Third Make for Christmas - Gloves fit for a Guy

I love making gifts for people what-ever the time of year, but I always struggle a bit with the gentlemen in my life. It is common knowledge that men are allergic to cushions, refuse to carry a bag unless it is a boring backpack (preferably black) and everything must be terribly practical and not in any way pretty.

This year though, I think I may have found a solution. Chaps have hands too right? And those hands would be more comfortable if warm. On the practical side, these gloves allow freedom to the fingers, so change can still be fished out of pockets and tools can be held in a firm grip, whilst gently warming the wrists and palms.

Gloves fit for a Guy

Difficulty: Medium moving to easy once you have got a hang of the stitch pattern. All instructions are given in UK crochet terms. For those of you who prefer US terms substitute sc for dc, dc for tr and hdc for htr.

You will need: Double knit yarn of your choice in a guy-friendly colour (I used unbranded 100% wool picked up at Yarndale), 5mm crochet hook, scissors, needle.

The stitch pattern is adapted from block 23 in '200 Crochet Blocks' by Jan Eaton. (A most excellent book in my humble opinion.)

Both gloves are made the same and worked sideways around the hand.

Foundation chain: Work 42 chain.

Foundation row: 1dc in second chain from hook, 1 dc in each chain.

Row 1: 3ch (counts as 1tr), 1tr in first dc, *miss 2dc, 1tr in next dc, 3ch, 3tr round post of last tr just made, miss 2dc, 1tr in each of next 3dc. Repeat from * ending last repeat with 2tr. Turn.

Row 2: 3ch (counts as 1tr), 1tr in top of first tr, *2ch, 1dc in top corner of diagonal group, 2ch, 1tr in top of each of 3tr in row below. Repeat from * ending last repeat with 2tr. Turn.

Row 3: 3ch (counts as 1tr), 1tr in next tr, *miss 2ch, 1tr in dc, 3ch, 3tr round post of last tr just made, miss 2ch, 1tr in each of next 3tr. Repeat from * ending last repeat with 2tr. Turn.

Repeat rows 2 and 3 ending with a repeat of row 2 until the work is long enough to wrap snuggly round the widest part of the hand. I needed 10 pattern repeats.

Next row: 1ch, 1dc in each of next 2tr, *2dc into next 2ch space, 1dc into next dc, 2dc into next 2ch space, 1dc into each of next 3tr. Repeat from * ending with 1dc in each of last 2tr. Fasten off yarn.

Turn your work sideways as above (the rows go up and down the glove). The side nearest you will be the cuff and the side furthest from you will be the finger end.

At the cuff end

Row 1: 1htr in side of dc, 2htr in each tr up the side, 1htr in side of dc. Turn.

Row 2: *1htr in each of first 3htr, miss 1htr. Repeat from * Fasten off yarn.

At the finger end

Row 1: 1htr in side of dc, 2htr in each tr up the side, 1htr in side of dc. Fasten off yarn.

Weave in all the ends. Sew the two sides together leaving a gap of for the thumb. I found the gap felt right when it was about 1/4 the length of the glove and started about half way along.

Make a second glove.

Ideally I would have found a willing chap to model them for the photos, but since he is at work, you'll have to put up with them modelled by me.

So there you have it, gloves fit for a guy, but hopefully without being boring.

Can you keep a secret? Don't tell anyone, but if you chose a pretty girly colour, these would be great for a girl too!

xx