mitten question

(ETA: After reading Becca's comment, I realized I accidentally published this post to Madtown Mama instead of Mad Knitting, where I'd originally intended! That's what happens when you try to pound out a blog post in 10 minutes while simultaneously nursing a squirmy baby and answering 101 questions from the Danimal. While I didn't mean to bore the muggles with a knitting question, I think this blog has a slightly wider readership, so what the heck, I'll leave it up.)

Daniel has asked for red mittens "jus' like" the ones in one of his favorite books, The Three Kittens. You know, the classic tale of the three little kittens who lost their mittens? In this particular book's illustrations, one of the kittens has red mittens, and they have apparently caught the Danimal's eye. Truly cold weather is soon upon us and he's going to need warm mittens regardless, so of course I want to honor his request! I want to get these mittens done by Halloween; he wants to be a cat for Halloween (he's really excited about wearing a costume, and I haven't even told him about the candy yet!) and I thought it appropriate to dress him up as a kitten with the found mittens. You see?

I'm not much into felting, but I know that felted mittens would be far warmer and more wind and waterproof than non-felted mittens, even if they're knitted at a tight gauge. I checked out Felted Knits from the library and found a pattern for toddler and child-sized felted mittens. Problem is, the pattern calls for DK weight yarn. I've got a bit of red yarn in sport (lighter than DK) and worsted (heavier than DK) and the bit of red yarn in I have in DK weight is superwash, so it won't felt. Do I go with sport yarn, or worsted? Worsted is probably going to be warmer, but it might be so heavy and stiff he won't wear them. Any ideas out there?

Comments

Becca said…
I am not a knitter by any means, but would it be possible to knit mittens and a liner, like a double layer?
Steph said…
My inclination would be sport. I think worsted would produce a pretty thick fabric for toddler hands.

I can't wait to see pictures of the cat costume.
Suze said…
Becca, that's a good idea...but knitting lined mittens is twice the work, and I'm not sure I could get it done by next week!
Tooz said…
My thought would be to try doubling up the sport-weight yarn. Knit a swatch (not very large) and felt it, just to see how it would work.
kclblogs said…
i'd say swatch and felt them to see what you like better. i've felted a bit, and the worsted will probably felt better, but you may not like how it feels.

have you seen those mittens that have little bits (one stitch per piece) of roving that hang inside, so they are super warm? i've always wanted to try those.
Anonymous said…
katie's suggestion of thrummed mittens was going to be mine. or you could do worsted on us 4s, for a tight gauge. toddler hands are small enough that a mitten is a swatch - I just made some fingerless mitts for Andy out of str heavyweight on us 3s. they're 32 sts around & 32 rows tall + a 3.5' 3st i-cord. took less time than a hat would've!

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