Other patterns

Fourteen 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. Every one of them can be asked for at the order desk, which will write the letter with you.

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.

R360 the set · Ask for this one at the order desk

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.

R435 the set · Ask for this one at the order desk

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.

R435 the set · Ask for this one at the order desk

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.

R435 the set · Ask for this one at the order desk

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.

R360 the set, the same as The Everyday · Ask quietly at the order desk

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.

R510 the set, your jumper's postage aside · Ask for this one at the order desk

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.

R435 the set · Ask for this one at the order desk

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.

R480 the set, last week of October only · Put your name down at the order desk

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.

R480 the set, the week of Christmas Eve only · Put your name down at the order desk

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.

R480 the set, World Cup summers only, next in 2030 · Put your name down at the order desk

A pair of small oatmeal-cream wool mittens, each with a tiny South African flag knit across the back of the paw in red, royal blue, green, gold, black and cream, on a weathered pine plank beside a coil of red, green and gold yarn and two steel knitting needles.

The Proudly South African

Six colours is a great deal to ask of a mitten this size, but Mara manages it: the flag's green Y across the back of each paw, edged in cream and gold, the black triangle at the cuff, a band of red above and royal blue below. She coaxes the red from what the veld gives her and buys the rest in honestly. Knit for Heritage Day, for a test match, for any morning a small flag belongs on a small paw. Mara hums the anthem through once before she casts on, which is, she says, exactly long enough to settle the needles.

R480 the set, Heritage week and test mornings · Ask for this one at the order desk

A pair of small rosehip-pink wool mittens, each with a tiny deep-red heart knit across the back of the paw, on a weathered pine plank beside a coil of matching pink yarn, two steel knitting needles and a sprig of dried rose.

The Valentine

Made only for the second week of February. Soft rosehip-pink wool, dyed with beetroot and a little madder, with a small heart worked in deep red across the back of each paw: plump and a touch lopsided, the way a heart drawn in a hurry always is. Mara knits these two sets at a sitting and never just the one, one to give and one to keep, and she will press a sprig of dried rose into the box if you ask her to. A hamster in these has somebody, even if that somebody is only Mara.

R480 the set, second week of February only · Put your name down at the order desk

A pair of tiny hayfield-gold wool mittens, each with a beetroot-red pocket on the back of the paw, beside sunflower seeds, steel knitting needles and a brass thimble on a weathered pine table.

The Pocket

A pocket on each paw, six stitches square and just deep enough for one sunflower seed. Hayfield wool, with beetroot pockets worked separately and sewn on by hand so the top stays honestly open. Mara puts four seeds in the box for testing. She has yet to hear of one surviving the afternoon, but that is no fault of the knitting. This is the only pattern in the drawer with somewhere to put something, however briefly.

R435 the set · Ask for this one at the order desk

A pair of small red-ochre wool mittens, each with a tiny round slate-grey stone knit across the back of the paw and one cream stitch for the light, on a weathered pine plank beside a smooth grey river pebble, a coil of ochre yarn and two steel knitting needles.

The Imbokodo

Made for the ninth of August, which is Women's Day at home, and again for the eighth of March, which is Women's Day nearly everywhere else; Mara sees no reason a drawer should open only once for this. Red-ochre wool, dyed with earth she digs from the koppie behind the house, with a small round stone worked in slate across the back of each paw: six stitches of grey and one of cream, for the light a river stone keeps. Imbokodo is a grinding stone, and the word twenty thousand women carried up the steps of the Union Buildings in 1956: wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo, you strike a woman, you strike a rock. Mara was not there, and neither were the aunts her needles are named for, and she will tell you that is beside the point. A hamster in these will not be moved, as anyone who has tried to get a hamster out of a sleeve already knew.

R480 the set, the ninth of August and the eighth of March · Put your name down at the order desk