Welcome to The Basque Knitter.
Offering patterns, retreats, and services to Utah’s knitting community. Come join me wherever you are on your knitting journey!
Meet the Basque Knitter
Hello Knitters! I’m Lisa.
While I’m a Salt Lake City native, my grandparents are from the Basque Country in Northern Spain. I have a fondness for Spain and all things Basque. It’s my heritage and I treasure it. Using the Lauburu – the Basque Cross – as part of my logo and in my business name is a way I can honor the traditions and heritage of my ancestors.
I’ve been knitting since 1983 and teaching for over 30 years. I love sharing my knowledge of knitting with my students. In particular, I have a zeal for the technical aspects of knitting, and love sharing this fondness with my students to help them flourish in the craft!
While I love all types of knitting, my passion is in the traditional knitting methods and techniques used in creating Fair Isle sweaters and Latvian mittens. In fact, I recently released my first knitting book: Friendship Mitten Book: Techniques for Knitting & Designing Latvian Mittens
What I Offer
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Retreats
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Patterns
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Services
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Resources
New Release! Latvian Mittens: A Techniques Guide ~
New Release! Latvian Mittens: A Techniques Guide ~
Discover the techniques behind beautiful Latvian mittens with Lisa Sewell's newest book, "Latvian Mittens: A Techniques Guide for Knitters." This focused guide walks knitters through the full technical foundation of Latvian mitten construction — the two-color cast-on, the fringe, the braid, and shaping the thumb — alongside three complete patterns for beginner, intermediate, and advanced knitters.
Downloadable Knitting Patterns
All of my patterns are original, unique, and emphasize traditional knitting techniques – Fair Isle, Latvian, Norwegian, and more. All of my patterns are available for download here (or through my Ravelry site). When you purchase a pattern, you’ll receive a downloadable PDF with every step explained!
“Because I took an Introduction to Knitting class with Lisa 5 years ago, a new world of creativity has opened to me. Lisa is a fantastic teacher—she's patient, organized, generous with her experience and materials. I would recommend her to anyone who wants to learn to knit, or to become a better knitter.”
— KANDACE STEADMAN, BASQUE KNITTER STUDENT
If you have a Ravelry account, you can access the Rosie Friendship Mitten pattern on Ravelry instead.
This pair of mittens is featured as Design #17 in my book: “Friendship Mitten Book - Techniques for Knitting & Designing Latvian Mittens” published in September, 2023 (sold out), in which each of the 20 designs were named for a friend.
I used TINES yarn, a fingering-weight yarn I source from the TINES Shop in Riga, Latvia. In order to get the crispness needed for the pattern design to show, and the durability for lasting wear, select a high-twist, durable fingering weight yarn.
Gauge is critical - please do a gauge swatch over the two-color chart of the mitten hand. The mittens are sized for a medium hand -- 8” mitten in circumference after blocking. To make a larger or smaller mitten, size up or down in needle size.
This pattern includes how to make the Latvian braid. For a more comprehensive understanding of the techniques used in making Latvian mittens, check out my new book: Latvian Mittens: A Techniques Guide for Knitters.