The intellectual contribution of Latvian ethnographic mitten knitters to pattern-making is seldom acknowledged — how to center the motif, maintain proportions between width and height, cuff and main design, and shape the side panels, thumb and decreases. Mathematical precision ensures the pattern fits neatly within the triangular decreases. Pattern drawing involves constant counting, which the knitter continues while changing thread colors, row by row.
Knitted mittens hold not only the magical protection of the ethnographic symbols but also the thousands of counted and spoken stitches of each knitter.