Crocheted Fingerless Gloves

Can you believe Christmas is in less than a week?!  I can hardly contain myself.  I am probably more impatient than any little kid out there.  To help pass the time I have been staying busy with crafts.  This includes learning to crochet.  Whenever we get close to moving to our new base I get antsy thinking I won't have my craft supplies or sewing machine for months.  I usually make an attempt to find a craft that is easy to travel with and crocheting seemed perfect.

My mom taught me the basic chain stitch when I was nine and that is probably the extent of my crocheting knowledge.  I really have a desire to learn though and just like with sewing it takes time to learn.  My first few projects are sort of duds but I'm going to keep pressing and with practice I hope to get better.  Want to learn with me?  Well thank God for youtube tutorials!  I would be lost otherwise.

My first project was fingerless gloves and it is very fitting considering we have already had snow and it is freezing over here!  I watched THIS youtube video for help and then sort of made it my own.  I like the ribbed look, but I like for the lines to be vertical instead of horizontal so I made some changes.

I started by chaining 27.  This will be the length of the glove so you can make it shorter or longer depending on your preference.  Just like in the video I went into the third chain from the end and start with the double half crochet stitch.

Double half crochet to the end, chain 2 [where the arrow shows], turn and continue with double half crochets in the back loop. 

You will continue to stitch until it fits the width of your hand.  I did 11 rows.  Once you are finished it will look like this.  Be sure to leave lots of extra yarn at the end.

Fold over the rectangle and using a yarn needle, stitch the two ends together.  Once you reach down about an inch you will leave an opening for your thumb.  This is where you will only stitch on one end. You can see the needle on the right side of the glove.  Once the hole is big enough, stitch it back together until you reach the end. 

Before you know it, you will have a pair of fingerless gloves.  This was such a great beginner project.  If the pictures are too hard for follow, be sure to check out the video.