Knit Bernie’s Mittens from the Inauguration

If you watched the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (or have been on the Internet any time since) you’ve seen, and maybe fallen in love with, the mittens worn by Bernie Sanders at the event.

His brown Fair Isle mitts were made by Jenn Ellis, a Vermont schoolteacher, who made them out of upcycled sweaters (the backs are blue, and the back of the thumb looks like another piece of Fair Isle knitting in green and white).

Alyssa Coffey released a chart for the backs of Bernie’s mittens, which fits into her plain mitten pattern, and could be adjusted somewhat to different sizes or gauges. (Though changing needle size is probably the best option since the design is nicely centered as it is.)

I love the idea of stitching these up for a Progressive friend, or maybe getting a jump on your Halloween costume?

You can grab the free chart on Ravelry.

Looking for more items featuring these now famous, Bernies Mitts – Check these fun Bernie items out on Etsy.

Need a Bernie beanie to go with those mittens? Check out this matching mitten pattern.

Sometimes when I’m scrolling through Ravelry a pattern will catch my eye as much because of the name as the look of the design (which is a little hard to see in those little thumbnails sometimes, anyway).

So it was with the Stellify shawl by Paola Albergamo. Stellify means to turn into a star, and the name and the story behind the shawl come from the story of Ariadne. The better known part of her story is that she helped Theseus escape from the Minotaur, but he then abandoned her. What comes after in many stories is that Dionysus found her, fell in love with her and later married her.

When he threw her jeweled crown into the sky, the Corona Borealis constellation was formed.

What does all this have to do with shawl knitting?

The shawl itself looks like it has a scattering of stars on it, as if it, too, has been stellified. The shawl begins with an I-cord tap and is shaped into a triangular shawl with both lateral and central increases. I-cord edging is incorporated into the sides, and the colorwork is done with mosaic knitting, which means this shawl is easier than it looks.

Mosaic knitting has you working with just one color per row, slipping stitches that appear in the other color to make the colorwork visible. Even better for people new to this kind of colorwork, the pattern includes written and charted instructions throughout so it should be easy to follow along.

The pattern comes in two sizes (the larger one is shown here) and calls for two colors of fingering weight yarn. It looks great in black and yellow, but don’t miss the other projects on Ravelry to see other fun and beautiful color options.

You can find the pattern in English and Italian on Ravelry.

[Photo: Paola Albergamo]

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