Other patterns

Ten patterns from Mara's drawer, made one set at a time.

Whiskerwool makes one thing, but it does not make it the same way twice. Most sets are The Everyday, and that is the right answer most of the time. The patterns below are the others Mara keeps in the drawer beside her needles, written out here so you know what is possible if you want to ask for one by name.

A pair of small marigold-yellow wool mittens with soft beetroot-red cuffs, beside a brass thimble and a coiled length of yarn on a weathered pine plank.

The Everyday

The standard set. Plain stocking stitch, soft rib cuff, a single colour throughout. Four shades to choose from: marigold, rosehip, walnut, hayfield. Most letters ask for The Everyday, and most letters get it. There is no shame in plain mittens; a hamster wearing four matching plain mittens is already an unusual hamster.

A pair of small walnut-brown wool mittens with a single twisted cable running up the back of each paw, beside a steel knitting needle and a ball of brown wool.

The Cable

A single twisted cable runs up the back of each paw, the way it runs up the sleeve of a fisherman's jersey, only smaller. For the hamster who climbs the bars at night and would like the world to know it. Worked in walnut or hayfield; the cable does not read in the brighter dyes.

A pair of small rosehip-red wool mittens with a single cream snowflake motif knit at the back of each paw, on a weathered pine plank.

The Fair Isle

A single snowflake, six stitches wide, knit once across the back of each mitten. At hamster scale a snowflake is mostly an idea, but the idea carries: a small mitten that has been thought about. Cream on rosehip, cream on walnut. Made up in pairs of pairs, since the snowflake takes a careful evening.

A pair of small beetroot-red wool mittens with a fine open-work cream lace edge above the rib cuff, pinned to a length of cream linen tape on the inside of an old kitchen door.

The Lace Cuff

A fine open-work edge worked above the rib, in undyed cream against the dyed paw. For high days: an anniversary, a homecoming, the first frost of the year. Mara keeps a sample pair pinned to the inside of the kitchen door, which she touches absently when the kettle is on.

A pair of small undyed natural grey wool mittens with a simple rib cuff, lying flat on a weathered pine plank with a single sprig of dried lavender placed beside them.

The Mourning Set

Undyed grey wool, no cuff colour, finished plainly with a single line of pulled thread at the rib. Made on request, for a hamster keeping a quiet week, or for an owner who is. There is no charge difference, and the box is the same.

A pair of small moss-green wool mittens resting on a folded moss-green woolen cardigan, with a coil of the same yarn and a small handwritten paper note beside them.

The Bespoke

Knit from a beloved old jumper, sent in by post, unravelled and washed gently and made up new. One garment, one set. The colour is whatever the garment was. Mara will write back with the gauge and the timing before she begins, and she will return any wool that did not fit into the set, washed and rolled.

A pair of small hayfield-gold wool mittens with a honeycomb stitch texture, beside a ball of matching yarn and two steel knitting needles on a weathered pine plank.

The Honeycomb

A raised honeycomb stitch across the back of each paw, worked in hayfield or walnut where the little cells can be seen. It is a slower pattern, good for a hamster who sleeps by the stove and wakes with cold feet. Mara counts this one twice before she casts off.

A pair of small pumpkin-orange wool mittens, each with a tiny carved-lantern face knit in walnut-brown across the back of the paw, on a weathered pine plank beside a sprig of dried wheat and a short stub of beeswax candle.

The Lantern

Made only for the last week of October. Pumpkin-orange wool, dyed with onion skin and a little madder, with a small lantern face worked in walnut across the back of each paw: two eyes, a notch of a nose, a crooked grin, six stitches of mischief. Mara knits a handful each autumn and no more, by the kitchen window while the kettle ticks and the first cold comes down off the hills. A hamster in these frightens no one, which is rather the point.

A pair of small cream wool mittens, each with a tiny beeswax-gold candle and orange flame knit across the back of the paw, on a weathered pine plank beside an unlit beeswax candle.

The Carol

Made only for the week of Christmas Eve. Undyed cream wool, left the colour of the fleece, with a slim beeswax candle worked across each paw and one orange-gold stitch for the flame. Mara knits these after supper in the quiet kitchen, setting each finished mitten on the sill while the real candle keeps watch over Loxton.

A pair of small grass-green wool mittens, each with a tiny knit football in cream and walnut across the back of the paw, on a weathered pine plank beside a ball of matching green yarn and two steel knitting needles.

The Pitch

Made only in the summer of the World Cup, once every four years. Grass-green wool, dyed with nettle and a little weld, with a small football worked across the back of each paw: panels of cream and walnut, no bigger than a thumbnail. Mara knits these with one eye on the match and one on her needles, and swears the dropped stitches are always the referee's fault. A hamster in these is ready for extra time.