Since she knows I both knit and repair socks, a relative asked me if I could do something about a beloved mitten whose thumb was ripped off by her dog.

The task seemed easier when I was looking at photos of the damaged mitten. When I saw the actual mittens, I found that there were stretched areas near the thumbs that needed reinforcement (as well as the obvious loss of thumb). The yarn was considerably thicker than my usual fingering weight yarn.

I spun some black yarn as consistently and closely to the size of the mittens’ yarn as I could. I already knew to use a darning needle and thin thread to set up a lifeline before beginning to pick up stitches. It took a bit of trial and error to figure out which needle size would work for this project.

I’m fairly comfortable with the results. The mitten on the right has the thumb I added. The yarn is slightly smaller and the stitch count higher, but I believe the thumb itself ended up being a comparable size. The ends are all woven in, and all that remains is to send the mittens back to their owner.

I love being able to puzzle out ways to extend the life of useful objects like these. It’s a fantastic complement to the practice of designing and making things from scratch.

(That said: please give your dog actual chew toys.)