A mitten is a type of glove that covers the hand but does not have separate finger openings or sheaths. Generally, mittens still separate the thumb from the other four fingers. They have different colours and designs. Mittens provide greater

thermal insulation Thermal insulation is the reduction of heat transfer (i.e., the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature) between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Thermal insulation can be achieved with ...

than gloves as they have a smaller surface area exposed to the cold, but have a trade-off in dexterity. Mittens are associated with cold weather, children's clothing, comfort and various occupational uses. In the English-speaking world, they also have a cultural association with domestic cats, as in the

Three Little Kittens "Three Little Kittens" is an English language nursery rhyme, probably with roots in the British folk tradition. The rhyme as published today however is a sophisticated piece usually attributed to American poet Eliza Lee Cabot Follen (1787–18 ...

. Mittens are a common sight on ski slopes, as they not only provide extra warmth but extra protection from injury. They are also recommended as part of

extreme cold weather clothing Extreme cold weather clothing refers to clothing for arctic or mountainous areas. Its primary function is to trap air as an insulator to prevent heat loss from the wearer's body. Secondary and necessary is to conduct water vapor away from the body ...

. Oven mitts are worn in the kitchen to protect the hands from hot objects.

History

Humans have likely used mittens for millennia, but wool and other materials used to construct clothing

biodegrade Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegradati ...

quickly, which limits the amount of extant relics. From Ancient Egypt several depictions of mittens survive, and some gloves found at Egyptian pyramids have been described as resembling mittens, with the collection of

egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religiou ...

Robert Hay supposedly having contained a "linen sleeve and mitten in one piece." Some of the earliest clearly identifiable mittens date to around 1000 A.D. in Latvia, and mittens continue to be part of Latvian

national costume A folk costume (also regional costume, national costume, traditional garment, or traditional regalia) expresses an identity through costume, which is usually associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. It can also indicat ...

today. Another example is a specimen found during the excavations of the

Early Medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

trading town of

Dorestad Dorestad (''Dorestat, Duristat'') was an early medieval emporium, located in the southeast of the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands, close to the modern-day town of Wijk bij Duurstede. It flourished during the 8th to early 9th centuries, ...

in the Netherlands: In the harbour area a mitten of wool was discovered dating from the 8th or early 9th century. Two left-handed leather mittens found on the

Mary Rose The ''Mary Rose'' (launched 1511) is a carrack-type warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. She served for 33 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany. After being substantially rebuilt in 1536, she saw her ...

are believed to be have been used for falconry, whereas in modern times gloves or gauntlets are used for this purpose. From Elizabethan times,

embroidered Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on c ...

"gauntlet mittens" survive which were made from crimson silk

velvet Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...

satin A satin weave is a type of fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back. It is one of three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside plain weave ...

and

sequin A sequin () is a small, typically shiny, generally disk-shaped ornament. Sequins are also referred to as paillettes, spangles, or ''diamanté'' (also spelled ''diamante''). Although the words sequins, paillettes, lentejuelas, and spangles can ...

s, with the thread and floss dyed in twelve different colours. When knitting became more popular in England in the 16th century, mittens were produced at home from wool. One of the earliest known mittens for children survives from this period. The is a form of

circular knitting Circular knitting or knitting in the round is a form of knitting that creates a seamless tube. Work in the round is begun by casting on stitches as for flat knitting but then joining the ends of that row of stitches to form a circle. Knittin ...

, and modern knitters often use a circular needle. Many people around the Arctic Circle have used mittens, including other

Baltic peoples The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. One of the features of Baltic languages is the number ...

, Native Americans and

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

Types

Fold mitten Klappfäustling 2 in 1 Handschuh 07

Mittens are made from several materials, including wool, leather and fur. From the late 18th century, knitting patterns were published which allowed to inscribe poems on knitted mittens. Special types of mittens include: Hestra Index-Finger Ski Gloves

Hunter's mittens – In the 1930s, special woolen mittens were introduced that had a flap located in the palm of the mitten so a hunter could have his finger free to fire his weapon. Scratch mitts do not separate the thumb, and are designed to prevent babieswho do not yet have fine motor controlfrom scratching their faces. However, they are usually not recommended anymore as they can prevent the newborn's natural behaviour of sucking on its hand and gaining tactile experience. Corded mittens are two mittens connected by a length of yarn, string or lace, threaded through the sleeves of a coat. This arrangement is typically provided for small children to prevent the mittens becoming discarded and lost; when removed, the mittens simply dangle from the string just beyond the cuff of the sleeve.

In popular culture

The

West and East Mitten Buttes The West and East Mitten Buttes (also known as the Mittens) are two buttes in the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in northeast Navajo County, Arizona. When viewed from the south, the buttes appear to be two giant mittens with their thumbs f ...

, a land formation in the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona, popularly known as 'The Mittens', are so called because when viewed from the south, the buttes appear to be two giant mittens with their thumbs facing inwards. The

Lower Peninsula of Michigan The Lower Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Lower Michigan – is the larger, southern and less elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; the other being the Upper Peninsula, which is separated by the S ...

is nicknamed "The Mitten" due to its cartographic shape, and includes

The Thumb The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of the Tri-Cities and north of M ...

. '' The Mitten'' is a popular Ukrainian folktale that has been translated into other languages. "

Mittens A mitten is a type of glove that covers the hand but does not have separate finger openings or sheaths. Generally, mittens still separate the thumb from the other four fingers. They have different colours and designs. Mittens provide greater th ...

" is a Christmas song by Carly Rae Jepsen that reached number 26 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart in 2010. During the

inauguration of Joe Biden The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States took place on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, marking the start of the four-year term of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president. The 59th presidential ...

on January 20, 2021, a photograph of Vermont senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Brendan Smialowski, depicting a masked Sanders sitting on a folding chair wearing winter clothing, most noticeably a large, fluffy pair of mittens, which were made by Vermont elementary school teacher Jen Ellis. The photograph became a popular internet meme.

Domestic cats

A nursery rhyme "

", attributed to

Mother Goose The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. As a character, she appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. This, howeve ...

, narrates a woeful tale of childhood mitten loss through the fanciful title characters: The three little kittens, they lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
"Oh, mother dear, we sadly fear,
That we have lost our mittens."
"What! Lost your mittens, you naughty kittens!
Then you shall have no pie." In the English-speaking world "Mittens" is a popular name for a cat – whether because of the nursery rhyme, or because some cats' fur patterns create

contrasting colours Complementary colors are pairs of colors which, when combined or mixed, cancel each other out (lose hue) by producing a grayscale color like white or black. When placed next to each other, they create the strongest contrast for those two co ...

on their feet, creating the impression they are 'wearing mittens'. In the 1907 children's book ''

The Tale of Tom Kitten ''The Tale of Tom Kitten'' is a children's book, written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. It was released by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1907. The tale is about manners and how children react to them. Tabitha Twitchit, a cat, invites f ...

'' by

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as '' The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was ...

, the title character has a sister named Mittens. The 1959

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular ...

song " My Favorite Things", from the musical ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...

'', includes the lyrics: "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens/Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens".

is a domestic cat in Wellington, New Zealand, who wanders the city's central business district and is fondly regarded by locals and tourists. In the 2008 Disney animated film '' Bolt'', Mittens (voiced by Susie Essman) is a feral cat who helps the title character, a white shepherd dog voiced by John Travolta, find his way home.

Gallery

File:Vårfiske på Vardø - L0049 770Fo30141609280058.jpg, Norwegian cod fisherman using mittens (1955) File:Want van leer met gekleurde en geborduurde kappen, BK-KOG-981-A.jpg, Leather mittens with colored and embroidered caps, Western Europe (1600-1650) File:Greenland Inuit mitts with depilated palms and cord.jpg, Men's seal fur mittens with

sealskin Sealskin is the skin of a seal. Seal skins have been used by aboriginal people for millennia to make waterproof jackets and boots, and seal fur to make fur coats. Sailors used to have tobacco pouches made from sealskin. Canada, Greenland, Norwa ...

palm and trim. East Greenland Inuit, Ammassalik distrikt, Tasiilak File:Bybyhandschuhe 2011 PD 05.JPG, Corded mittens reduce loss, childwear File:Baking glove.jpg, Oven mitt, protective wear File:ATLNZ 11714.jpeg, Members of the

Discovery Expedition The ''Discovery'' Expedition of 1901–1904, known officially as the British National Antarctic Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since the voyage of James Clark Ross sixty years earlier (1839–18 ...

wearing thick fur mittens (1902) File:Mittens, Naskapi, collected in the early 20th century - Native American collection - Native American collection - Peabody Museum, Harvard University - DSC05828.jpg,

Naskapi The Naskapi (Nascapi, Naskapee, Nascapee) are an Indigenous people of the Subarctic native to the historical country St'aschinuw (ᒋᑦ ᐊᔅᒋᓄᐤ, meaning 'our nclusiveland'), which is located in northern Quebec and Labrador, neighb ...

leather mittens

References