Instant Mittens

My son has lost two pairs of mittens this year. Keep in mind - we
don't live in a particularly harsh climate. We had a 2-day cold snap
in October during which he lost last year's pair that still fit; more
recently we've had chilly weather (including a couple of nights in the
upper 20s) for about 10 days now and he lost the OLD pair of too-small
mittens.

So I started some mittens on Monday. And they didn't want to be
knitted. The thumbs were weird, then the hands were too small for the
boy's hands - which I should have known, he has hands like mine and he
can already span nearly an octave on the piano.

So I threw in the towel with that particular yarn and dug out a ball
of handspun so old I have no idea if it's my handspun. Yesterday
between after-breakfast chores and a 3pm departure I knitted both
mittens, darned in ends and scoured them out. The thumbs are a bit
disproportional, but he asked for roomy thumbs for some reason, so I
obliged.

Here is a pic of the finished mittens, natural sheep color. Whatever
this wool is, it takes well to being abused during a handwash and then
tossed in the dryer: it fulled just a bit and fluffed out nicely. I
wish I had more of it

http://www.fysh.org/~slinky/pix/hand...oy_mittens.jpg

"WoolyGooly" wrote in message
news
My son has lost two pairs of mittens this year. Keep in mind - we
don't live in a particularly harsh climate. We had a 2-day cold snap
in October during which he lost last year's pair that still fit; more
recently we've had chilly weather (including a couple of nights in the
upper 20s) for about 10 days now and he lost the OLD pair of too-small
mittens.

I used to sew a shortish piece of elastic from the mitten to the cuff. I is
more difficult to lose them

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 15:48:09 -0000, "Ophelia"
wrote:

I used to sew a shortish piece of elastic from the mitten to the cuff. I is
more difficult to lose them


I'm thinking idiot string. The weather here is so changeable that it
might be 50 and windy one day requiring a sweater with a windbreaker,
then 30 and windy the next requiring the sweater and a heavy jacket.
In either case the boy takes his mittens - if I run the idiot string
down the sweater sleeves maybe the mittens won't disappear this
time... Hm, I'll need to install loops in the sweater to keep the
idiot string from strangling the kid when he puts the sweater on.
This is doable.

"WoolyGooly" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 15:48:09 -0000, "Ophelia"
wrote:

I used to sew a shortish piece of elastic from the mitten to the cuff. I
is
more difficult to lose them


I'm thinking idiot string. The weather here is so changeable that it
might be 50 and windy one day requiring a sweater with a windbreaker,
then 30 and windy the next requiring the sweater and a heavy jacket.
In either case the boy takes his mittens - if I run the idiot string
down the sweater sleeves maybe the mittens won't disappear this
time... Hm, I'll need to install loops in the sweater to keep the
idiot string from strangling the kid when he puts the sweater on.
This is doable.

LOL I remember when I was a child. I had tape which was attached to the
mittons, threaded up one sleeve, across the back and down the other sleeve.

It is a standing joke now among my age group whereby you stretched out one
arm and your other arm was sprang to your neck!!!

Believe me! Elastic securely pinned to the cuff and the mitton works)

For kids I usually knit 3 mittens.

Right -- and I make the kind that can be turned over and used for the
other hand -- you never know which one they are most likely to lose.
In fact four matching mittens might even be in order for boys from 7 to
10 (at least my boys were particularly likely to lose theirs then). I
wonder how many solitary mittens reside in school lost and found bins.
The only ones Matt hung onto were a pair with his name knitted into the
backs.
CHEX wrote:
For kids I usually knit 3 mittens.

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 16:10:54 GMT, WoolyGooly
wrote:

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 15:48:09 -0000, "Ophelia"
wrote:

I used to sew a shortish piece of elastic from the mitten to the cuff. I is
more difficult to lose them


I'm thinking idiot string. The weather here is so changeable that it
might be 50 and windy one day requiring a sweater with a windbreaker,
then 30 and windy the next requiring the sweater and a heavy jacket.
In either case the boy takes his mittens - if I run the idiot string
down the sweater sleeves maybe the mittens won't disappear this
time... Hm, I'll need to install loops in the sweater to keep the
idiot string from strangling the kid when he puts the sweater on.
This is doable.

--
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 16:10:54 GMT, WoolyGooly
wrote:

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 15:48:09 -0000, "Ophelia"
wrote:

I used to sew a shortish piece of elastic from the mitten to the cuff. I is
more difficult to lose them


I'm thinking idiot string. The weather here is so changeable that it
might be 50 and windy one day requiring a sweater with a windbreaker,
then 30 and windy the next requiring the sweater and a heavy jacket.
In either case the boy takes his mittens - if I run the idiot string
down the sweater sleeves maybe the mittens won't disappear this
time... Hm, I'll need to install loops in the sweater to keep the
idiot string from strangling the kid when he puts the sweater on.
This is doable.

I used to make a really long string that ran up one sleeve, across the
back, and down the other. Maybe that's what you had in mind. My kids
never strangled themselves, but back in those days, people didn't
think about safety issues as much as they do now. We also put buttons
on baby sweaters, which now is a no-no.

--
Barbara Vaughan

My email address is my first initial followed by my last name at libero dot it.

On 10 Dec 2006 20:38:12 -0800, "JCT" wrote:

Right -- and I make the kind that can be turned over and used for the
other hand -- you never know which one they are most likely to lose.
In fact four matching mittens might even be in order for boys from 7 to
10 (at least my boys were particularly likely to lose theirs then). I
wonder how many solitary mittens reside in school lost and found bins.
The only ones Matt hung onto were a pair with his name knitted into the
backs.
CHEX wrote:
For kids I usually knit 3 mittens.

I just finished a pair of mittens too. They are the thumb-on-the-side
kind that can be worn on either hand. I made a string with single
crochet. I made two loops out of short single crochet strings and
sewed the loops to the mittens. then I tied the long string to the
loops (in hopes of making it more easily detachable if not wanted.) I
used a generic mitten pattern from the web that works with gauge and
hand measurements, and some Knitpicks Ambrosia yarn (baby alpaca and
cashmere) on size 3 needles. After the cuff they went pretty quickly.
I don't think they'll hold up too well to rough use but they're very
soft and warm (wearer doesn't like wool, finds it itchy.)

http://www.hjsstudio.com/mittens.html
this is the link for the pattern

Alison

On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:09:03 +0100, B wrote:


I used to make a really long string that ran up one sleeve, across the
back, and down the other. Maybe that's what you had in mind. My kids
never strangled themselves, but back in those days, people didn't
think about safety issues as much as they do now. We also put buttons
on baby sweaters, which now is a no-no.

I didn't strangle either, but my idiot-string mittens were in
zip-front coats, not pullover sweaters. Tacking the idiot string to
the neck back strikes me as a good plan.