This may be one my best ahas. I made a pair of mittens a few years ago while on Seguin.

They were a problem from the get go. They were different lengths and one thumb was in the wrong place. I wore them for a couple of years but decided it was time to find them a new home. I had them in the back of my car and drove around with them for a few weeks before inspiration struck.

I brought them back home, cut the palms off both, cut the wristbands open and sewed them together into one band. This is what steeking is all about – cutting up your knitwear with abandon- or with caution, depending on how much you love the item coming under the blade. I didn’t even stitch the raw edges because they were going to be sewn in a seam.

I still needed a top for the hat. I cut open the palms in the middle and preserved the side decreases. I discarded the thumbs, sewed the opened palms together, then sewed them onto the band and voila!

My knitwear finds a new use.