It took almost all of Saturday for me to figure out the most back-friendly place to cut is my very own laundry room, complete with a ceiling light positioned perfectly over the washer:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE7ZzTtLqwQp3o4N-8iTfpG84sFj80PCDUZpCILO0kpRIKeXdf5BE_w6BOAslJrs6-jAqtviEuUjcGfsXdqRxG5DHBXegItGrVZEGUYii3hojMG2CsCck1e4aLZW5TWC2DR5_CeXHnN9LL/s320/cutting+table.jpg)
I ditched the separate cuff and extended the wrist, which worked better with the liner mitten I'm putting inside each pair.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3VdNUET4_oPl_nqmes3F2AZebE8jzIxV2e2Qx6UNPM-zLK86ifx5dQJ1eVtN-pTE-loumhJPox2OBqcwNRnbxm3Lbw2b3y1WEG3WEFMEGLWjZCqZRjFLvQC2lJt-C_z-Q1BYeIM3T8eXM/s320/mitten+liner.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCMoX7X7tD1ol-R7GUBmw5jQH4gE2bsRnXITlbsfoGcbIS3gp1QNpDLa4vXHDseinGroCRSfTiXka-VieycLmlepcw2ap7WsHib6irkcLwhtv78vGtJpY6O5jzA6C6wP3K3HA_nvZYV6c8/s320/mittenstripey.jpg)
I was so pleased with myself, I sewed together both of these pairs before the thought occurred to me to try them on a guy, who pointed out that the seam across the middle of the palm was pulling in a decidedly uncomfortable way. But that's all right, because I only need one pair for a guy - everybody else on my mitten list is a girl.
I cut a wider pair from a really exciting find - an XL man's elaborate, colourful, and all-wool Fair Isle cardigan from one of my favourite posh-ish shops - and sewed them together:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicb2_p40lox6QtelJF7T10nZQFpT6BPQwh4t7aiJVoa2xCraT2uFGwaKmzQo7Yet13sPymiiZyykZvDipSeHHZfnl9JE-vtPpfS3EXimIL-d3Fa_wpBwSAhCZMG0vjp2AfBK0o0p4Wlsdh/s320/mittenfairisle.jpg)
But they pulled, too.
Still, not a complete disaster! I can still gift these to a girl.
(Me, for example.)
I slept on it, then decided to come up with an entirely new pattern with just a front and a back piece. I gambled on the manliest stripe in my felted sweater stash and got this:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdK3M1OKfk8i5feG2SZZ205uuLwQa1KzXPx_bceDlb28v2QJTZ0LTYoqQQ1RSN3vjec-5damuZyziFoqEAg7Con3C1XIr0ERd2Zdi-FlvyPOBNv33lgECKaLWXGDMsFux94pqgVQiiOkbP/s320/mitten2.jpg)
They fit Tester Guy perfectly. Cut down a little, they'd fit me perfectly too. In fact, I'm so in love with them, I want to make all the rest of the Christmas mittens with this pattern - but I can't, because you can really only get one pair out of a whole sweater and I've ruined quite a few already with my early, sadly non-giftable, efforts.
Options:
Cutting and stitching 60 pieces of mitten from the remaining stash or
Shopping for ten more feltable sweaters
H'mmmmmmmm......