TwiddleMuffs

A few months ago I was at a quilt meeting, and there were a couple of lovely ladies selling goodies from their crafting rooms… clearing their stash. 🙂 How they managed that I don’t know. 🙂 Jess and I bought some fabric and other goodies at bargain prices, and at the end of the meeting they gave me a big bag of the oddest bits and pieces of wool. Fascinating, interesting, all sorts of different colours and fun yarns with bobbles and nobbles and thread strands.

During the following week, I emptied the bag onto my bed and just looked at it… and thought… “What on earth would we do with this?”

When it comes to crafting and making stuff… there’s no longer an “I”… always a collective “we” even if I have no idea at the time, who the ‘we’ might be! *Grin*

Days later my friend Felicity, added photos of her knitting groups “TwiddleMuffs” and I was intrigued enough to get hooked. *LOL*

Felicity sent me the pattern… and photos, and I knew exactly what we could do with the big bag of odd bits and pieces of wool.

Knit TwiddleMuffs!

It should have been easy and straight forward… however I have *fullblown menopause* according to my doctor, and it addles my brain. I just could not figure this pattern out. Lots of chats with Felicity and more patterns found on the internet… and a few chats with a very gracious friend Marje, who kindly knitted not one… but two TwiddleMuffs, so I could actually ‘see’ and touch, and feel… and I even smelt them, *Grin* I was able to actually knit a TwiddleMuff myself. 🙂

It’s not sewn yet… that’s tomorrow’s project. However, I’m really proud of my achievement. *Smile*

I’ve made up a pattern as I’ve knitted… which is basically a combination of all the patterns, in my own understanding of knitting phraseology… so please let me know of any corrections or changes.

I used two strands of double knitting wool and my tension is very tight, so for my next TwiddleMuff, I’ll probably increase my cast on stitches by 10 to 20, so it’s a little bigger. Some have used chunky wool, with looser tension and theirs are perfectly big enough. 🙂

Many have expressed interest in participating, thank-you for your support.

Our aspiration is to knit Beanies, Scarves and TwiddleMuffs for specific groups of elderly people in our area. (Durban, Kloof, Forest Hills, Waterfall, KZN). If you would like to be involved, we need lots of wool please, and lots of help knitting. 🙂

My mom and daughter are making lap quilts… and we’ll be making bags, and adding goodies as well. We will be filling the bags with gift boxes that I hope my friends will help fill again, as they did so graciously for the Heart to Heart children’s bags, we just gave to the children from Bridges of Hope for Children. 🙂

Please email mands@womanofworth.co.za if you would like to help and join our Heart to Heart group, or please leave a comment below.

TwiddleMuff knitted by my friend Marje

TwiddleMuffs

The original TwiddleMuff was developed by Margaret Light for her grandmother, Lily. As she grew older, and her eyesight began to decline, Lilly couldn’t be as creative and productive with her hands as she had been all her life. “The TwiddleMuff satisfied her need to keep her hands warm and busy,” Margaret says. “She enjoyed it so much that it was on her lap constantly.”

A TwiddleMuff is a double thickness hand muff with bits and pieces attached inside and out. It is designed to provide a stimulation activity for restless hands for patients suffering from Dementia or Alzheimer’s. (My mom absolutely loves the TwiddleMuff I’m making so even just people who suffer with really cold hands will enjoy a TwiddleMuff).

TwiddleMuff Instructions

Materials

  • This pattern is perfect for using up left over and odd balls of wool.
  • Needles: 8mm circular or 6.5mm straight needles.

Directions

Muff Cuff: Cast on 45 stitches using 2 strands of double knitting wool or 1 strand of chunky wool (one plain colour works best). Work in stocking stitch (knit a row, purl a row) for 27cm.

Muff Body: Continue with stocking stitch, but use up oddments of various textures of wool such as chunky, mohair, ribbon etc. until the work measures 60cm (two strands of double knit for two rows each gives a lovely assortment of colours).

Cast Off

Finishing: If working with straight needles, lightly iron the long strip, then neatly join the sides together using edge to edge stitch (with the knit side facing out). Turn inside out and push the one-colour cuff up inside the muff body.
Sew the two ends together, again using a neat edge to edge stitch.

Decoration Now is the time if you want to decorate the muff, inside and out, with ribbons, beads, flowers, zips, loops, pompoms, buttons, etc. Knit a separate pocket for a favourite photo or a hanky. Be creative, but make sure each item is securely attached. The TwiddleMuffs below have been knitted by Marje and are available for anyone to see.

Inside the TwiddleMuff

TwiddleMuff with pocket

TwiddleMuff

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