If they are wool, wash them in hot, hot water and run them through the dryer to shrink them. Place your hand on top of the sweater and cut the mitten shape out around your hand (leave some wiggle room for your fingers); sew two together with a blanket stitch (I like to use contrasting colors of yarn). For an afghan, I've just cut the sweaters into squares and used contrasting yard to connect the squares. If the sweaters are not wool, you don't need to wash them, but you do need to baste around any edges you've cut to keep them from unravelling. When you cut your mitten shape, leave about 1/2 inch all around for basting; the best way to keep from unravelling is to run it through your sewing machine. If you don't have a sewing machine, hand basting will do, but make your stitches fairly close together. hth ... View related article.
