These mittens start out the size of oven gloves and shrink in a washing machine, hopefully to a useful size.

Deliberately knitting something too big is a strange experience, but making the thumbs super-size is much easier. It’s also good for beginners because any minor imperfections disappear when it shrinks.

We followed the free Icy Paws pattern by Drops Design and used yarn that was 65% Wool, 35% Alpaca. After an hour and 15 minutes in the washing machine at 40°C the mittens came out smaller than we expected, which wasn’t a problem because they can be stretched a bit while they are still wet. Now they fit perfectly and are wonderfully warm and cosy, but if we made them again we would definitely do a shorter wash.