The main differences in Latvian National Ornaments

          At present, more than 5500 Latvian mittens patterns are registered and each of them is unique. Some similar elements can be found in different motives of the pattern, but the rhythm of the motive, the colour, the design of the cuff or the palm, the combination of stitches will not be the same.

           Officially, in Latvia until 2009, there were 553 governmental regions. Today they are joined into 109. It's not just simply the figures - each governmental region has its own tradition in national costumes and the preferences in ornament. Those who are keen on Ethnography easily recognize which costume comes from what region and even village.

           We would observe four main regions - Kurzeme, Zemgale, Vidzeme, Latgale, and their specific characters in elements of the ornament.

KURZEME
           Western region of Latvia, Kurzeme - it is a windy shore of the Baltic Sea with lighthouses, ports of Liepaja and Ventspils, deserted beaches and fishing villages in dunes. The unique architecture of Kurzeme Kuldigi and other cities - a real national pride of the country. Here is one of the largest waterfalls in Europe - Venta Rumba and certainly the most beautiful places for rural tourism.  Kurzeme Ethnographic region covers a relatively large western part of the country and, therefore, there is a great variety of patterns and color combinations in ornament.

             Mittens from North Kurzeme and Southern Kurzeme differ sharply

         In Northern Kurzeme the dominated designs are stars or the sun, which are connected by intermediate small patterns - elements or singles
         The ornament on the upper and lower parts of mittens is also different, and it is essential to use a special strip pattern - "belt" between the cuff and the mitten palm
        Mittens for work traditionally are designed with small patterns, but mittens for a gift - large and bright expressive geometric stylized elements of flowers or stars
         Colors are mostly  selected on the contrast:
         Black- white
         Red - Yellow
         Red - Blue
         Black - Blue - Orange
         Black - Green - Red
       * In case of Livu mittens the colors are changed for light green combined with dark blue.

           In South Kurzeme a dark background is essential: black or dark brown, dark blue, indigo combined with bright red, green, blue, yellow.
        Large stylized patterns  with small squares, stripes, zigzags.
        In the "belt" between the cuffs and the palm there are three primary color stripes , and the "belt" is radically different from the main color palette of mittens
        Fringe - as the beginning of mittens - is the state of the maiden or unmarried woman.
        In other cases, the mitten is started with plane rows