How to Felt Mittens
Felted mittens are warmer and more wind and water resistant than unfelted knitted mittens. Felted mittens are made by knitting a pair of mittens that looks far, far too big and then felting them down to size. Mittens of this style are great for kids because once the mittens are felted, the knit stitches are imperceptible and cannot snag and be pulled out of place.
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Things You'll Need
- 100% wool non-superwash yarn
- Knitting needles three sizes larger than indicated on the ball band
- Mitten pattern written in multiple sizes
- Washing machine
- Laundry soap
- Lingerie bag
- Calculator
- Ruler
Instructions
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1
Buy 100% pure wool yarn. Synthetic yarn, such as acrylic, or yarn made from plant fibers, such as cotton, will not felt. Find a mitten pattern specifically for felted mittens, or use a pattern for a non-felted mitten knit in a very fine gauge with a large number of stitches; you will be knitting a huge mitten on heavier-gauge yarn. Patterns that have a large range of mitten sizes can usually be adapted to make oversize mitts.
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2
Knit a large swatch. The felting process will shrink your knitting by up to 50 percent or more. Knit a swatch at least 6 inches square. Use needles about three sizes larger than the ones you would normally use for your yarn. It seems counterintuitive, but loose knitting results in tight felt. Measure the width and length your swatch carefully when it is finished.
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3
Felt the swatch. Put the swatch in a lingerie bag into the washing machine. Use the hottest, most vigorous wash setting and the lowest water setting. Add about a tablespoon of laundry soap. Soap will lubricate the fibers and agitation will help the swatch to felt properly. Adding some old jeans or canvas sneakers can provide this agitation. Do not use old towels or anything fuzzy as the fuzz may permanently attach itself to your felt. Check on your swatch about halfway through the wash cycle to see how much it has felted. If you would like the swatch to be further felted, return it to the washing machine. Run the swatch through as many wash cycles as necessary to get your wool nicely felted. As many as four wash cycles may be required.
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4
Measure your felted swatch. Determine how much it felted by comparing the measurements to those of the unfelted swatch. For example, if your unfelted swatch was 6 inches long and your felted swatch is 4 inches long, press "(6 / 4 % =)" on your calculator, which will then display "150%." You now know that you need to knit your mittens 150 percent of the size that you want the finished, felted mittens to be.
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5
Follow your knitting pattern and make a pair of loose-gauge mittens. Use the percentage calculated in Step 4 to determine how large to knit the mittens. For example, if you want finished mittens of 8 inches in length, multiply 8 by 150 percent by pressing "(8 x 150 % =)" on your calculator to get 12. Your unfelted mittens must be 12 inches long. Repeat this calculation to determine the width of the mitten, as well as the width and length of the cuff, hand and thumb. Make the thumb of the mitten a few stitches wider than would be proportional for your mitten. Felted wool is thicker than plain knitting and the thumb will accordingly be narrower.
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Felt your mittens for the same number of wash cycles as used to felt your swatch. Lay your mittens flat to dry.
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Tips & Warnings
Knit your swatch from the exact yarn as your mittens. Every brand of yarn, and even different colors within the same brand, will felt at different rates. If you want to make striped mittens, make and felt a striped swatch.
Felting may cause the dye in your yarn to run. Do not put any clothing in the washing machine with your mittens or swatch while felting. Your finished mittens many not be the same color as before they were felted.
References
Resources
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