let's knit!
Looking for a quick gift? Look no further! These delightful fulled mittens can be finished in a single weekend, and provide the perfect canvas for exploring your creativity.
If you’ve stumbled onto this page and want to snag a copy of the pattern so you can make your own, you can find it here.
Fulled mittens are often referred to as “felted” mittens, because we use the term felting more commonly these days. However, the accurate term for knitting fabric and intentionally shrinking it is “fulling” – and that’s what we’re going to do with these sweet mitts.
Tip: Try knitting your mitts with stripes or colorblocking, or add your own touch with your own embroidery design.
My Weatherly Mitts were knit with Jamieson Aran yarn, and washed three times in hot water (top loader machine), and air-dried.
Before you wash your mittens, be sure to flatten one of the mittens against a piece of paper and trace the top of the mitten (trace from the end of the ribbing upward – you won’t have enough space to trace the entire mitten on a regular piece of paper). This will help you monitor how much it’s shrinking and will provide helpful information for making another pair.
Start with just one run through the washer on hot water. It works best to wash the mittens with a medium or small load of towels or jeans in similar colors. Check the size after the first washing. In most cases, it won’t be fulled enough at this point – however, yarns that are more heavily processed and are dyed tend to full more quickly. Repeat a second washing (and third, if needed) until you achieve your approximate size.
In most cases, it works well to let the mitten air dry. However, if several washings result in a mitten that is still larger than you want, you can run it through the dryer with the rest of the clothes, checking every 10-15 minutes.
Top loaders tend to provide more predictable results that allow you a bit of control throughout the process, but you can definitely make it work with a front loading washer, if that’s all you have. If you’re using a front loader, use the shortest possible wash cycle and check carefully between wash cycles. Front-loaders are a little trickier, so proceed with caution.
Embroidery
Even if you’re not savvy with embroidering, this rustic look is relatively simple to achieve. Though it might be tempting to take a shortcut with the embroidery, it really is worth the time and effort to get it right. (Even your best effort won’t take as long as you’d think.)
Begin with the stems, using a simple stem stitch. The finished look is meant to be rustic, so don’t worry about perfection. The sample at left was stitched with Island Fibers sport weight in a rich acid green. Any relatively lightweight yarn will work – the more rustic the better.
The poppies are created using satin stitch embroidery with french knots (see how I use transfer paper in the process below).
This is the transfer paper* I have used. *Amazon affiliate link
Rustic Poppies
Trace the poppies onto the transfer paper and trim around the sides, leaving excess. Peel away the paper backing and apply only one flower at a time.
Work satin stitch embroidery petal by petal, keeping each new stitch closely packed against the one next to it in order to achieve the desired result. Repeat with remaining flowers, spacing them decoratively around the stems.
Carefully trim the excess transfer paper around the petals until nearly all of the excess has been removed. (Don’t worry about trimming too closely – the rest will be dissolved away.)
Finish the poppies with a french knot in the center of each one.
Following the instructions in the pattern, dissolve the transfer paper in water and let your mittens dry.
When your mitts are dry, they’re ready for wearing in the snow or giving to your favorite someone.
