Outlander Style Arm Warmers/Fingerless Gloves!

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!

fingerless gloves in oatmeal 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.

using fingerless gloves holding red flowers

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!!

 

New WIPs for 2014!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Well the holidays are almost over! Son No 2 has returned to London. Son No1 left last week and tomorrow my DH goes back to work.  WOOHOO!  House to myself again!! (they don’t read this!) . I have been having a good rest this week, mainly because I got a seasonal virus just after Christmas day and am still not completely well.  Having Fibromyalgia, amongst other things, seems to mean getting things badly and taking a long time to recover.  I think the strain of going to London for the ill fated craft fair didn’t help either 🙁

For anyone who was wondering how Handmade Christmas at the 02 went  –  well it wasn’t a very good experience and I would not recommend anyone to book with this event in the future before being very sure that things will be different from the December one.  We were not the only stall holders unhappy with various things – there is a facebook group of us all trying to get some compensation from the organisers.  I have written to the OFT, as have others, and am awaiting a response.  You can read more about it my last weeks POST which also has a link to the Folksy blogpost about it.

But to move on to happier things – I have started my first WIPs of 2014!  A Ripple Blanket using the Attic 24 pattern and am really enjoying making it whilst resting on the sofa.

crochet blanket

Ripple blanket

Remember the crosstitch heart in last month’s craftseller?  Well I decided to have a go last night and it’s coming along nicely, just the top half to do now!

crosstitch heart in red thread

Half a crosstitch heart!

So that’s two WIPs already- one good thing from having an xmas fair is that all but one of my other WIPs are finished – and some even got sold!!   It’s soooooo  good having the opportunity to build up a new stack of WIPs!!  🙂

When not making new things I am spending my time planning them from ideas in these two fantastic books I got for Christmas!  GBSB from DH and Vintage book from DS2!

GBSB and Vintage Crafts books!

Crafts books for new ideas!

And that’s me sorted for a couple of weeks!  Looking forward to reading about other people’s holiday adventures and new year plans over at Handmade Monday Have you got a stack of WIPs Yet?   Do tell!!