Twiddle/Activity Muffs

Twiddle or Activity Muffs greatly benefit people with dementia or other individuals afflicted with autism, ADHD, social anxiety, panic attacks or any other chronic conditions that involve sensory overload. Many hospitals and nursing homes love having these muffs donated to them.

Using textured patterns and adding other items, keep individual’s hands occupied and offer visual, tactile and sensory stimulation. Adding twiddly items to the inside as well help occupy restless hands in addition to keeping hands warm.

There are no rules in making these muffs. The internet is full of textured patterns and crocheted bits and pieces that you can use on this project.I decided to switch up the yarn and rows but the whole muff can be made with the same yarn or pattern to simplify making it.

One benefit of this project is using up all that leftover yarn from past projects or even making your own yarn from double knits or polar fleece. Another advantage is that this gives you a chance to try out different patterns while not being real concerned about gauge and having fun doing it.

There is no right or wrong way to making these muffs. The most important thing though is to make sure the twiddly items are firmly attached. Otherwise let your imagination run wild and have fun.

Yarn

Buttons

Knit fabric (Optional)

Tools:

Crochet hooks (Variety of sizes)

Scissors

Darning needle

Sewing needle or sewing machine

Rotary cutter, ruler and mat (Optional)

I decided to join the ends to work in a spiral. (You can make it flat and then join sides afterward if you prefer) I ended up with 48 chain stitches which I thought would be good number since that was divisible by so many numbers for various stitches. I decided to do a half double crochet (hdc) for the first 5 rows.

Slip Stitch

Chain (ch) 48 (around 12 inches depending on yarn and hook)

Join ends with sl st

ch 2

Half Double Crochet:

Yarn over (yo) and insert the crochet hook into the stitch

yo again and pull the yarn through the stitch. (You now have three loops on the hook).

yo one more time and pull the yarn through all three loops.

Repeat hdc in each chain stitch.

Repeat for 4 more rows.

I made my own "yarn" for these rows by cutting ½” strips salvage to salvage out of a double-knit fabric. Join ends with a few stitches by hand or machine. Stretch strips so they curl.

Join yarn and Single crochet (sc) in each stitch. Repeat for 4 more rows

I also buried my tails as I was making first row ao I wouldn't have to come back at the end and weave them into the stitches.

Join on new yarn.

2 rows hdc

3 rows alternating Bobble stitch.

Bobble Stitch: Make 5 dc in one stitch, leaving the last loop of each dc on the hook. You should have 6 loops on the hook. Yo and pull yarn through all 6 loops.

1 sc in next 3 stitches, repeat bobble stitch with 3 sc between for 3 rows.making sure you offset bobbles between rows.

2 rows hdc

Join new color yarn.

1 row hdc

Lemon Peel Stitch: Ch 2, hdc then sc. Repeat through row. Repeat for 4 more rows making sure hdc is on sc from row below and sc is above hdc.

1 row hdc

2 rows sc

Mini Berry Stitch: ch 1, *insert hook into the next stitch, yo and pull loop through stitch, yo, pull through the first loop, yo, pull through loop, yo, pull through loop (Basically 3 chain stitches) Yarn over and pull through the 2 loops on the hook. Sc in next stitch* Repeat *to* to finish row. (I made sure my Berries alternated so berry was above sc.)

Repeat Mini Berry row 2 more times.

Sc for 3 rows

Repeat Mini Berry Stitch for 3 more rows

2 rows sc

Join homemade “yarn”, sc 5 rows

Join variegated yarn, hdc for 5 rows, tie off and using tapestry needle weave end through stitches.

Magic circle (mc) is the base for flowers and rings.

Loop the yarn around your fingers tail end held by thumb, ball end crisscrosses tail end to back of fingers and held in place by little finger.

On backside of hand, slide the crochet hook under right piece of yarn from right to left. Use the hook tip to grab onto a portion of yarn

After pulling left yarn under right, twist hook upward.

Hook the yarn on upper left of hand and pull the yarn you hooked through the ring to create another loop on your hook

After making Magic Circle (mc), it’s easy to make a variety of items depending on what stitches you use, how many, yarn weight and hook size

Basic Flower:With the thick yarn, I was only able to place 12 dc on mc, otherwise center circle would have been too big.

Thinner yarn I did around 15-18 hdc in mc

I also added a 2nd row on one flower, placing 2 dc in each stitch for 2nd row.

Ring: mc, 25 hdc in mc, ss close.

Corkscrews:

These also can be made any size depending on length of chain and stitch used.

ch 24, starting at 2nd ch from hook, make 3 hdc in each chain, ss to last ch.

Tassels: I
cut 3 pieces of polar fleece ½” x 10 “. I folded this over a piece of yarn and stitched polar fleece and yarn near fold.

After I decided on placement of twiddlys, I took a picture so I could remember placement as I attached them onto the muff. I used the tails that were still on the twiddleys for attaching them onto the muff. Finish hiding any tails that are still exposed.

This is a fun project to do and it is so useful for those individuals suffering from dementia.