Hi! We're Cathy and Rick Newton. We love making mittens from recycled 100% wool sweaters.

Poor circulation and a pending trip to Iceland in the winter 3 years ago prompted a search for mittens that could withstand the cold and dry out overnight when wet. After a google search to identify a material that would both be warm and dry quickly, Cathy determined that wool fit the bill.

Not finding anything like this in nearby stores and not wanting to spend a great deal of money on material she ventured into the local thrift store, Listen, and purchased a second hand, 100% wool sweater and a cashmere sweater to cut up and sew into a pair of mittens, lining them with soft fleece. And, after a successfully warm handed trip to Iceland, the first pair of Vermitts were born!

Cathy began to make these mittens for her friends and family. Word got out about these incredibly warm mittens prompting more and more trips to Listen to buy second hand sweaters. Rick, her husband would also stop by to scour the racks for 100% wool and cashmere with interesting patterns and colors. Cathy became the “mitten lady” and Rick the “mitten lady’s husband.”

Soon, the workers at Listen would set aside bags of damaged sweaters that they couldn’t sell and that were destined for the landfill, to give to Rick when he came to the store for the “mitten lady”. It then occurred to them both that while they were selling mittens to eager customers by word of mouth and creating a luxurious product that was touted as “the warmest mittens ever”, they were also helping to decrease waste and supporting the Listen store and their programs through the purchasing of second hand sweaters. A win, win, win!

Cathy and Rick recently retired from teaching (Cathy from Hartford and Rick from Norwich) and took to the road on a camping adventure soon to settle down again in the upper valley. Check our their travel blog: rickandcathyhittheroad.blogspot.com

They are back in the upper valley renovating an older home. They thank all of their customers, past, present and future for purchasing a pair of their mittens and contributing to a sustainable and environmentally friendly venture.

One of a Kind Mittens

Regular Size: $40 (fits most average women and men)

Large Size- $50 and (special order)

Email us at cathynewton48@gmail.com to let us know which mitten number you'd like to purchase. We'll respond within 24 hours. You can pay with cash or

VENMO at

Cathleen-Newton (7463)

REgular Sized

In Stock and ready to go!

Pictures added daily as they are completed.

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Beautiful Patchwork!

Every once in awhile I use some of the left over scraps to craft some extra special patchwork mittens. They are one size fits all and sell for $50 a pair.