Mittens . . . Step #3

I made a few mitten decisions. I decided that since I have some bags of fleece that have been in my stash for an indeterminable length of time. . .  (that's code for: I've had it so long I don't remember where or when I got it) . . . that I would use some of it to line my mittens. Since my mitten is bright purple and the fleece is emerald green, I also decided I would give the mittens to my mother.

Here she is fresh out of nursing
 school! Do you remember the days
 when nurses looked like this?!

Why my mother? 

Well, Babby . . . (that's code name for: my nephew's strange pronunciation of grandma) . . . was a nurse for about 37 years. She started back in the day when nurses wore white caps, white uniforms, white nylons and white shoes. Needless to say, when she retired she became a fan of color. 

Babby also walks a lot, she's always cold and since she's a knitter she'll know the work that went into them . . . she'll also like them since her 'baby girl' made them for her. (I of course would be her 'baby girl').




On to the fleece . . . 



Here it is. Fresh out of the bag that it's been sitting in for-who-knows-how-long. It's really compacted and needs to be gently loosened.  (It's also really, really green. Really, really bright green.) 

But . . . if you wore white for 37 years . . . 

I just gently pulled on it to loosen it up and spread it out. 

This is only a small portion of the clump . . . here's what it looks like once it's been loosened.

Next I'll gently take a smaller clump and work it into a strip that is about a half inch wide and about 5-6 inches long.





Have you picked up on the gently? You want to keep the fibers intact so they keep their length. So . . . no scissors!!




Here's what they look like. 

One row of knitting will need about 10 or 12 strips, so get a few ready.





Go ahead. Get some fleece. 

If you don't have some hiding in your yarn stash . . .  and if you don't have any sheep in your back yard . . . you might have to visit a yarn store. . . or go on-line. If you go on-line, Google 'fleece for spinning'. If you just Google 'fleece for mittens', you'll get fleece material.

Stay tuned for Mittens . . . Step #4. I'll show you how to knit the fleece in.

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.