When a husband requests....

Stop the presses!!!

A husband has made a request for a pair of arm warmers, customized to fit his arms, that run from the wrists all the way up to just about the shoulder. They have to fit snuggly but not tightly, they must be made with a dark colored yarn, preferably black, must not sag or bag and heaven forbids that they might not stay up! OH, and they must be soft on his tender skin!!

Now there's a challenge! But is it one that most fiber users dread to receive from the last person they expect to get a request from? This dear friends is exactly the case. My husband recognises the hard work that goes into designing a pattern, add to that the custom fitting of said pattern; custom fitting that requires many try-ons for fitting purposes. Noting comments such as it's a bit tight or it's a bit loose at *insert arm part*. These will be worn for the most part when he's sleeping. He cannot stand to have his arms under the blankets and since the bedroom gets a tad on the cold side in winter, he could not leave his arms above the blankets, at least not without a good pair of arm warmers. But I also have to keep in mind that he will wear them while at the computer on those particularly cold days.

In the past, I knit more than a couple of pairs of arm warmers for him. They were ok, but not exactly what he wanted. The one pair was too short, but works great when he's at the computer and his hands are freezing. The next pair went up to the elbow, included a thumb gusset, stayed up fairly well but weren't quite long enough. Those have now been repurposed for keeping my extremities warm (more on that pair later). The next set went up past the elbow, but were too wide for the upper arm section and sagged when worn.

So I went the crochet way since I feel more comfortable doing crochet designs over knitted ones. Don't take me wrong, I have designed knit patterns in the past, and have found that for me,,crochet is better. It translates much better from my sewing patterns (which I used extensively when designing clothing for my son who is disabled) to crochet patterns. After much measuring, I remembered that I had not asked the hubster what kind of yarn he wanted. The answer came back quick, acrylic please. So acrylic it is in black please.

I went through my stash and discovered that black yarn is a rare bird in my collection. I found a ball of camo with black, dark green and beige and hoping against hope presented it to the hubster for approval. He frowned at it until I told him that was the total sum of the black yarn I own. And he finally agreed, that ok, he would try the camo but if he didn't like it, I'd have to make a 2nd pair after I'd found black yarn.

The first arm warmer is completed, and I'm 1/3 of the way into the next one. So far the hubster is satisfied. I will have photos and the pattern available over the next few days! 

PS. I haven't forgotten about the new hat design I'm working on! Should be finished testing mid week!