Crochet Gloves - with Fingers!

I mentioned in a previous post that I was trying to make gloves for a guy at work who struggles to buy gloves that fit as he has short wide hands.

It was a tricky project as everywhere there are patterns for fingerless gloves, wristwarmers, etc - but there are a lot less for 'proper' fingered-gloves (so to speak!).  In the end I found this one and used it as a very vague guide in so much as I crocheted from the top down - the fingers first.  But I used dc (tr UK) stitch and after looking at it for the initial idea, I mostly just made it up as I went along to try to fit it to his hands - made to measure!

Well, I finished them on Sunday night and handed them over yesterday at work - just in the nick of time as the temperature has plummeted!  He seems very pleased, reporting today that they are nice and warm.

If the baby finger on one glove looks smaller than the other - it is.  He damaged one of them playing rugby, so it's a bit crooked and didn't need as long a glove-finger on that hand.  See?  Bespoke!  (And during this process I discovered I seem to be the only person who calls it a 'baby' finger - but hey, I'm calling it that anyway!)

As I finished them in the evening and handed them over at work the next day, I didn't have much time to get any decent photos in daylight.  The above picture was in the morning before work, whilst it was still pretty dark and dingy.  The rest were in the office in artificial light, so excuse the quality...

These were worn by a female friend at work, who was helping me try to get an ok picture.  They don't fit her properly - you can see they're too big - but this gives you an idea.

As grateful as the recipient was, he is a bloke and they do not enjoy women fussing around them, trying to get them to hand-pose for pictures!!  (Especially when they're at work trying to do their job, which I should also have been doing - this is a place of work, not a craft club!)  This is the best I could get...ha!...

They do fit him very well (like... well, a glove - hilarious!)  I really am quite pleased.  When I spotted him putting them on to leave the office at the end of the day yesterday, I admit I felt a little proud!

So, there you have it - my first completed make of 2016.  I hope for lots more!

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To Make or To Buy?

If you are a bit of a crafter and a maker, you might find yourself seeing things in the shops and thinking 'I could make that myself'.  This happens to me all the time - so much so that I often don't buy the item, or actually feel a bit guilty if I do.  

For ages I'd been thinking of making myself a lovely soft grey cowl.  Then I spotted the above cowl in the Cologne Christmas markets, on a trip with my family at the end of November.  It is made from such soft snuggly alpaca yarn that I really couldn't resist it, despite thinking I should instead find some wool of equal scrumptiousness and make one myself.  It's not like it would be difficult, it's just a long strip sewn into a circle...

But, there would be the challenge of finding the ideal yarn and then the hours I would need to spend making it, and would I ever actually get round to it?  (So many craft ideas, so little time!)  Sometimes, when the perfect item presents itself to you, ready made and just waiting to be used and enjoyed... it's hard to say no.

I have made cowls in the past - a knitted one and a crocheted one - but they were small ones designed to go once around my neck.  I can choose to have this new one wrapped once, twice or three times around and it is so warm and cosy!

What do you think?  Do you ever have this dilemma and the guilt of buying something you know you could make yourself?  Surely, just because we CAN make it, doesn't mean we HAVE to..?  I say we should cut ourselves a little slack!

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Crochet Glove WIP

A guy at work has asked me to crochet him some gloves.  This is because he struggles to find gloves in the shops that fit him due to the fact, as he puts it, he has "short wide-ass hands".

I'll be honest, I didn't really want to make them as I had no idea what I was doing and didn't find the idea particularly inspiring.  But... I felt bad for him and his poor cold hands, so I got guilted into starting!  I made no promises it would work out, but I thought I'd give it a go...

This has been ongoing since around October - I started a finger, ripped it back, started again, and had some to-ing and fro-ing bringing them into work to check they fit ok.  (Of course there was the big gap when I was working on the advent calendar and couldn't possibly focus on anything else!)

Before Christmas I got to the point above where I think for the first time the poor guy thought he may just end up with a pair of gloves after all!

I think it's time I got back to the hook to see if I can actually do this and produce gloves that fit him.  I guess he's just lucky it's been a mild winter!  But it would still be helpful if I manage to finish them before summer...

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Creation Consolidation - 2015!

Happy New Year!

(And I have FINALLY responded to the comments on my last few posts - so if you have been waiting for a reply - there was a question on colours used in some crochet back in October - it should now be there!)

I wasn't actually going to bother with a round-up of last year's creations, as it was a bit of a strange year for me.  I started the year in a long-term relationship, which ended in June.  He moved out and since then I've nabbed myself another victim boyfriend.  All the life changes meant I haven't really been very creative at all during the year.  To be honest, I wasn't feeling very positive about this new year either.  During the last few days of 2015 and the first few days of 2016, I felt less than optimistic about the year ahead.  I guess 2015 really didn't go how I thought it would, and it left me wondering what unhappy things might await me this year - how's that for cheery?!

However... I perked up yesterday!  Oddly enough coinciding with going back to work after the Christmas break - who'd have thunk it?  So, time to be more positive and upbeat and have a little look at what I did manage to make... click on the titles to go to the original posts...

Crochet Hot Water Bottle Cover

Organisation - Print Your Photos

(Not a make, but some tips and motivation for actually printing some of those digital pictures hidden away on our computers)

Beanbag Cube

(Actually made end of 2014 but blogged in 2015)

Shoe Care Box

Washi Tape Pen Pot

Crochet Skull Doily

Glass Fused Coasters

Washi Tape Picture

Japanese Flower Crochet Coasters

Fabric Advent Calendar

And there you have it.  Not a lot at all, and some very quick makes amongst them.  There were a few decent items, though, that it's good to look back on.  I think it does help to see them all in one place on these round-up posts, as I made more than I thought.  I hope that 2016 will be far more creative and productive, though!

In case you're interested, here are my yearly round-up posts for:

2014

2013

I didn't do a round-up for previous years, but you can see all my finished projects at the below links:

Crochet

Knitting

Sewing

Fingers crossed for a good year in 2016 for us all!

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