Want to knit a pair of mittens for yourself or anyone you know? If so, these mitten knitting patterns will be of interest. The following are the best mitten knitting pattern books I’m currently aware of:
1.Selbu Mittens: Discover the Rich History of a Norwegian Knitting Tradition with Over 500 Charts and 35 Classic Patterns
If you’re hoping to find a massive book filled with mitten knitting patterns, plus historical information about European mitten design — specifically, about the historic pattern designs native to Norway’s Selbu region — this is the book for you.
The authors of Selbu Mittens decided to create a thorough and exhaustive reference book on the topic of Selbu mittens, and they did an impressive job of achieving this goal. They interviewed countless people, pursued numerous leads, and dug through records and mitten samples that had long been buried in museum archives.
They spent a mind-boggling amount of time and effort putting this book together.
So the book ended up being a sizable, hefty volume of mitten motif patterns and historic information on both the techniques and history of mitten knitting — and, by extension, knitting in general — in Norway’s Selbu region.
This didn’t end up being a dull, dry history book, though. There are 500+!!!! charted-out motif patterns for knitting stars, borders, flowers and other designs, and the book also includes helpful, relevant technical information about how mittens are constructed. If you’re either a knitting pattern designer, or an aspiring knitting pattern designer, you will probably find this book invaluable, because there are NO other books I know of that devote so much effort in communicating historic methods of mitten construction. AND, not only that, you also get 35 ready-made mitten knitting patterns designed by some of Norway’s most talented knitters and designers.
If you’re interested in knitting mittens, or in learning about the history of knitting, or in Scandinavian history, you’re likely to enjoy this book.
Learn More About Selbu Mittens:
- Click or tap here to read my full-length book review of Selbu Mittens.
- Click / tap here to shop for this book at Amazon.
2. Icelandic Mittens: 25 Traditional Patterns Reimagined
This book called Icelandic Mittens is similar in some ways to the Selbu Mittens book I mentioned above:
- Like Selbu Mittens, this book’s focus is historic mitten knitting patterns that the author rescued from museum archives and re-created using yarns that are currently accessible to today’s knitters.
- This book is also part knitting pattern book and part textile history book.
- Both books seamlessly combine the vintage and the new to give you knitting patterns that are timeless, wearable classics which will not soon be outdated.
The main differences between these books, that I can see:
- The books preserve history from two distinctly different countries — Iceland vs Norway;
- And, Selbu Mittens is usable as both a stitch dictionary and a mitten knitting pattern book, because the motif patterns in Selbu Mittens are charted out individually in such a way as to be easily usable in all kinds of other projects beyond just mittens.
In contrast, Icelandic Mittens is very specifically focused on being just a mitten knitting pattern book. The book does include lovely knitting charts, but they are all mitten- and thumb-shaped charts that you’d have to work at adapting to use in other types of projects.
There are other minor differences between these titles besides these. For example, Icelandic Mittens gives you more of a fashion magazine type experience, with the mitten designs being modeled by humans who are wearing lovely, up-to-date, beautifully styled outfits — whereas the mittens in Selbu Mittens are mostly photographed unworn on a flat surface.
I highly recommend both books!
But if you only need one book of mitten knitting patterns, perhaps one of these titles would meet your needs better than the other, depending what you’re looking for.
Learn More About Icelandic Mittens
- You can check out more details in this book review of Icelandic Mittens.
- Click here to shop for this book at Amazon.
3. Winter Knits From Scandinavia: 24 Patterns for Hats, Mittens and Socks
This book includes patterns for knitting mittens, socks, and hats, but most of the patterns are mitten knitting patterns. All together, you get patterns for knitting 13 different pairs of adult-sized mittens, and two different patterns for knitting child-sized mittens, if you buy this book.
The designs you’ll find in the book are all knit using the two-color stranded color knitting technique. This is basically the same type of technique as Fair Isle knitting. To knit these projects, you’ll work in stockinette stitch, changing colors multiple times per row to create the lovely Scandinavian-style pattern designs.
This author also occasionally adds additional duplicate stitch details in other colors. For example, included in the book, there’s an intriguing pair of mittens meant to look like a fox. The fox is mostly orange on a white background. You can add yellow eyes plus black details to the fox’s nose and eyes using duplicate stitch. This approach minimizes the numbers of colors you have to deal with while you’re knitting the mittens.
Design themes presented in the book include animals, butterflies, flower motifs, traditional Scandinavian motifs and others. There are designs suitable for women, men and children.
Beyond just the gorgeous patterns, this book is really beautiful to look at. I really enjoyed the photography presented in the book, too.
Learn More About This Book:
- Click here to read my full-length book review of Winter Knits From Scandinavia.
- Click here to shop for this book at Amazon.com.
Excellent Mitten Knitting Pattern Books That Are Now Out of Print
I’m so sad to find that several of my favorite mitten knitting pattern books have apparently gone out of print. The links below take you to reviews of those books.
I don’t want to send you on a wild goose chase, but it’s possible that you might be able to find copies of them on the secondary market.
Maja’s Swedish Mittens
If you’re hoping to knit new mittens, you have a tough choice ahead of you — because there are mind-boggling numbers of amazing mitten knitting patterns available. Maja’s Swedish Mittens offers you some truly outstanding options to consider. You’ll get the best value from this book if you’re well-versed in the stranded colorwork technique, or you’re willing to learn it. Many, but not all, of the mittens in this book are stranded colorwork designs. There are also patterns for knitting plain mittens, lace mittens, cabled mittens, striped mittens and fingerless gloves.
- Click here to see my detailed book review of Maja’s Swedish Mittens.
- Click here to shop for this book at Amazon.
Jorid Linvik’s Big Book of Knitted Mittens
If you want to knit mittens with “personality” for yourself and everyone you know, this is the book for you. Mittens are the sole focus of this stunning hardcover knitting pattern book. The intricate designs presented in this book would all make for impressive, extraordinary gifts for your loved ones.
Learn More About This Book:
- Click here to get more details in my full-length book review of this title.
- Click here to shop for this book at Amazon.
Those are my current recommendations for best mitten knitting patterns in 2026. I hope you found this roundup helpful, and that you found some amazing mitten patterns to add to your pattern stash.
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By Amy Solovay
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About Your Book Reviewer:
Amy Solovay is a real, live, human content creator and educator who holds an Associate of Arts degree in Textile Design from FIDM LA (The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Sweet Briar College. She is NOT a robot and does not use artificial intelligence (AI) to write book reviews or articles for this website.
Amy learned to hand knit as a teenager, and she learned to machine knit in design school at FIDM. After graduation, she worked in the textile industry as a professional knit designer. She still enjoys hand knitting all these years later.
As an educator, Amy Solovay used to teach in-person college courses in trend forecasting, marketing and surface design at California Design College in Los Angeles. Nowadays she uses online platforms for sharing her knowledge about textiles, crafts, current color trends and current design trends.
If you’re a content creator or brand who would like to collaborate with Amy, you can get in touch via her official website, AmySolovay.com.
More DIY Mittens and Fingerless Gloves:
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- Crochet fingerless glove patterns
- Best crochet accessory pattern books
Related Resources:
Click here to find more of my top picks for 2026’s best knitting books. Whether you’re a beginning knitter, an expert, or somewhere in between, you’ll find suggestions for lovely knitting books that’ll keep your fingers busy and your needles clicking in 2026 and beyond.
Check out the latest knitting, crochet and crafting news: This website features a broad variety of craft ideas, projects and techniques beyond just knitting. If you’d like to take a peek at some of the other craft project ideas I’ve been posting, I invite you to check out the latest posts in my blog.
This page was last updated on 12-29-2025.
