So, firstly let me apologise if you haven’t heard of Outlander!  Fans of Outlander will enjoy looking at/talking about anything remotely Outlander related,  but for the rest of you, well – what you are about to see are just crochet arm warmers.  But, these are not just any arm warmers though, these are Outlander Style Arm Warmers / Fingerless Gloves!!

Outlander is the title of a series of books by Diana Gabaldon, of which the first UK edition was called Crosstitch, while in the US it was called Outlander.  However the use of that name has now widened to encompass the whole 9 book series and the recent US made TV series.  There are worldwide Outlander fans – the books have been going for over 20 years – they are big long stories and each is a satisfyingly very good read.   I never re-read any books, yet I am currently re-reading the whole Outlander series and enjoying it as much as the first time.

I won’t describe the story except to say it starts in 1940s Scotland and moves into 1743 Scotland.  It is a story of an amazing relationship and is packed with Scottish and US history. It is not a ‘romance’ novel nor a ‘science fiction novel’ although it includes love, passion and time travel!  So if you feel like a good read for the autumn and winter you could actually have it downloaded from Amazon onto your Kindle or E reader app in seconds!  If you do try it I’d love to hear how you found it.  One thing I would say is, don’t join the FB groups or any of the other Outlander groups until you’ve read at least the first book or you’re bound to read spoilers.

And now for the actual handmade crafty bit of the post!  In the mini-series which started 8 week’s ago in US some of the female characters in 1743 Scottish Highlands have been seen wearing arm warmers and cowls to keep out the Scottish chill – hence the book fans are making/buying these with gusto!  Here are mine – made from appropriately named Highland Tweed yarn!

Outlander-style arm warmers!

Mine are based on the pattern from Hopeful Honey although I have altered her pattern somewhat, to make my own version.

fingerless gloves – hold things easily whilst keeping warm!

I love wearing these type of gloves as they make it so easy to pick things up when you’re busy, whilst still keeping warm.  I can’t wait for it to get a teeny bit more autumnal so I can wear my new  outlander style arm warmer/fingerless gloves!

Now I’m off to Handmade harbour and later I’ll be starting to crochet my chocolate brown Claire-style cowl in highlander chunky yarn!!