Moomin knitting with Novita – patterns, yarn and knitting books

Are you a Moomin fan who is into knitting and crocheting? Lucky you! With the growing trend of both knitting and Moomin, internationally, there is a wide selection of unique yarns and patterns to choose from. Just learn from Moominmamma – knitting is not only a beautiful form of handwork but a meditative exercise!

Established in 1928, Novita is a Finnish family business that is now the largest manufacturer of hand knitting yarns in the Nordic countries. The current Moomin x Novita line of yarns was long-awaited: before 2019, Novita published their previous Moomin-themed yarn collection back in the 1970’s.

Moomin knitting book

In 2022, Novita and Otava Publishing published a knitting book, Onnelliset villasukat (“Happy woollen socks”), with 29 patterns featuring the Moomin family, Hemulen, Stinky, the Hattifatteners and other popular characters from the Moomin stories.

The book offers patterns for both children and adults – everyone will certainly find a design they like! All of the patterns are designed for Moomin x Novita yarns. The yarns, inspired by the Moominhouse and the characters, are playful and full of colour and can be combined with each other in creative ways.

The book is not only filled with inspiring patterns, but it’s also beautiful to browse through. The images are full of warmth and beauty – you can almost imagine yourself wandering around the Moominhouse wearing woollen socks while looking at them!

Part of the Reading, Writing and the Moomins initiative

The patterns in the book are named after each of the 29 letters in the Finnish alphabet. The knitting book is a part of the Reading, Writing and the Moomins initiative, which aims to strengthen the importance and joy of reading and writing in the life of children, youth and adults.

In the image above you can see patterns for letters H and W. The patterns are called Hemulin puutarha (Hemulen’s garden) and Wohoo, Hattivatteja (Wohoo, Hattifatteners)!

The book is available in Finnish in Suomalainen kirjakauppa. Unfortunately it is yet to be translated into other languages.

Images: Roope Permanto

Novita x Moomin yarn

In 2019, Novita published their first collection of Moomin-themed yarns, sold at novitaknits.com. To inspire people knitting with the Moomin x Novita yarns they have also created several new Moominous knitting patterns, published internationally.

The yarns are available internationally via retailers of Novita and at novitaknits.com with delivery available for EU countries. The products are also available for knitters in the US, UK and Europe via Loveknitting.com.

Warmth of the Moominhouse and sea breeze from Moominvalley

The colours of the Moomin x Novita yarns are inspired by Tove Jansson’s classic Moomin books: they remind us of the warmth of the Moominhouse and of the sea breeze in Moominvalley.

The yarns are suitable for a wide range of adult knitwear and, thanks to their soft texture, also for children’s clothes and accessories.

The first collection’s yarns are made of 55 % merino wool and 45 % cotton. The second Novita x Moomin yarn is made of 60% wool for warmth and 40% polyamide for durability and softness.

#OURSEA-themed yarn collection all about the sea-loving Moomins

In 2020, Novita launched a special yarn collection to help raise awareness about the state of the sea that inspired the Moomin stories. Part of the sales were donated to the #OURSEA campaign to help protect the Baltic Sea and its vibrant culture.

To celebrate the 75-year anniversary of the Moomin stories, Moomin Characters Ltd launched a one year long #OURSEA campaign in collaboration with the John Nurminen Foundation. The campaign reached its goal of collecting one million euros for John Nurminen Foundation’s work to save the Baltic Sea and its cultural heritage for future generations.

The big, thrilling and unpredictable sea is a vital part of the Moomin stories. The sea has also been the main inspiration for some of Novita’s yarn collections and the bookazine series.

Moomin x Novita reached an unexpectedly vast popularity

Novita’s Moomin yarns and first pattern bookazines published in Finland reached such high popularity that the first batch sold out in a matter of days. There were a lot of signs of international interest as well.

Molly Pohlig, the Associate Editor of the leading knitting media in the US, Vogue Knitting, told Novita that a post about the new Moomin x Novita yarn collection quickly became one of the most popular posts in Vogue Knitting’s social media channels. “The popularity of the Moomins has grown quickly during the past few years. Still, the popularity of the news surprised me. Vogue Knitting has a lot of followers around the world, but the amount of Moomin fans and these new yarns must explain this”, she told Novita.

Moomin knitting and crochet patterns

Novita also publishes a popular knitting pattern magazine. As part of the magazine, Novita has released a few Moomin x Novita special editions, containing fun patterns for things like Hattifattener socks and a pixel crochet Moomin blanket. These Moomin knitting magazines have been published in Finnish, English, Swedish and Japanese.

The magazines also features life wisdom quotes by Tove Jansson. The Moomin editions are available in stores in Finland, the UK and Japan, and on Novitaknits.com. Each magazine contains new knitting and crochet instructions. All patterns are created by Novita’s renowned design team who are always working on new designs.

The family-loving story of Novita

The story of Novita began 90 years ago, when Ernst Gylfe, the founder of Novita and at the time at the age of 50, set out to fulfill his dream of providing Finns with knitting yarns of finer quality than ever before. He left for Britain to study the making of worsted spun yarn in Bradford, which is known as the birthplace of the European yarn and textile industry. On his return to Finland, he founded his own company and started spinning yarns in Helsinki in 1928.

Today Novita is the largest handknitting spinner in the Nordic countries. Fourth-generation owner Daniela Yrjö-Koskinen runs the company. Her sister and brother, Patricia and Ernst, are also closely involved and serve on the board of directors. “I’m following in the footsteps of my great-grandfather. He made his dream come true by founding the company in Helsinki 90 years ago, and now that I’m running the company as a representative of the fourth generation, I’m living my dream too, building a stronger international presence for our company,” explains Daniela.

Source: Novita