man hands

Lately I'm trying to branch out a bit and try some crafty and fiber-related stuff I haven't done before, or at least haven't done much with. This serves a dual purpose: 1) to expand my artistic horizons a bit, such as they are and 2) start using up the random shit I've been collecting to make stuff with. Case in point: wool sweaters from thrift stores. I have a whole pile of these. I bought them, felted them, contemplated what to do with them, and I even made a few potholders for Christmas presents a year or two back, but mostly, those sweaters are sitting in a cupboard in the basement just waiting for the moths to find them. That cupboard, I might add, is one I intended for the kids' use for toys or art supplies or what-have-you, but I have to clean it out and use up all that stuff first. It's going to take a while.

Still, one baby step at a time, right? Meanwhile, I've hit on at least one project idea that I like: mittens! I found this tutorial, which is very easy and happily also includes a pattern pdf, and followed it almost exactly. I say "almost" because I left the decorative button off the cuff and had to resize the lining a bit, but I had plenty of old t-shirt to work with (lining isn't picture below), so redoing that wasn't a big deal.


I'm pretty happy with how these turned out except that they are way too big for me. I didn't set out to make man-sized mittens, but by some happy fluke, the sweaters I chose were red and gray, which seem manly enough. I don't think mittens are very manly to begin with, but when the temperature drops, most manly men don't really care. Right? 

Being both felted and lined should make these mittens very warm, especially if I can find some large, man hands to fit snugly inside. (Is anyone else thinking of that Seinfeld episode? No, it's just me? Ok, then.)

Meanwhile, it should be easy enough to cut the whole pattern a little smaller to make mittens that fit hands my size. It sure is faster than knitting!

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