Just Add Hot Water - Felted Mittens

If I haven't said it already (I'm pretty sure I have), I am in LOVE with felting! The stripped bag was my first attempt, followed by the felted needle case, but now I have moved on to mittens! I received a pair for Christmas from Diane, and then immediately asked for the pattern so that I could make my own (the pattern itself is much easier than the other mittens I have made, so I am actually going to adapt it to work for non-felted mittens as well!).

Working on such large needles and few stitches (size 8mm and 28 stitches), you can probably knit the pair of them in one evening (if you knit as much as I do...), and then throw them in the wash to shrink them down. I will say that they do take some monitoring if you are planning on making them in different sizes. For this first attempt, I used up some leftover yarn and just let them run through the entire wash cycle. When they came out, as you can see from the photo (the magazine is for size comparisson), they reduced in size a fair amount, and actually fit my small hands quite nicely.

I realize that not everyone has small hands, so you will want to keep an eye as the wash cycle goes, and check frequently to see what size they are at. When they get to the desired size, take them out and rinse any remaining soap out in cold water, then lay flat to dry. You can also stretch and shape them a bit while they are still wet, so you can give that a try if they came out a wee bit too small.  And they are really warm! By felting them, you compress all the fibres in the yarn to make a thick, solid fabric, sure to keep the bitter winter winds at bay.

So, what next to felt? Well, I really like the idea of knitting felted stuffed toys, so I think I'll be checking out the library to see what resources they have there. It would be a great gift to give to a new mom (I have a few people in my life expecting new bundles of joy...), especially if they are not finding out the gender of the baby. Toys are great for being gender neutral that way...