Foo-Whee Mittens

November 1985

Sister DillyDally has always loved the outdoors.  Here she is age two ... trout fishing with her Papa ... and NOT wearing any mittens or boots!  We were not negligent parents ... like all parents, we had to choose our battles!  When she finally got cold enough ... then she would put them on.

December 1986

She loved playing in the snow ... then she would willingly wear mittens and boots!  It was during her toddler years that I began to attempt knitting mittens.  Friends and I were testing out a knitting technique referred as "Fleece-Stuffed" mittens.

December 1986

It is a process whereby you knit in "tufts" of unspun fleece ... resulting in soft, warm and fluffy mitts that keep your hands super toasty.  In our home, we called them furry mittens.  Sister couldn't enunciate her "R"s, so she referred to them a Foo-Whee mittens!  So of course, we have called them that ever since!

December 1986

One day while folding laundry, I heard Sister playing in the living room.  She kept repeating foo-whee ... over and over again with great excitement!  When I returned, I found her sitting on the floor ... surrounded by multiple tufts of fleece!  She had pulled out every tuft I had knit in!  Yep ... that knitting technique was put on the shelf until those little hands had become adult size!  It was so cute ... and she was having such fun ... of course I didn't scold her!  I wanted her to associate only warm feelings with knitting ... but all knitting was carefully kept out of reach from then on!

Recently, a friend asked me about teaching that technique.  So I've been busy tweaking it so that it can be successfully knit using any gauge.  It has been fun and also brought back many wonderful memories of my early knitting and parenting adventures!

  Here is a Foo-Whee mitten having a hiccup!  This is so fun!

Second mitten nearly done!

Foo-Whee mitten having a bad hair day!  You cannot knit these mittens with out getting a serious case of the giggles!

One pair of Foo-Whee mittens ... the knitting is done!

Time for a Foo-Whee bubble bath!

Wool is always happiest after a 20 minute soak!

Blocked and drying comfortably!  In the near future they will be traveling to Orofino, Idaho!

I'm so excited ... I have been invited to travel along!  Yep, I get to teach a Foo-Whee mitten class in Idaho!  It has all come together in the last few days, so I don't have many details yet.  But I do know this ... I cannot wait to dillydally with new friends in Idaho!

Do what you love.  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally