At this rate we’ll have a whole winter wardrobe. After running a piece on knitting your own hat (very tempting – it looks quite easy) The Guardian has now done a piece on making your own mittens.

Now that sounds a lot more difficult than a hat, but in actual fact it’s not. It all relies on finding a jumper that’s shrunk in the wash. Or, if you don’t have one, washing a jumper so hot that it’s effectively ruined.

How easy? Well, even the writer – a bit of an expert – admitted that it was the only way she could think of to make her own gloves…

…while I might be able to knock up a simple hat from scratch, writing complex knitting patterns like [gloves] is best left to the experts. Instead, I spent the weekend road-testing a very well-known project: making mittens from an old jumper. I’m happy to report that it’s a doddle.

So, basically, ruin a jumper, cut it up and sew it. That’s it. Nothing more to it.

Only trouble is, I don’t have a shrunken jumper. Neither do I have one that is at least 50% wool. Most of mine are synthetic.

Those points aside, I’ll be bookmarking this one. I’m doing my best to knit a scarf right now. It’s slow going, but they would be a great accompaniment when it’s done.

Related posts:

1. I’m knitting a scarf
2. Knit yourself a winter hat
3. A stash of retro knitting needles