Knitting Newfoundland Fishermans Mitts

Having a fisherman for a husband, I have certain duties that most women don't have. The duty that comes to mind is knitting the fishermans mitt. The fisherman's mitt is a creature with a mind and personality of its own!

I remember, nearly 20 years ago, when we first got together, my husband told me he needed some mitts for fishing. I said "Well, why don't you go buy some?" He explained to me that mitts made from sheep wool were the warmest thing you could wear in the boat, and no matter how cold the water in the ocean was, and how wet your hands got, if you had a good pair of sheep wool mitts, your hands didn't get cold.

So, I bought a hank of wool and took a look at the mitts he already had. (ones his mother made him for the year before) They were very small. They barely came to his wrist. So I started knitting. After a day or so, I had one mitten done. He and his mother looked at it, and started to laugh. "Thats too small," he informed me. It didn't look small. It was the same size as the ones he already had. After they were done laughing, they explained to me that sheeps wool shrinks at an incredible rate, expecially after being exposed to salt water, and that I would have to knit them nearly 3 times the size they were now.

I didn't like that. I my younger days, I wanted near-instant results, and I didn't want to spend 2 weeks on one pair of mittens. (I used to knit a lot slower than I do now). I set out to knit the mitts. We have a big family joke now about the one mitt I knit for him the first year we were together.

Recently, I have been knitting mittens. A lot of them. I have adaped my mitten pattern to my Ultimate Knitting Machine, and now, I have fisherman mitts coming out the ying-yang! I love knitting them, both by hand (as a passtime in the evening when I am watching TV) and on my knitting machine (which I use when someone wants some mitts knit in a hurry. I can make 2 pair a day with the machine)

The trick to these mitts is to make them nice and big. They almost look exaggerated when you put them on your hands. Before I give them to the intended recipient, I shrink them down in the washer, in hot water and a bit of suds. I put them in a pillow case and close it with a chip clip and run them through twice, about 14 minutes each time. They magically shrink to the perfect dimensions.

My husband brags that he has the warmest hands on the Bay of Islands because of my mitts. A lot of fishermen now go with the orange plastic gloves, probably for the simple fact that their mothers are gone and their wives don't know how to make them.

I made a pair for my husband's cousin, and he lost the right-hand mitt the first day of the season, so I gave him another pair, for which I was promised 20 pounds of crab! When I get the crab, I will put up another post, with pictures, of how to make the world's best crab-au-gratin!
Gotta go make some more mitts!

Ginger Tea for Flu Relief

I woke up this morning with a congested, sore chest. I feel rotten and miserable. I am not a person who gets sick a lot. The last time I was ill was over 2 years ago, at which time, I decided to look for a natural solution to get me better, and keep me better. And it worked, until I got lazy and stopped doing it.

My solution is a strong pot of ginger tea once a week. I grate a 2 inch piece of ginger into a teapot, pour boiling water over it, add a bit of honey and the juice from half a lemon and let it sit for about 10 minutes. It is a little spicy, but once you get used to how it tastes, you'll be hooked. But you have to do it once a week. In helping my husband get ready for lobster fishing, I neglected to do this, and after a cold, miserable trip out into the Atlantic Ocean, I am sorry I was not more vigilant.

I have read that there are compounds in ginger that actually kill the flu virus, and I am a true believer. I will be going now, and making my tea. If you have a cold or flu, load up on the ginger tea, and let me know how it worked for you.