Frostbites
When I was approached last fall and asked if I wanted to participate in a special Christmas issue of the TAITO magazine, I jumped in feet first without having a faintest idea what I would design. But their suggested color palette full of holiday feels was such an inspiring mix of frosty grays, glühwein reds, and moody blues that I soon arrived at a design concept: a pair of colorwork mitts with a matching beanie.
Photo © TAITO
They also proposed to use locally produced yarns and I immediately had a yarn choice in mind, something I'd wanted to try for a while. Kässäkerho Pom Pom Suoma DK is — as the name suggests — a plied, DK-weight version of the 100% Finnsheep singles yarn, Suoma Single, I love so much. Not to be confused with Suoma Single DK that I used in Soothsayer, Suoma DK is a rustic two-ply wool yarn that comes in 240 m/100 g skeins and the same gorgeous colors.
Frysa is a set of two wintry colorwork accessories inspired by cold Northern winters, dark nights, and the ethereal glow of the Northern lights. Frysa means 'to freeze' in Swedish... but I hope you won't freeze in these warm accessories!
Photo © TAITO
The Frysa Beanie comes in two sizes, starts with a ribbed brim, and is finished with a big pom pom on top. Because of the width of the colorwork pattern, the Frysa Mitts are offered in one size only and feature a peasant thumb.
Photo © TAITO
Both the mitts and the hat are worked in the three colors: a neutral, undyed gray main color, and a plummy dark purple and a vibrant teal as contrasting colors. The two patterns also share the same easy-to-work colorwork chart. The colorwork pattern is not challenging since at most two colors are used per row. There are long floats, though, but using my favorite method of catching colorwork floats on the next round they shouldn't be a problem, either.
Photo © TAITO
For now, these colorwork accessory patterns are available only in Finnish in the TAITO Christmas 2019 special issue. But fret not: both patterns will be available in English and as individual downloads on Ravelry and on LoveCrafts in February 2020.
Photo © TAITO
If you're working on either one of these patterns, I'd love to see them! Share photos of your projects on Instagram with the hashtags #frysabeanie or #frysamitts.
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