On a recent holiday involving lots of travel, I gave myself a new challenge. I always crochet when travelling, and this trip consisted of 2 flights, 3 train trips and a bus trip. I wanted to limit the amount of yarn in my carry on pack and overcome the lack of scissors on a flight. I decided this was the time to make a twiddle muff that restricted me to creating a twiddle muff that would contain no additional twiddle items attached.
I have wanted to do this for a while. Over the years of creating twiddle muffs, cuffs and mats, I have become very conscious of dangers to users. This was a good time to minimise the dangers and see if: 1, I could create a engaging twiddle muff; and 2, how did I feel about the end result.
In my backpack I had chosen aran weight yarn (10 ply or weight 4), leftover from a grandchild’s sweater, and a size 5 crochet hook ( a USA size H/8)
I wanted one long tube so I began with what would end up as the inside as that was the biggest amount of yarn I had. The inside would be one colour and give me time to think about how I would do the outside. I chained 40 stitches and worked each row in half double crochet stitches, only because it is my favourite crochet stitch.
As I increased the length, I placed twiddle twirls at random intervals. For the twiddle twirls, I crocheted 8 chain stitches, turned and crocheted 2 single crochet (sc) stitches into each chain stitch. Sometimes to ensure a good twirl was happening I crocheted 3 single crochet stitches into each chain.
Once I reached 30 centimetres (12 inches) I was ready to do the outside piece. In my head I decided the outside design would have a variety of stitches to engage fingers like popcorn, bobble and crocodile stitches. I wanted to include a small tube for beads. I was not restricted by the number of rows in each block which did vary from 4 to 7 rows. I just had to make the length the same as the inside, 30 cm (12 inches). At the time I was working on it I used whatever stitch I felt like. At times the muff felt a bit unwieldy. But I persevered and ended up with the following long tube:
I folded the inside into the outside and joined the two pieces together with 1 row of single crochet, followed by a row of single crochet and single twirls.
If you study the twiddle muff closely you will notice a new yarn was introduced at each end. I caved! I wanted a strong mixed coloured yarn which I found in Melbourne.
Each block varies in rows. The most challenging stitch was the crocodile but so much fun. Kept me engaged for a while.
For the different stitches I used my phone to remind me how to do these stitches. There are some wonderful support resources on the internet to guide you in the making of these stitches, including videos.
The one I remember the best is the bobble stitch.
Step 1: Put yarn over hook, insert your hook into the next stitch, yarn over, and pull up a loop (3 loops on hook).
Step 2: Yarn over and pull through the first 2 loops only. This leaves 2 loops on your hook and completes your first partial double crochet.
Step 3: Repeat steps 1 and 2 four more times in the exact same stitch. Each repetition adds one more loop to your hook.
Step 4: When you have 6 loops on your hook (1 original loop + 5 partial stitch loops), yarn over and pull through all 6 loops to close the cluster.
In the photo below the inside of the muff has been placed inside. I would not work on the outside of the muff like this. I was testing to see if the size of the muff was ok and whether the finished muff would be comfortable for a recipient.
To make the pipe, I placed single crochet stitches on top of the tube right round. I continued in rows until I thought the size was right and joined the pipe to the tube by using single crochet stitches. I left a gap and put in small wooden balls that were in my travelling kit in my suitcase. I secured the pipe and felt rather chuffed that I had added in another dimension to the muff.
A fun challenge. So pleased I did this. I am reminded of the multiple ways we can make twiddle muffs, cuffs and mats. I hope this inspires you to try a new approach.
Happy creating everyone!
Sandra @Project Twiddles