bay. When he peeled the mittens off later, his hands were so warm they steamed in the cold air. Then he hung the mittens up again by little loops in their cuffs and went ashore.
Two pairs of fishermen’s mittens knitted by the late Minnie Doughty of Chebeague Island, Maine.
The warm wool mittens had an amazing insulating quality—but only when wet, fishermen say. They may have been knit by his wife, or he may have bought them—hand knit—from the same store that sold him his trap stock, boots, netting shuttles, and other gear. Wherever he got them, they were big when new, maybe a third bigger than his hand.
He took them on his boat and wetted them in the cooling water, then threw them on deck, sometimes in fish gore, and walked on them as he hauled traps. When he had a moment, he laid them out on the hot engine manifold to dry, turning them carefully now and then to keep them from scorching. He did this over and over all day. The wool became thicker, the stitches tighter than can be knit. By the end of the day, they were smaller and fit his hands and were marinated in the smell of the sea and fish and his boat.
As he wore them, wetting them in salt water each time, they shrank even more and became more matted, until they were molded to his hands and quite stiff when dry. Cod fishermen, handling oily fish, found the mittens never stopped shrinking and would finally have to be discarded or given to their children to wear.
Fishermen wore mittens like these in Maine and Nova Scotia for hundreds of years. Some still do, when they can get them. In Newfoundland, they are still used year-round. In many fishing communities, though, the art of knitting fishermen’s mittens was lost after the introduction of the insulated rubber glove. Even those women who want to knit them for their husbands can’t do so because there are no mittens left to measure, and no women left who know how to make them.
So it was also on Chebeague Island until a few years ago. Minnie Doughty, the one woman who had maintained the skill, had died, taking her knowledge with her. Like many other coastal women, Mrs. Doughty had a difficult life and lost several of her six sons to the sea. In her lifetime, she had knitted a great many pairs of fishermen’s mittens—so many that when she died, her daughters treasured the single remaining new pair as a keepsake.
One of the expert knitters of the Chebeague Island Methodist Church Ladies’ Aid, Elizabeth Bergh, took these mittens, counted stitches, measured, found a loose end to determine the thickness of the yarn, and put together instructions for fishermen’s mittens. These follow.
This pattern makes a huge mitten, which must be shrunk to be usable. Although the mitten is designed to be used wet, in salt water, by fishermen, it makes a wonderfully thick, dry mitten for landlubbers, if shrunk according to the fulling directions that follow the knitting instructions.
Minnie Doughty’s grandson, lobsterman Richard Ross, wrings out his mittens before heading out. STEVE MUSKIE PHOTO
Yarn
Medium weight: Bartlettyarns 2-ply Fisherman or other untreated, medium weight wool yarn. (Peace Fleece 2-ply knitting yarn, with some kid mohair, makes a wonderfully soft and shaggy fisherman’s mitten.)
| Yarn | (oz) | 3 | 3½ | 6 |
| (g) | 85.5 | 99.25 | 171 |
OR, Heavy weight: Barlettyarns 3-ply or other untreated, heavy fisherman wool with lanolin.
| Fisherman Yarn | (oz) | 3½ | 5½ | 7 |
| (g) | 99.75 | 156.75 | 199.5 |
The mittens are traditionally cream-colored in North America. Do not use Superwash™ wools or synthetics—they will NOT shrink.
Equipment 1 set Size 6 (4mm, Can. Size 8) double-pointed needles, or size you need to knit at correct tension • 1 Size F (4mm, Can. Size 8) crochet hook • 12" (30cm) contrasting waste yarn • blunt-tipped yarn needle. For fulling: Two large dishpans • Washboard or felting board • Scrub brush or pet slicker • Murphy’s Oil Soap or other natural soap • Optional: 3 tablespoons (44ml) ammonia
Tension before shrinking In 2-ply yarn, sts and 7 rnds = 1" or 2.5cm • In 3-ply yarn, 4 sts and 6 rnds = 1" or 2.5cm
Tension after shrinking In 2-ply yarn, 10½ sts and 8¾ rnds = 2" or 5cm • In 3-ply yarn, 8½ sts and 9 rnds= 2" or 5cm
ABBREVIATIONS beg: beginning • CC: contrast color • dec(s): decrease(s) • inc(s): increase(s) • k: knit • k2tog: knit 2 together • MI: make I stitch • MIL: make I stitch left • MIR: make I stitch right • MC: main color • p: purl • rep: repeat • rnd(s): round(s) • SSK2tog: slip, slip, knit 2 sts together • st(s): stitch(es) • twisted MI: twisted make I cast-on
Measurements—inches and centimeters
| MEDIUM WEIGHT YARN | HEAVY WEIGHT YARN | |||||||||||||
| Child | Adult | Child | Adult | |||||||||||
| 6–8 | M | XL | 6–8 | M | XL | |||||||||
| Hand length | 5½ | 7 | 8½ | 5½ | 7 | 8½ | ||||||||
| 14 | 17.75 | 21.5 | 14 | 17.75 | 21.5 | |||||||||
| Hand circumference, incl. tip of thumb | 7 | 9½ | 10 | 7 | 9½ | 10 | ||||||||
| 17.75 | 24 | 25.5 | 17.75 | 24 | 25.5 | |||||||||
| Mitten before shrinking Length of hand | 8 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 12 | ||||||||
| 20.25 | 25.5 | 30.5 | 20.25 | 25.5 | 30.5 | |||||||||
| Thumb length (⅓ hand) | 2⅝ | 3⅜ | 4 | 2⅝ | 3⅜ | 4 | ||||||||
| 6.5 | 8.5 | 10.25 | 6.5 | 8.5 | 10.25 | |||||||||
| Width | 4 | 5 | 5⅜ | 3¾ | 4¾ | 5⅜ | ||||||||
| 10.25 | 12.75 | 13.5 | 9.5 | 12 | 13.75 | |||||||||
| Mitten after shrinking Length of hand | 6 | 7½ | 9 | 6 | 7½ | 9 | ||||||||
| 15.25 | 19 | 23 | 15.25 | 19 | 23 | |||||||||
| Thumb length | 2 | 2½ | 3 | 2 | 2½ | 3 | ||||||||
| 5 | 6.5 | 7.5 | 5 | 6.5 | 7.5 | |||||||||
| Width | 3¾ | 4¾ | 5 | 3¾ | 4¾ | 5 | ||||||||
| 9.5 | 12 | 12.75 | 9.5 | 12 | 12.75 | |||||||||
To make other sizes, use a simple one-color mitten pattern and allow 25 percent shrinkage lengthwise, about 6 percent widthwise.
This mitten is knit huge, and must be shrunk before wearing. It can be worn damp—dip in water and wring out—or dry. I have put my hand in a dry Fishermen’s Mitten into our sheeps’ drinking water in winter and lifted off an inch of ice without getting wet. If I do get wet, I give my hands a couple of hard shakes, and the wetness disappears.
Fulling means shrinking and brushing knitted or woven fabric, as contrasted to felting, which starts with loose wool fibers. The shock of cold to hot and hot to cold temperature changes, oil (either as codfish oil or soap), and agitation (on a washboard or in a washing machine or dryer) are what cause wool to shrink. You probably will not shrink your mittens by simply boiling them in a pot of water.
It’s good to do this project outdoors, where water can be splashed or poured onto the ground as you work. Otherwise, use a laundry tub or the kitchen sink.
This is how you proceed:
1. Prepare two large dishpans, one of very cold water (tap water can be cold enough, but add ice if you wish) and one of hot water (a mix of boiling and tap water, just cool enough to put your hands in). The hot water will be the wash and rub water; the cold water will be the rinse. Keep refreshing both baths as you work, keeping the hot very hot and the cold clear and cold.
2. Work both mittens of a pair at the same time, alternating throughout the process. Apply soap to the mitten, submerse it completely in hot water, then scrub and rub on the washboard, dipping it continually in the hot water.
3. When you are tired of scrubbing, plunge the mitten into cold water and squeeze the water through quickly, to shock the fibers. Get the whole mitten cold.
You will need two large dishpans, supplies of ice cold water and almost boiling water, plenty of soap, and a washboard. CHARLES FREIBURG PHOTO
4. Repeat back and forth between hot and soapy water and cold rinse water. The fabric will relax in the hot water and pull together in the cold, until the mitten suddenly gives up, shrinks, and doesn’t relax.
Shrinking mittens is a good group project. Women have been known to sing to the rhythm of scrubbing. Here, three Maine women—Diane Calder of Chebeague, Robin and Hanne Hansen of West Bath—work together at the Maine Festival to shrink mittens. CHARLES FREIBURG PHOTO
Plenty of soap and agitation, together with sharp changes from hot to cold and back again, will cause the wool to shrink.
CHARLES FREIBURG PHOTO
5. When the mittens have shrunk to your satisfaction, rinse once more, optionally adding 3 tablespoons of ammonia to the rinse water. Ammonia is said to whiten and soften the wool. Usually a lot of gunk will come out of the wool if you add ammonia to the rinse water. (This is the lanolin. Whether you want it in your mitten is up to you, but it does help make the mitten water- and wind-resistant.)
6. If you used ammonia in Step 5, rinse the mittens once more in clear water.
When the mitten has shrunk adequately, brushing it with a scrub brush or a fine wire brush brings up a fine nap. CHARLES FREIBURG PHOTO
One mitten of an identical pair has been shrunk to demonstrate the difference. CHARLES FREIBURG PHOTO
7. Brush thoroughly toward the tip on both sides (and, optionally, widthwise on the inside) using a scrub brush or fine wire brush, or a pet slicker. Put the mittens in the washer on the spin cycle (only!), then brush again and spread them in a warm spot to dry.
You can also dry the mittens in the dryer with other clothes, but be aware that this might shrink and stiffen them more than you wish. You no longer control the process when you offer your lovely handwork to an uncomprehending machine. But I do it sometimes anyhow.
The shrinking/fulling process may take up to 45 minutes of your hard labor, but will probably take less. Should you despair halfway through, you can always quit and throw the mittens in with a load of laundry. With a little brushing afterward, they should look hand-fulled. If you start with the washing machine, however, you may end up with a less nappy, less long-haired mitten. On the other hand, you will have less actual hard work. There are many such trade-offs in life.
A well-shrunk, well-used fishermen’s mitten from Chebeague Island.
In Bartlettyarns 2-ply Fisherman yarn or Peace Fleece 2-ply knitting yarn, the mitten will lose about 25 percent (one quarter) of its length and less than 5 percent widthwise. In Bartlettyarns 3-ply Fisherman yarn, the mitten should lose 16 to 20 percent of its length and 10 percent of its width.