This past Friday, after breakfast had been eaten and the dog had been walked, I headed out to meet up with a crochet friend of mine.

It had been awhile since we had gotten together, and she was struggling with being able to consistently work a foundation double crochet stitch to her satisfaction. As for me, I had a little crochet something I wanted to give her, and truth be told, I am pretty much always up for crochet and coffee.

On my way, I stopped by to see my mother. I am making her a pair of crochet Victorian texting gloves because the weather here is sometimes miserably cold (like today), and my mom is an avid texter.

As I neared finishing the 20th of 26 rows, I had an inkling that the pattern as written might not provide my mom with the best fit.

The wrist should be snug to prevent cold air from getting in, but not so snug that the glove is hard to get on or the ribbing stretched so far that the cold air creeps in through gaps in the stitches. By the time I had the 26th row completed and had joined the edges to form a crochet cylinder. I was fairly certain I would need to tinker with the pattern to get her the best fit, but I had her try it on to be sure.

And I was right — it was too snug for comfort. So I frogged my way back to the end of the 26th row, and then left to meet my friend.

Over coffee and and crochet we discussed our children, the holidays, and warmer weather. My friend practiced making foundation double crochet stitches, and had an “aha” moment the result of which was a substantial length of foundation double crochet stitches.

Meanwhile, I worked on some adjustments to Catherine DePasquale’s pattern so that my mother could enjoy her texting gloves as much as I do mine.

I started by adding four more rows of back loop only single crochets, and then instead of working 26 single crochets around the edge for rows. After two more small adjustments, I had one of the “cuffs” of the pattern done, and today, while I still remember the changes I had made I finished the second:

By the time I finished the second crochet “cuff,” the weekend was drawing to a close, but near at hand was the beginning of a back loop only slip stitch scarf that I am working on with several yards of yarn left to be crocheted before I need to go find a new skein that I know is in the house — somewhere.

So with hook in hand, I crocheted forward, and then, as the sun was getting ready to set on a day that has been far too cold for my taste, I got this photo:

Now that I have reached the end of that skein, I will have to go into my crochet empire in search of another so that I can move forward the only way a crocheter can: one stitch at at time.