I honestly have never felted mittens, but I love the idea.
If we lived in snow country, I'd certainly be looking for a way to knit mittens that is less permeable to water, a sort of knitted ski mitten. I imagine that felted mittens are much warmer but that moisture still soaks through.
The one idea I have entertained is installing a layer (inside or outside, I'm not sure which) of waterproof fabric, probably a rip-stop nylon.
Look at these nice mittens at Machine Knitting is My Life. Maybe she'll run an after-felting picture later on:
http://machineknittingismylife.blogspot.com/
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I don't think much moisture soaks through, unless you are packing snow for a snowman. Even with unfelted wool mittens, your hands stay warm and dry inside because of the wonder of wool. My technique is to lanolize mittens like I do wool diaper covers. Sometimes I use a lanolin spray, sometimes I use the mitts to wipe the lanolin ring out of the sink after doing covers, sometimes I soak the mitts too.
ReplyDeleteI have rip-stop nylon pants and moisture still soaks through, quite easily actually. You'd need the rubber backed type. You can also buy PUL for making diaper covers, either as a plain, transparent film (hard to work with), or laminated onto fabric. This would be the best option, but again, it is subject to compression leaks.
Living in snow country, I've been through the gamut in trying to figure out the best mittens! The best ones so far are a reversible mitt made from old felted sweaters for one layer, and fleece for the other. For snowball fights, the fleece is good for the outside since snow sticks to wool, the kids tell me LOL.
Thanks! That's very interesting. Gosh, we hardly ever have weather that really tests mittens. Now you've given me some ideas as to how to make them warm and dry. Snow is so rare here that it's a curiosity, although once in a while we get really nasty ice storms (sleet).
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