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Mitten Knitting Pattern for Ukraine

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The Olga and Alexey Mittens from Kristin Drysdale is a colorwork design worked in yellow, blue and white. The designs in the colorwork are inspired by Ukrainian embrodiery and each has meaning, she says.

In this design, the square represents wellbeing, peace, fortune, perfection, harmony, and order. The diamond represents heaven and earth. The diamond with a dot in the middle represents a sown field—with hope that Ukraine can heal and spring back. The stars represent protection from evil, disease, and weakness. The hearts stand for love, family, and a happy family life.

There’s also a sunflower inspired motif to symbolize the national flower, and a row of hearts shows that the world is with the people of Ukraine. The pattern is named for friends who live in Kyiv.

The pattern is being sold as a fundraiser for the Red Cross Ukraine. She’ll also be hosting a knitalong on her Ravelry group page if you want to join in! You can purchase the pattern on her website.

[Photo: Kristin Drysdale.] Looking for more knitting patterns about Ukraine? Check these out. 

Ukrainian Etsy sellers are also listing digital items for donations.

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Have you read?

Knit a Hat with a Flock of Chickens

It’s well known (among knitters, anyway) that knitters seem to love chickens as a motif and a subject of our knitting projects. The Emotional Support Chicken and all the other chicken knitting patterns are just the beginning of our devotion to farmyard friends. 

For example, there’s Farmer Dennis’ Chicken Hat. This free pattern from Stacy Black is a simple worsted weight beanie sized for adults and decorate with a couple of little rounds of colorwork fences and a flock of chickens strutting around the body of the hat. 

You don’t need a lot of any of the colors for the chickens, their facial features or the fences, so this is a great project for using little leftover bits from other projects. The main color for the body of the hat is less than a skein using the yarn suggested, so you might just have everything you need in your house to start stitching up this hat right away. 

The colorwork is presented as a chart, with a 16 stitch section that repeats around the body of the hat. All the color changes are shown on the chart but I think it would be easier to knit the whole chicken in the chicken color and add the eye, beak and other features using duplicate stitch when the knitting is done. That way you don’t have to carry those yarns around the whole hat for just a few stitches. 

As the name suggests, the original hat was given to a farmer who shared their eggs, but anyone who raises chickens or just has a thing for the fowl is sure to love this cute hat. It wouldn’t be too difficult for someone new to stranded knitting or reading charts to make, either, so if that’s you, give it a try. 

The pattern is available for free on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Stacy Black]

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