Make Mitts Gadget Compatible

While I generally don’t knit gloves or mittens, I know many of you do. There’s an easy way to make your hand-knit gloves or mittens touchscreen friendly. Stitch a metallic touch point to the glove or mitten.

As the article Turn Your Favorite Mitts into Gadget Compatible Manipulators explains, most touchscreens use capacitive sensing to create a weak electrical circuit through the skin. This electrical circuit allows the gadget to locate your finger tapping on the touchscreen.

Most materials block the body’s ability to shuttle electrons. Adding strategically placed stitching using conductive thread allows you to bundle up, but continue to use your gadgets.

Use conductive thread to modify new or existing mittens and gloves. Simply stitch a star or other solid shape onto the glove’s index finger, making sure it will contact both the touchscreen and your skin.

There are also a number of yarns with real silver content that might work as a substitute. Some lovely yarns in varied weights contain real silver content:

• Sifa Cotton & Real Silver - Figgi Yarns
• Blythe with Real Silver Strands - Bare Sheep Yarn Company
• Jewel Collection with Real Silver - Crash Into Ewe
• Line Dance Star - Ewe Spin Me

If you try this adaptation, let me know how it works.

Meanwhile, SplendidSticks, the Creative Knitting Magazine blog, has an interesting article on some of the healing properties associated with various metals.