Felted Embroidered Mittens

It's been soooooooooo cold here, a person doesn't want to go outside unless absolutely necessary.  Thank heavens the electricity and gas haven't quit on us.  So, rather than totally hibernating, thoughts are turning to knitting and making things to keep warm.  In addition, the next guild meeting has mittens for the program.  So, rather than plain ol' mittens, I'm trying something different.

Here's my first attempt at embroidered, felted mittens.

I was inspired by EvaL8's mitt on Ravelry:

  Hers are much more elegant than mine and look much more traditional. (She's Swedish.) I'm not so great at embroidery but I went back and got some tips from her description.  She uses the disappearing ink pen, like quilters use, to map out her design.  That would help a lot to get things in proportion and to get the two mitts to match, no easy feat.  She used a finer wool embroidery thread too.  I used yarn doubled, so mine look a lot more crude. I like the looks of the wide cuff, but the narrower one fits in my winter jacket better.  Hers are gorgeous.  Mine, not quite as much. O  well, first attempts are not always the greatest.

Her website is http://www.talamodspasen.blogspot.com/
Even if you don't speak Swedish, it's fun to see what she has knit.  She's really talented and prolific!!!

Anyway, back to my project.  I used an old mitten pattern meant for felting, but I see that I will need to adjust it too.  I like them roomy all together.   I especially like roomy thumbs and I think they are warmer than when the knitting hugs the thumb.  But it could be a few stitches narrower and a few rows shorter.  I might put them through one more wash and see what that does.  Every wool yarn felts differently, so sometimes it's necessary to knit things more than once to get them right.   I'll use the same yarn and try again.

With that all said, these will be perfect for taking the dog out.  She doesn't realize that the temps are cruel.  Being a keeshond, she LOVES the cold.  The colder, the better, silly thing.  And, whether it's cold or not, she still has to do her biz.  Have you ever seen so much fur?