Artifact Archive

These fingerless Norwegian gloves were known as offering mitts and were often worn to church or on other special occasions. In areas where farm work or other manual labor was common they were commonly fingerless or had a decorative extension. These fingerless woolen gloves, donated by Rosalie McCreary, were made using an embroidery technique known as rosesaum that closely resembles the folk art painting style known as rosemaling. The gloves were intentionally knitted in a larger size before a technique known as 'fulling' was used to shrink the mitten to fit the wearer's hand perfectly. This was done by agitating the mittens in hot soapy water, causing the fibers to interlock, shrinking to form a thick, dense fabric. Norwegian mittens were often decorated with regionally specific patterns. Rosesaum embroidered floral mittens flourished in the district of Hallingdal, Norway.