"50"/Fifty Shades of "Crocheted" Grey to Keep Your Hands Warm - Vintage Inspired Hand Muff / Warmer With Detachable Flower!

Warm Hands = a Warmer Me! My hands are always the first to go freezing cold when it gets cold outside but when they are warm I am one happy lady.

We've all seen Muffs before, I had one as a child and I see them occasionally appear at winter weddings. What I hadn't seen through my years of crocheting were many crocheted muffs so I decided to give it a go.

The title represents the use of three different shades of grey yarn which run 50 rows across & 50 rows downwards with grey lining.

I love experimenting with old ideas.

Hope you enjoy & thank you for visiting x

- French Knitting Dolly or I-cord measuring the desired length to hold the hand warmer
- Crochet Hook Sizes 4.00mm & 5.00mm
- Choice of Yarn - (for this project I used three different double knit yarns which I then doubled again)
- Tape Measure
- Sewing Machine with Stretch Sewing Needle
- Needle for hand sewing
- Invisible thread
- Lining
- Wadding
- Aligator Clip
- Glue gun
- Choice of embellishments to add to flower
- Fabric Scissors
- Pinking Shears
- Dressmakers Pins

I chose the darkest grey to make the i-cord.

If you are unfamiliar with the French Knitting technique using a dolly please don't despair. There are plenty of video tutorials available online if you google "How to French Knit" with a dolly. You can also knit your own i-cord or buy a ready made one from an online store.

To be honest it looks a lot harder than it actually is. I worked continues rounds using the transparent french knitting dolly & pin until the i-cord measured 40 inches.

All three grey yarns used are double knit 100% acrylic yarn. I then doubled the yarn. This creates a nice thickness and even weight.

Depending on how fast you are as a crocheter this project can easily be completed in a day or you can choose to do a little at a time over a longer period.

I have used UK Pattern Terminology below, for the conversion please click on the following link: http://crochet.about.com/od/conversioncharts/a/termtranslate.htm

I used a 5.00mm sized crochet hook
There are approximately "50" crochet stitches going across and "50" crochet rows measuring 14inches by 14 inches.

Stitches:
CH - chain
SC - single crochet
ST - stitch

Technique Used: Ribbing - I am very much a freestyle crocheter so if you are ribbing for the first time, I would suggest researching crochet ribbing online for a couple of minutes before starting the pattern.

(I won't refer to colours here as you may use your own desired colours, which may be one or more colours).

Ch 51
Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each st across to end, after sc in last st ch 1 turn
*Sc in each st loop (furthest away from you) across (50 sc) ch 1 turn*
Repeat from * to * until you have 50 rows.

If you are adding in different colours, I suggest cutting off the ends of each colour as you go along (as seen in photo).

Once you have your crocheted muff piece ready you will be ready to sew it together.

For the sewing construction I used an absolutely great tutorial piece via You Tube called: Vintage Inspired Hand Muff: So Sew Vintage Series

I followed most of the steps with the exception of me wanting to add an inside pocket for my mobile phone.

For the inside pocket I cut out an extra piece of lining measuring 6 inches wide by 4 inches long, I used the pinking shears to cut around the edges and then I hand sewed this piece into the muff. I did this last because I wanted to make sure it was positioned correctly inside.

The crochet flower is detachable so that you have the choice of wearing it with or without the muff. It can be added to your coat and worn as a brooch or even in your hair.

I used two of the grey shades and created the pattern below:

Using a 4.00mm sized crochet hook

Ch 25
Sc in 2nd chain from hook
Row 1 - Ch 1 skip 1 stitch, sc in next stitch (repeat to end) there will be one stitch left over. Sc in this stitch Ch 1 and turn
Row 2 - *1 sc, 1 dc, 1 tr, 1 dc, 1 sc into Ch 1 space, SS into next stitch* Repeat from * to * to end.
Row 3 - (This is where I added the lighter grey yarn) Sc in each stitch (when you reach the middle of each petal, on either side of the tr stitch from the previous row). Add three sc on either side and repeat at the peak of each petal.

The photo illustrates twisting them together to create the flower shape. On the front I hand sewed some embellishments for decoration and on the back I attached a small alligator clip (or you can use any hair clip) using a glue gun, reinforced with hand sewn invisible thread to add to it's vintage feel.

Here are some more photos of the finished piece. The double knit crochet yarn, the soft silky lining and the wadding make this so warm and snuggly. Hope you enjoy making one as much as I did x