Mittens of Latvia, by Maruta Grasmane

Maruta Grasmane‘s Mittens of Latvia collects 178 traditional colorwork mitten patterns from Latvia, recreations of ethnographic mittens from the second half of the 18th century, the 19th century, and the beginning of the 20th century.

Chapters are organized by region, and Grasmane begins each one by noting the colors, motifs, and knitting motifs most commonly used in said region. The mittens are photographed in close detail, and presented with their charts.

Because Grasmane is light on knitting instructions, Mittens of Latvia functions more as a coffee table art book than a user friendly book of patterns. But intrepid knitters who have made colorwork mittens in the past can likely fill in the blanks with experience. Pick up this book for traditional colorwork inspiration!