Winter is not a season, it’s an occupation.
―Sinclair Lewis
I have a long and storied history of getting the SADs in winter, but it hasn’t been too bad this year. I’m pretty sure that’s due to a combination of factors:
- regular exercise,
- a concentrated effort to get out into the sun (when it shows up) for some much-needed Vitamin D,
- I heard we have had 37 different weather events this winter. THIRTY SEVEN. I can’t find anything specific to back that up, but it sounds about right. I do know we’ve had enough snow to make this winter historically a top 5 performer for Delaware. I’ve been too dang busy shoveling and kvetching about school snow days to get all introspective and depressed.
ANYWAY.
On top of all the excitement snow and ice bring, we’ve had a lot of stretches of brutal cold, not to mention periods without power. We don’t keep the heat up very high in our house (doesn’t mean our power bill hasn’t also been brutal this winter) and it doesn’t make sense to keep it raised during the day when I’m (supposed to be) the only one here.
It gets chilly.
In particular, my hands get cold typing. (I can hear my husband making fun of me for this; he’s had to work outside all winter. I realize he’s colder. My hands are still cold.)
My favorite articles of clothing have thumbholes to help keep my hands and wrists warm, but I can only wear them so often. So I’ve been cutting my socks into easy fingerless gloves.
Fingerless gloves are obviously awesome as they allow you to type, use the touchscreen on your phone, buckle kids in and out of carseats, pay for your coffee, etc etc without having to take your gloves off. Upcycled gloves mean it’s not a big deal if kids lose them (or you lose them). I could also see using them for early spring races where the start would be cold.
I’ve been making these a long time, as a way to hang onto my fave pair of socks OR socks that I loved the look of but bothered me once on my feet (I’m weird about seams, being able to feel patterns, excessive threads, etc.) But I’ve had several people recently tell me it was clever, so I thought I’d do a quick share.
It’s as easy as you’d think it would be.
(Well, technically I guess this is a no-knitting tutorial, right? Is there even sewing involved for normal gloves?)
- Turn your sock inside out for marking.
- Put your hand inside the sock.
- Make a mark where your knuckles are. Make another where your thumb wants to come out, in the heel.
- Cut. Take the sock off your hand first.
- Turn right side out and enjoy.
How are you keeping warm?
