By Ingeborg Nærland Skjærpe

Editor’s Note: The object chosen by the author for this in-depth study about communicating with museum audiences is the mula mitten used by fishermen in Norway. This article is a shortened version focusing on the mitten itself. The full article, with much more discussion of museum practices and how to communicate history to audiences, is available in English here (text only), The original Norwegian version, published in Sjå Jæren 2011, the yearbook of the Jærmuseet, is here.

This article is based on a study in museum communication at Oslo University College in the spring of 2009. Starting with the theme “Museum – Collection and Communication,” we were to focus on an object that we selected from a collection and about which we wished to communicate to others. Most museums have objects that are not well documented and that have been kept more or less hidden in storage. We could ask questions such as why do we collect, or what kind of values could such collections have? Many objects deserve to be brought to light, but for this thesis I wanted to choose a textile object and decided on a mitten, a “mula” mitten, chosen from the collection of the regional museum in Jæren, Jærmuseet. The mitten appeared in an exhibition about herring fishing, but was gray and anonymous and did not make much of a statement. At the same time it fascinated me, lying there large and spacious, with two thumbs.

I wanted to find out more about such mittens. Why do they look like this? How are they made? And who made them? Good mittens were important for fishing, and it was a lot of work for the women to arrange everything the men needed to bring with them. Could this be conveyed to children so that they would understand it? And could it have any meaning for us today?

What is a mula mitten?

My first encounter with the word was in Hauglandsviså [Haugland’s Song], a song of unknown origin that was released as a record in 1980 by the group “Vind i gardhol” [Wind in the Farmyard]. This song was about someone who does everything backwards when they have to bring in the hay and is played and sung a lot in this area. Although it mentions someone wearing mula mittens it doesn’t say much about what a mula mitten is.

The registration card for the museum says the following: the mitten is made of wool, brownish gray, spøta (knitted) and a little felted. It has two thumbs and was used by herring fishermen. It came to the museum in 1998 together with other things from the estate of Olav O. Nygård, born in 1906 at Bratland in Varhaug.

This was an everyday work mitten. In Jæren, the words spøting and stikking both mean  knitting and are used interchangeably. “Mula mitten” must be a local name and in Jæren it is still in use among older people. Tobias Skretting writes in the book Jæren sing i merg og minne [a book about the Jæren dialect]: “Mula mittens: Home-knitted work mittens that can have one or two thumbs. Those with two have the advantage that they can be turned over and thus distribute the wear. In most work, the mittens wear most in [the palm of] your hand.”

They must have been named because of their appearance, reminiscent of a muzzle on a horse or a cow. In the literature that mention these mittens, they have names such as sjøvottar (sea mittens), fiskjevetter (fish mittens), skålpavette, and lovottar (palm mittens) among others. They were not only used for the herring fishery but also for fishing locally, for the Lofoten fishery and for cod fishing. The word mitten, vott, is found in Old Norwegian as Vottr and in other places as Vettir. 

Svein Molaug in Vår gamle kystkultur [Our Old Coastal Culture] describes when they were going to go fishing in Lofoten: “They had to have sea mittens, three pairs. The mittens were knitted and well felted.”¹ And Gunvor Ingstad Trætteberg writes in the book Skinnhyre og sjøklær [Leather Gear and Sea Clothes] that the fishermen’s work mittens were lovottar. This means that the back of the hand and four fingers fit into the mitten, while the thumb is held separately. She further writes that in western Norway the mittens were called vavette. The word vad means line or fishing line. The mittens had long straps that were wrapped around the wrist. For rowing they used lovottar (palm mittens)or roavottar (rowing mittens). In the 19th century there were two types of mittens in use for fishing: one-thumb mittens and two-thumb mittens. Four pairs of mittens were part of the equipment for a full-time fisherman in Lofoten in 1880, two of each kind.

“The northern Norwegian mittens were particularly good, spacious and made of special wool, so when the ‘southerners’ were in Lofoten, they often bought a few pairs of ‘skålpavette,’ as they called them, according to fishermen from Bømlo in Sunnhordland. Skålpavette were large, heavy mittens with plenty of room in them, much wider than other mittens.”²

Many from Jæren travelled far north to fish, so we can assume that clothing has been fairly similar along the entire Norwegian coast, with some quality variations, and that sea mittens is a generic name for all variations.

In most contexts, it is the “fine” examples of an object that are preserved. We have many richly decorated mittens, with beautiful patterns in various techniques for fine use. But not so many useful, practical work clothes have been preserved. They were preferably used until there was nothing left of them. And they had little “value” as a collector’s item in the past. But the mula mitten can be an example of the great diversity and variations in mittens. Annemor Sundbø has been collecting knitted garments for many years. She describes the mittens she has found as follows: 

“… some mittens are specially adapted to the climate and working life, for example sea mittens and palm mittens. They are to be used in snow, rain, salty seas and storms. The mittens were knitted in double size and were felted until they fit the hand. This made them unusually thick and strong. If dipped in water before use, they were also windproof. Wool insulates heat even when wet. Other gloves are clearly made for fine use. They are knitted from very thin yarn…»¹¹

This mitten has been in several different cultural contexts. We can start with the wool from the sheep and the work process from sheep to finished mitten. It can be used as an image of the work the coastal women did in preparation for fishing. Then we can continue to the equipment chest, which shows the quality of the women’s work. The mitten can then tell about fishing, about wind and weather, catch and toil, and its eventual reuse for shore work. Finally, it can end up in a collection of mittens and help to show diversity.

Preparing for fishing

Before the men would set off, there was a lot that had to be done, and there was usually a clear gender division in this work. The men prepared, arranged and procured fishing equipment and the like. The women arranged food and clothing. There were rules for how much each man should bring with him and it was a huge job to get everything ready.

In the book “-Utmed havet” kystkvinners liv og virk 1920–1940  [“–Along the coast” Coastal Women’s Life and Work 1929-1940], which was prepared for the 50th anniversary exhibition of the AOF [Norwegian Workers Education Association], the foreword states: “Women’s daily life and social work have been underestimated and partly hidden in historical writing and research. This is a result of the production system that has placed women and their tasks at the bottom of the ladder in our society, a society that has primarily been characterized by men’s value norms and positions.”

This was in 1981 and fortunately a lot of research and documentation has been done on the subject in the years since. Elin Strøm lets Tora tell the story in her article in the same book: “What chaos it is in January when Father goes cod fishing! Mother is hardly in bed at night. She has to check over and mend all his clothes, and there is a lot of clothing. Huge sweaters and underwear, thick sea boots, sea mittens and wadmal pants. Everything is made of wool. As the saying goes: Cotton does not protect your health.»¹⁴

The sheriff’s report for Sund and Austevoll, 1861–1865, mention the following clothing requirements for a man engaged in the spring herring fishery:

• 3 shirts
• 2 vests
• 3 undershirts
• 3 overshirts
• 3 underpants
• 3 or 4 pairs of socks
• 1 oiled or leather shirt
• 1 oiled or leather trousers
• 1 sou’wester [hat]
• 1 pair of sea boots
• 1 pair of shoes
• 2 pairs of mittens

The number of mittens varies in different lists. Klausen mentions 4–7 pairs of mittens for the Lofoten fishery in addition to small mittens.¹⁵

«After used for a time, all mittens became too small and hard like felt. When the fishermen came home in the spring, they were completely worn out and cast aside, looking like a crab claw; new ones had to be made each year.”¹⁶

Wool

The mitten can tell us about wool, the material it is made of and the good properties it has. The sources mention the sheep breeds vilsau, utegangarsau, trøndersau and spælsau as well as different names for these breeds with extra qualities of their wool. People stay warm even if their mittens get wet. Natural wool, [untreated with chemicals], will become felted and thicker in use and warmer afterwards and thus these “fish mittens” were also very good afterwards for using in soil cultivation and stone working. In previous times they were really thick, warm and durable. In the book Skinnhyre og sjøklær Gunvor Ingstad Trætteberg writes that sources from the second half of the 18th century and later agree that wool from the vild-fåret (wild sheep, spælsau) was the best wool for sea use. 

This wool has long, smooth guard hair, which allows water to run off and at the same time provides warmth. The wool that was to be used for sea mittens was taken from the back, and halfway down the thighs and sides of the animal. In western Norway, mittens made of wool combined with horsehair and goat hair were also used. These did not shrink like mittens made of pure wool and did not absorb moisture either. She also mentions dog and fox hair, and mittens made of women’s hair mixed with wool. 

“No mitten was warmer than these.” But for rowing, pure wool rovottar (rowing mittens) pure wool mittens were the best.¹⁷ The women gathered their combed out hair and spun it together with wool into yarn. This made extra strong socks and mittens.¹⁸ 

Nordstrand writes in Kystkvinner; kvardagsportrett frå Hordalandskysten [Coastal Women; Everyday Portraits from the Hordaland Coast] that wool was the most important product from the utegangarsau (primitive sheep) and it was carefully sorted. The animals have long, coarse outer hairs and finer undercoats, fibers very suitable for clothing. The long outer fibers were often collected separately and used to make mittens. This way the fisherman did not freeze even if his hands were wet.¹⁹ The grey Trøndelag sheep was called the  sjøvott-sau (sea-mitten sheep) because it was well known for having very good quality wool and making very warm clothing. Undyed wool was used because it was the warmest.

How is the mitten made?

The mitten can be a starting point for telling the whole story from sheep to mitten. We can start with shearing the sheep, carding and spinning the wool, knitting the mitten and finally felting it. This will allow one to visualize how much work was needed to provide warm clothing for the whole family in the past. The oldest mittens were made with nålbinding (knotless netting). Trætteberg did not find any existing nålbinding mittens used for fishing, the preserved specimens are for finer use. Knitting is newer, but known in Norway from at least the 17th century.

“The finished mitten could be up to half a meter long and have a thumb so big that the whole fist could fit in it. A fisherman from Kanstadfjorden, Lødingen in Nordland, said that the mitten his father used was so big that when he was little, his upper body would slide right into the mitten.”²⁰

Elin Strøm relates: “Ole (9 years old) has to felt sea mittens. A sea mitten is huge when it is finished, and it has two thumbs. Ole puts the mitten in warm water and it shrinks. He then rubs the mitten against a felting board so that it becomes fluffy. A felting board is a wooden board with grooves. It resembles a washboard. Ole has to rub for hours before the mitten is finished. But by then it has become thick and good. Such mittens keep warm even when they are wet.”²¹

In Det store lappeteppet  [The Great Patchwork Quilt], Clayhills notes that “It could be a matter of life and death. All the clothes had to be extra warm and extra durable. The underwear, the mittens and what the men wore on their feet were literally vital. If their hands froze and went numb, the catch could be lost and the boat capsized. It was woolen garments that made it possible to work despite the cold and wet. …The sea mittens that Lofoten fishing required were truly super mittens. For these, they used the finest wool, spun into thick yarn. They were knitted on coarse needles and made so large that they only fit after they had been felted and thus became strong and dense. There were several ways to felt. Some dipped the mittens in boiling water, smeared them with soft soap and rolled them on a tovfjøl (grooved wooden board). Others folded the tip of the mitten in half and secured it with a piece of thread. When the mittens had felted from use in salt water, they cut off the binding and the mittens were still big enough. Many people carded the mittens on the inside so that they would be extra warm and comfortable.” 

Such mittens often had two thumbs so that they would wear evenly all around. The sailors had to carry several pairs with them on the boat, to replace those that became frozen solid. One way to thaw frozen mittens was to hang them over the edge in the sea.²² 

Not everyone liked this type of mitten. The extra thumb got in the way during work. The mittens also became very felted and hard when used on both sides. In Jæren, people started buying the yarn ready-made when the spinning mill came in at the end of the 19th century. 

Who knitted – and when? 

Everyone had to learn the techniques they needed to produce clothing. Grandmothers knitted while they cradled small children. Everyone knitted whenever they could – even when they were out walking or rowing. From the age of seven, the children had to take part in the adults’ working lives. Until the age of ten, both boys and girls lived with their mothers and had roughly the same work tasks. The women usually always had knitting in hand. They fastened the ball of yarn to their clothes with a hook and knitted while they walked. Some men also used their free time to knit. Jørgen Skjæveland from Bjerkreim has described knitting: 

“It was primarily women who knitted, but men could also help in the evenings when they had time… women knitted at all times. They knitted wherever they went, when they went to and from the hayfield and the market square, when they hunted the cows and went to other farms. Then they had the yarn under their left arm. Yes, during the midday break when the men took a nap, the women would often sit and knit. They would knit when they were tending to the food, when they were cooking, when they were sitting and reading the Bible. Often the wives would gather on the farm and sit and talk about other people and knit so much that the needles rattled. They didn’t have to think about the knitting, it happened automatically. Occasionally they would stick the spare fifth needle up in their hair.  They didn’t say they were going for a visit, but that they were going “with the knitting”… In the evenings, the grown-up girls would gather and compete in knitting. They would measure out a certain length of thread and tie a knot, and then see who would reach the knot first. They would sit for so long in the evenings that their eyes would droop and the knitting fall into their laps. Then they put a broken match as a small prop on the eyelid so they couldn’t fall asleep. This was called a “plunntre”. But on Sunday the needles were put to rest, because it was a great sin to knit on a holy day.”²³

Knitting for extra income

Some women discovered that there was money to be made from knitting. “The women were happy to trade when it was necessary. Especially those who lived near Bergen could make a few kroner at the town market. They often accompanied the men when they went to the market square to sell fish. The goods sold were butter, eggs, berries and perhaps leather. They also sold socks and mittens… ”²⁴

Grimstvedt, in the article “Spøt til salg, strikking som binæring i Rogaland før 1900” [“Knitting for sale, knitting as a secondary occupation in Rogaland before 1900],” indicates that a lot of knitted goods were traded at the market square in Stavanger. Goods were also sent to Flekkefjord, Kristiansand and Arendal. What is mentioned is often socks, sweaters and hats, but in several places the products are only described as knitted goods. Mittens are mentioned in a list of local products sent to an exhibition of fishing equipment in Boulogne in 1866. Fishing equipment and fishing products were prominent, however out of 57 submitters, ten sent knitted goods. 

Grimstvedt has used a fishing mitten as an illustration for the article, so we can probably assume that they are counted among the knitted goods. Grimstvedt has said that she interviewed Magna Kristine Husebø, born in Sirevåg (12/22/1906). She moved to Jåsund, Tanger when she got married. There she knitted mittens and delivered them to Danielsen Skipshandel [ship chandler] in the 1930s. 

Fishing mittens were knitted large and were felted through use. They often had two thumbs, so that they could be worn on both sides. From Sirevåg it is said that after the mittens were felted for fishing, they were used for stone work. At that time they were called ‘lo-vette’ ”.²⁵

Today

Clayhills ends her book with thoughts about textile work up to the present day. She writes that this is a women’s tradition, and if industry now takes over production, women still continue to create things with their hands. This can take the form of copying ready-made patterns, or through using creative, free imagination. But there is a danger that knowledge and techniques will be forgotten if we do not consciously collect documentation, maintain it, and find new uses for old techniques. She points out that the background must be recorded and that textile techniques and women’s work must be given a greater presence in rural areas and museums. “…all materials are important, they should finally come out of chests and drawers, even those that have never had status or been seen as nice. All pieces must be included in the great patchwork quilt if it is to have the right pattern.”²⁶

Fortunately judging from my experience, things have changed since then. But there is still much that can be done, and done better. It is equally important to document, film, and collect the lessons to be learned from those who know how to do things in practice.

In recent years, knitting and felting have become relevant again. The technique has been used in many new patterns for slippers, mittens, nissar (elves), scarves, hats, and more. Fashion and clothing designers have made dresses and coats. At the same time, we have knitting cafés as a new alternative to going “with knitting” as they did in the past.

It also seems that sea mitten knitting has experienced a resurgence, as coastal and craft associations have in recent years organized courses in knitting sea mittens. For an exhibition in Vefsn Museum in 2007 called Masker mellom generasjoner [“Stitches Between Generations],” a competition was announced: “Knit sea mittens! The traditional sea mittens were important for fishermen when they were at sea in the old days. But what would they look like if women were to wear them? General Manager at Vefsn Museum, Janicken Olsen, encourages knitters to participate in the competition to knit sea mittens, designed for women.”

Today the tradition has been interrupted, it is “no longer practiced as a holistic connection in one and the same place” according to Amy Lightfoot. She is the American who came to Norway and has taught Norwegians about their own traditions. In the project “Sea Mittens,” she has had to travel to Shetland and the Faroe Islands among other places to gain insight into the connection between sheep farming methods and the production of wool suitable for sea clothing. This also applies to tools and their use in the production of clothing.

“Everyday textiles and their associated craft traditions reflect less visible values. The men’s efforts in Lofoten fishing, and the money they brought home, have been appreciated. But the women and their efforts to equip the men for the very same fishing have only been mentioned and valued in recent years. The women prepared men’s equipment almost all year round, and only the best was good enough. The women at home were also judged by the contents of the chest!»²⁷ 

Translation by Katherine Larson
Affiliate Assistant Professor
Department of Scandinavian Studies
University of Washington, Seattle

Notes

• 1  Molaug p. 280
• 2  Trætteberg p. 162-166
• 3  Lecture at Oslo University College 19 February 2009
• 4  Suzanne Keene p.172
• 5  Gardner p. 189.
• 6  Falk and Dierking p. 137
• 7  Hooper-Greenhill p. 21
• 8  Hooper-Greenhill «Model» p. 35
• 9  Hooper-Greenhill p. 67
• 10  Hein p. 73 – 79
• 11  Sundbø p. 133
• 12  Sivertsen p. 32
• 13  Sivertsen p. 116
• 14  Strøm 1981 p. 15
• 15  Clause p. 24
• 16  Trætteberg p. 166
• 17  Trætteberg p. 163
• 18  Schrumpf p. 53
• 19  Nordstrand p. 43
• 20  Trætteberg pp. 162 – 163
• 21  Power p. 16
• 22  Clayhills pp. 83 and 84
• 23  Grimstvedt pp. 31 – 32
• 24  Norstrand p. 33
• 25  Grimsvedt p. 46
• 26  Clayhills pp. 144 – 147
• 27  http://www.nfk.no/artikkel.aspx?MId1=582&AId=3714 (Note: this link is dead, 4/8/2026

References:

Arbeidernes Opplysningsforbund. (1981). –Utmed havet: Kystkvinners liv og virke 1920 – 1940. Oslo: Tiden

Blythe, T. (1998). The teaching for understanding guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Clayhills, H. (1984). Det store lappeteppet: Også ei kvinnehistorie. Oslo: Samlaget

Falk, J. H. & Dierking, L. D. (2000) Learning from museums: Visitors experiences and the making of meaning. American Association for State and Local History book series. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira

Gardner, H. (2000). The disciplined mind: Beyond facts and standardized tests, the k-12 education that every child deserves. USA: Penguin

Grimstvedt, M. (1983). Spøt til salg: Strikking som binæring I Rogaland før 1900. Årbok for Stavanger Museum. Stavanger: Gjøstein

Hein, G.E. (2004). The constructivist museum. I: Hooper-Greenhill, E. The Educational Role of the Museum. London & New York: Routledge

Helgeland museum. Strikkekonkurranse. Lokalisert på verdsveven 17. april 2009:

Holtet, M. (2006, oktober 06) Grå trøndersau. Norsk Landbruksmuseum. Lokalisert på Verdsveven 27. april 2009.

Hooper-Greenhill, E. (2004). ). Education, communication and interpretation: towards a critical pedagogy in museums. I: The Educational Role of the Museum. London & New York: Routledge

Keene, S. (2005). Fragments of the World: Uses of Museum Collections. Great Britain

Klausen, A. K. (2005). Masker mellom generasjoner: Strikking som husflid, hobby, mote og symbol. Helgeland Museum

Molaug, S. (1985). Vår gamle kystkultur 1-2. Oslo: Dreyer

Nordland Fylkeskommune & Den kulturelle skolesekken. Ivott. Lokalisert på Verdsveven 27. april 2009:

Nordstrand, H. (2000). Kystkvinner: Kvardagsportrett frå Hordalandskysten. Bergen: Eide

Norsk Landbruksmuseum.

Pedersen, R. (2008). Gjenstand og tekst. Tradisjon og fornyelse: Festskrift til Liv Hilde Boe: By og bygd XLI. Oslo: Norsk Folkemuseum

Sivertsen, J. (2002). Vitenskap og rasjonalitet. Oslo: Gyldendal

Schrumpf, E. (1981). Først oppe og sist i seng. Kvinner langs kysten i mellomkrigstida. – Utmed havet: Kystkvinners liv og virke 1920 – 1940. Oslo: Tiden

Shuh, J. H. ((2004). Teaching yourself to teach with objects. I: Hooper-Greenhill, E. The Educational Role of the Museum. London & New York: Routledge

Skretting, T. (1998). Jæren syng i merg og minne. Bryne: Jærbladet

Strøm, E. (1981) Tora forteller. – Utmed havet: Kystkvinners liv og virke 1920 – 1940. Oslo: Tiden

Sundbø, A. (1994). Kvardagsstrikk: Kulturskattar frå fillehaugen. Oslo: Samlaget

Trætteberg, G. I. (1999). Skinnhyre og sjøklær: Fiskarbondens utrustning på 1700- og 1800-tallet. Oslo: Landbruksforlaget

Valberg, L. (2006, november, 06) Strikk sjøvotter. Helgeland Arbeiderblad. Lokalisert 27. april 2009

Personal communication 

Grimstvedt, M. Samtale 3.04.2009

Pedersen, R. Førelesing ved Høgskolen i Oslo 18.02.2009

Rogan, B. Førelesing ved Høgskolen i Oslo 19.02.2009