Replacements

 Several years ago, I made Bill a pair of fingerless gloves using some yarn I had left over from a giant cone a friend brought back for me from a thrift store in Boston. It's thin yarn with thicker slubs scattered throughout. I wound some off and used it double stranded to crochet myself a big cozy sweater. I had lots of yarn left. I still haven't used it all and that's a good thing.

Although I've made Bill a few other pair of fingerless gloves, he wore the first pair most often--on a daily basis for most of the year. We both wear them. Both of us get cold hands and I end up with aching wrists, too. I've found that wearing the gloves prevents the ache. Bill likes them because they keep his hands warm. He has thicker ones for wearing outside on chilly/cold days, but for indoor use, he liked the thinner ones. One day we were out on a mild day and he lost one of them. Since I had more of the same yarn, I told him I could make him a replacement. But when he gave me the remaining glove, I decided to just make him a new pair. The glove was showing its age and parts of it would have needed redoing anyway. Also, after all that use, it was a bit stretched out and it would have felt funny having one broken in glove and one new one, I think. So I rummaged around, found the appropriate double- pointed needles, pulled out the bag with the yarn and knit away in the evenings whilst listening to various things. I wove in the ends the other night and now he's got a new pair.

There's no pattern, I just made it up as I went when I made the first pair and noted down the numbers. It's an easy project. I use double points because I prefer them, but magic loop, 2 circulars, or 9-inch circulars could also be used. I held the yarn double, which I would say resulted in something between sock weight and DK weight. I used US size 2 needles and the resulting fabric is quite firm, so sturdy enough to wear well. I tend to be a loose knitter. If I had thicker yarn and bigger needles, I would cast on fewer stitches. This is easily adaptable. For these, I cast on 48 stitches, separated them so that I had 16 on each needle, did several inches of 2x2 rib, and then plain knitting around until I reached the base of my thumb. I just measured by trying them on. To make the opening for the thumb, I started working back and forth, alternating knit and purl rows and turning after I'd done the stitches on the third needle. I did 10 rows this way.  After that, I went back to working in the round until they were just about long enough and ended with an inch or so of 2x2 rib. To make the thumb, I crocheted a few rounds around the opening--it's too fiddly to be dealing with the double pointed needles on so few stitches. I did US half double crochets through the 3rd loop around and around until the thumb piece was as long as I wanted it. Weaving in all the ends was the last step and they were ready to go. Just in time for it to warm up next week. 

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