Warm Wrists for Winter

I have monkey arms.  This is great for things like playing the trombone and getting stuff down from atop the fridge.  It is not great for finding clothes that fit, particularly not for jackets.

I live in Wisconsin.  It gets cold here in the winter. Very, very cold.  This is generally not a problem as us Wisconsinites know how to bundle ourselves up pretty well. 

The problem is, bundling up while still looking classy is difficult when jacket sleeves are too short for you.  Sure, I could wear my giant XL puff coat and be warm and well-covered down to my fingertips, but a puff coat with a suit?!  No siree Bob!  I like my beautiful black trench coat.  I just don’t like how cold my wrists get and how the wind rushes up my arms from that gap between glove and sleeve.  So, I did something about it.

I made wrist cuffs!  They go under my jacket and gloves and keep my wrists snug and warm and the draftiness out.  I made them with the same yarn as my phone cozies, and actually started with the same pattern as a base.  After all, that pattern was for fingerless gloves.  I figured the cast-on amount would be appropriate for a wrist.  It was.

Pair of ‘em

I cast on 44 stitches and did a 2x2 rib as long as I wanted the cuff.  At the top, I did a couple rows of seed stitch and added a thumb hole to help keep the cuffs in place.  Rather than doing a “hold these stitches over here” like a normal glove or fingerless glove, I cast off 6 stitches where I wanted the thumb and on the next time around, cast on 6 stitches and joined those to the other side so I had a thumb hole.  I then did 2 more rounds and bound off the whole thing.

Covered wrist

The left cuff is extra special.  The one good thing about that gap between my gloves and sleeve is that I can look at my watch.  I wanted to keep that bonus while warming my wrists, so the left cuff has a watch hole.

Watch opening

So far, I love them.  It takes a little longer to get ready, and they have to go on after the jacket (and thus come off before I can put the jacket on if I’m just wearing them around), but it’s worth it.  The extra warmth they provide is amazing, especially with how they keep the wind out of my jacket.