One of my favourite period dramas is Starz’s Outlander, based on the time-travelling series of novels of the same name by Diane Gabaldon. I love the score, the film locations, the actors, and, of course, the costumes from the first series.
Have you ever spotted something in a movie or TV series and thought, ‘I would really like to wear that’? That is what I and many others thought when we saw the Celtic knot mittens worn by Claire (Caitriona Balfe) at Castle Leoch in Outlander S1. Thankfully, my friend Samantha tracked down the maker of these Outlander knits a few years ago: Flora from Inner Wild.
Miss Flora Kennedy from North Uist (one of the islands in the Hebrides), Scotland enjoyed reading Diana’s Outlander novels long before the TV series was produced. Many of the fine handknit items you see (read her blog post and The Scotsman article, and see photos of her knits in Outlander) in the TV series were bought by Terry Dresbach’s costume department from her Etsy shop. The unisex Celtic Mitts that we love retail for £42. Although the original colour worn by Claire is no longer available, buyers can choose from 67 colours of pure superwash wool from Rowan. At first, I wanted to go with Granite/charcoal as it was the closest to the ones worn by Claire and was neutral (could match whatever I wear). On the other hand, I was tired of wearing blacks and greys. I wasn’t after having the exact copy so I chose Hawthorn, a lovely mix of ‘green with heather’, since the description reminded me of my visit to Scotland. I admire Flora’s talent (for I cannot knit or crochet) and I was happy to have an authentic item from Scotland.
My Celtic mitts arrived on Saturday, neatly wrapped in dark blue tissue paper and tied with blue-and-black yarn. There is also a card attached to the parcel with a handwritten thank you from Flora. I especially liked how the card had ‘breathe dearheart, breathe’ as I usually forget to relax and focus on breathing.
My Celtic Mitt by Inner Wild in Hawthorn
I immediately brought my mitts along with me even though it was much milder that day. I find every occasion to wear it and look forward to the next cold day (this is very uncommon for a summer child to say so) to wear it outside.
Thank you very much, Flora!
If you are interested in other Outlander merchandise from the UK, take a look at the following:
- Outlander tartan from Gretna Green
- Outlander-inspired jewellery from Hamilton & Young
- Outlander glasses from Georgian Glassmakers
Update: I later bought the longer Celtic Princess Gauntlets made from pure merino wool in ‘Pacific’ (similar to sea green):
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The Lady and the Rose 
