In Bohuslän, socks and mittens were traditionally knitted with a blend of wool and women’s hair, creating warm and water-repellent garments.Fishermen, in particular, would benefit from the double-thumbed design, enabling them to turn the mittens when the inside became wet while working on the lake.
The practice of using hair in knitted garments persisted in Bohuslän until the 1970s, and some fishermen continued wearing hair mittens even into the 1990s. Acquiring hair became challenging in modern times, as one fisherman mentioned obtaining it from a women’s hairdresser, but it was not the same as cut hair. Women collected loose hair from combs, combining it with wool and yarn for knitting. Young girls gathered their hair to knit socks as a gesture of affection for the boys they liked.