No-knit Mitts

So we had this lovely, soft, loose lemon yellow jumper in the house and one day it went into a hot wash by accident and then we didn't have a soft jumper anymore; we had a small, kind of stiff, felted jumper that was too small for anyone really and it was pretty unwearable.

And then the cat used it as a bed for a while.

So what to do with it?

Well, the first thing I am doing is making mittens. Why mittens? Well, they take a lot less work than gloves and since I take mine off to answer the phone anyway, I might as well make mittens.

• Step one: Turn the jumper inside out and rest your hand on the sleeve with the cuff under your wrist.

• Step two: Draw around your hand in a mitten shape and cut off that part of the sleeve, leaving a seam allowance. If you make a mistake with the mareking, don't worry, just do it again; it won't show on the outside.

• Step three: Using a small backstitch and a matching thread, sew along the marked line.

• Step four: Carefully cut away the excess, cutting into the curve close to the stitching line to help with the turning out.

• Step five: Turn right side out.

• Step six: Pop it on your hands and feel cosy in no time at all! (Obviously, you make two of them.)

This will work with any old jumper really, (accidental) felting not required. But the closer the knit/felt/weave, the better the stitches hold, I find.

In later blog posts, I will let you know what I have done with the rest of the jumper. :-)