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Passion, a compelling emotion, is a common thread that seems to run through every person that takes up a hobby in their spare time for pleasure or relaxation. They enjoy continuously learning about their hobbies, and it is common for them to have more than one hobby.
Spring Grove resident Kristi Knutson mentioned over and over throughout the interview how much she loves her hobbies and how much fun they are.
One of Knutson’s hobbies is making fleece-lined mittens out of recycled sweaters.
A full-time employee in the music department at Luther College, it is not uncommon for Knutson to be up at 4:30 a.m. sewing mittens before heading to work.
Knutson’s interest in sewing started as a 4-Her. She also took sewing classes as a young girl. “My mom loved to sew, and we were always working on a project together.”
Seven years ago, a friend shared a new mitten pattern. Knutson tried it out and started making mittens for friends in her spare time.
Knutson explained the difficulty in finding sweaters. First, Knutson is not a shopper, which makes finding sweaters even harder. She relies on friends and family to find sweaters for her. Her preference is to use 80% wool sweaters because they hold up much better.
First, all the sweaters are felted. Felting is when the sweaters are washed in hot water and then placed in a hot dryer to finish the process. The heat causes the fibers to tighten up.
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Then the dried sweaters are color-coded and stored in totes.
Each mitten consists of three pieces. There is one pattern piece for the top of the hand, the second pattern piece is for the fingers on the back of the hand, and the final pattern piece is the thumb. Inside is a mitten made of fleece for the lining. Knutson explained it as making four mittens for each pair.
Knutson sews four or five pairs of mittens and then takes a break. When she starts back up, she sews the outside and the lining together with a decorative blanket stitch.
She makes three different size mittens: children, women, and men.
Last year she made 57 sweater mittens for friends and family and sold the remainder at the Highlandville Store and the Turquoise Tomato gift shop in Spring Grove. She only sells women’s sizes as they fit most men.
Typically, she is not making mittens in February, but this year she is making mittens this month. She is unsure why, because the winter has been mild this year.
She explained that she finds it difficult to make the mittens during the summer when the weather is 90° outside.
If you do not have a pair of sweater mittens and you sew or would like to learn how to sew, sweaters mittens are “warm and fun to wear and fun to make,” stressed Knutson.
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With the sweater mittens being so popular right now, the Bernie mitten craze came up during the interview. Surprisingly, Knutson did not even know about all the excitement until a friend informed her that she makes Bernie mittens and preceded to explain the Bernie craze to her.
As the interview continues, Knutson again mentions that making the mittens is a lot of fun, and she loves making them.
Like other hobbyists featured in the Fillmore County Journal, Knutson has more than one hobby.
Rattling off her list of hobbies, Knutson mentioned ice fishing, trout fishing, turkey hunting, deer hunting, bowhunting, canoeing, kayaking, and camping. Knutson said that she has every July off from Luther, so she and her husband head to Yellowstone National Park to camp.
Knutson has five flower gardens that she cares for around their house. She loves perennial gardening.
The morning of the interview, she made two dozen orange cinnamon rolls and took them to work to share with her colleagues and the students that stop by the office. The cinnamon rolls are a thank you and a feel-good, pick me up.
Sweater mittens are not the only project she sews. Right now, she is making four window quilts for family members. Window quilts cover the windows to keep the cold out when rolled down; when rolled up and tied, one can see out the window.
Knutson offers some advice for that person looking for a hobby. “Find one area that you are interested in and choose one thing to take on. Having a hobby is so much fun. You have to prioritize.”
Have fun!