Wristwarmer pattern - free and ongoing art projects

There's nothing that gets you going with crochet like cold weather.  Fall is really starting to come in good now and while we may have a mild day here or there, the colder temps are here to stay.

That being said I had to take care one of my pet peeves about the season.  Cold forearms.  I can't stand gloves as they hinder my ability to properly and effectively do important things.  Like drive.  Also anything on my palms irrirtates me.  I had come across wristwarmers before online and thought, "that's not a bad idea."  The only issue I had with most of them was the sewing aspect.  I was in the middle of cleaning and clearing out a studio space for myself.  I had no interest whatsoever in hunting down the needles to do anything remotely related to sewing.  Finding some in the round proved to be a challenge and when I did find them I wasn't fond of their overall design. The human wrist and hand are not rectangles.

Anywho, I experimented (while simultaneously organizing) and came up with this pattern.  I have since refined this pattern to one I will post for sale in the near future on my artfire. 

I have found that wristwarmers or wristlet in my case tend to follow the maker's own personal preferences.  Some end right at the end of the wrist.  Some come all the way over the palm to the base of the fingers.  Some (like the ones I prefer) come to the base of the thumb or a little over.  It is really up to the crocheter so this pattern is essentially a guide more than the end all be all.

Bear with me. Writing patterns isn't my strong suit.




Materials:

Vanna's Choice Cranberry
5(F) Hook
Children's yarn needle (optional) for weaving in ends

Try it on and adjust as you are making it.

The pattern (work in back loop only):

Ch 26 loosely (or however many it takes to go around your wrist comfortably). Sl st in the first chain to make a circle.

Row 1: Ch 2 and hdc in each stitch. Sl st into ch 2.

Row 2: Ch 1 (insert stitch marker) and single crochet

Row 3 and 4: sc in both moving the stitch marker up with each row.

Row 5, 6, and 7: ch 2 and dc in each stitch across. Slip stitch in top of chain 2.

Row 8: Ch 1 and sc in each stitch across. Slip stitch in top of ch 1.

Row 9: Ch 1 (insert sttich marker) and sc

Row 10 and 11: sc in both moving the stitch marker up with each row.

Row 12: ch 2. DC in same stitch as join and in the next nine stitches. 2 dc in next stitch. *dc in each of the next ten stitches. 2 dc in next stitch.* Repeat from *-* around and sl st in the top of chain 2.

Row 13 and 14: Ch 2 and DC in each stitch. Slip sttich in the top of chain 2.

To start the Thumb hole:

Row 14: Ch 1 (insert stitch marker) and sc in next two stitches. Chain 6. Skip next six stitches and sc in each stitch across.

Row 15 through ? : SC in each stitch across moving the stitch marker up. I sl st into the stitch market stitch and used a yarn needle to finish it off smoothly.

I don't like for mine to go all the way up because the yarn irritates my palms but you can go up as much as you desire.

Like I had said, I was doing some cleaning, mostly to clear out a space where I could paint that wasn't visually cluttered.  I tend to amass a great deal of items and since I do so many things this is very easy.  I have stuff everywhere.  Even when I was finished organizing I STILL have things everywhere, only neater lol.

My neater, more refined painting space.  I decided to take up oil painting again.  This is usually impractical as you have to have proper ventilation and all that for the fumes, however I'm working in water soluble oils so this takes care of that factor.  Also I am right by the back door.  This is one half of the dining room that we rarely use.  See the colorful drawing?  My kindergarten baby won first place in her Oktober Fest Student Art Contest.  It is hanging (with her blue ribbon) on the wall now.

I reverted the table into a drawing space.  My husband's laptop won't usually be there though lol.  You can kind of see my organized clutter.  I have several boxes under that table.

A better idea of how I organize clutter.  Sketchbooks, canvases, and foamcore abound.  I have two large tackle boxes from Wal-Mart that hold a lot of my drawing and painting supplies.  I was so pissed off when I was younger when I realized that artbins were essentially expensive tackle boxes.  Yes, the novelty with name brand wore off real quick.  Everything is more easily accessible now and out of the living room.


My crochet is another story.  I have a large wicker drawer that I am storing all of my yarn in.  I'm still working on my "ugly" blanket so that should take care of the scraps.

What's on my easel?

This 8 x 10 oil painting.  I did this a few nights back and even though it is with water soluble oils I'm still waiting for it to dry.  I am using the grisaille technique.  Grisaille means "grey" in French.  With this technique all the values are worked out before any color is added.  The colors will be followed up using translucent glazing and scumbling techniques with the heavier applications of paint coming in the last stages.  I haven't done a painting of this nature in years.  It is only a study to see if I can still do it.  I haven't oil painted in some time.

I love painting eyes, which should be obvious as they are the most refined portion of this painting.  My subject was holding a necklace which I painted out.  I will probably add a 3d element of a necklace when it is finished.  No, I will add a 3d element, my venus figures.

I created a small Venus of Willendorf some time ago out of polymer clay.  I wanted to do more work exploring the woman so doing venus figures seemed like a natural extension of this.  The mold is made out of Amazing Mold Putty.  It is expensive but I love this stuff.

These were the original polymer clay venuses that I made.  That Willendorf was a challenge.  I can see these as additions to artwork in the future.

I love working in polymer clay.  I also love experimenting making faces.  This is the latest one I created.  It hasn't been baked yet as I am refining the features more.  I am happy with how it has come out so far.  I didn't get a view of the side but her hairstyle is three bounded buns.  Her neck ends in a straight area towards the back so she could be mounted.  I have plans for her.

This polymer clay venus stands about six inches.  I utilized my anatomy book to work on this particular piece.  It still needs to be sanded smooth and when I work up the patience (I can't stand to sand) then I will do so.  It has a foil armature with the polymer molded over.  I am pleased with how it came out considering I haven't molded a model in over 10 years.


I haven't even posted the million drawings I have done.  There is so much I want to do including larger paintings.  Everything takes time.  I will get there.