Free Pattern - Arm Warmer for dialysis patients

Arm Warmer for dialysis patients.

My dad asked me to make one of these for my mom. She recently had to go on dialysis (long story - but her transplanted kidney of 14 years finally gave up).

He gave me some directions that he had found online on KidneyTimes - if you'll go there you'll find out why an arm warmer is very helpful for people on dialysis. The directions they have are perfectly fine but, of course, I had to do my own version. By the way, if you don't like to knit in the round, their directions for knitting this flat are great.

My arm warmer is knit from the wrist cuff up in the round (no seams!) and has ribbing on each end. You don't want it tight, but it does need to stay up and be long enough with the arm bent. If your recipient is handy, you can try it on them as you go. (one of the benefit of doing it from the wrist up)

As a guideline, Mom's wrist is 5 3/4" and her arm above the elbow is 9". You may need to adjust these directions depending on your measurements. Final length is just over 15" long.

Yarn: 1 skein Berroco Comfort (210 yards) - Color 9736 bright blue

(Substitutions - smooth worsted weight yarn 175-200 yards - preferably machine washable and dryable. Something very soft and warm.)

Needles: Size 5 and 8 double points (or circulars if you'd rather do magic loop)

Stitch gauge: 4 1/2 stitches per inch

Row gauge: 6 1/2 rows per inch (but not critical)

Using smaller needles cast on loosely: 40 stitches. I use a knit-on cast on, but any reasonably elastic cast on technique is fine.

Cuff: K2, P2 ribbing for 12 rows

Sleeve: Change to larger needles

Round 1 - 4: K1, M1, K to last stitch of round, M1, K1. (48 stitches after round 4)

Round 5 - 15: Knit

Round 16: Repeat round 1

Round 17-27: Knit

Repeat rounds 16 - 27 (1 increase row, 11 knit rows) until total piece measures 14-15 inches.

Count your stitches. If you have a multiple of four you're ready to start the cuff. If you don't have a multiple of four do the following decrease row:
decrease row: K1, K2tog, K to last 3 stitches, SSK, K1

Upper Cuff: Change back to smaller needles. K2, P2 8 rounds.
Cast off loosely using the larger needle.

If you've got the intended recipient handy, have them try it on before you tie off that last stitch. If it's too tight at the upper cuff, rip back the cuff and re-knit it with your larger needles. If it's too loose, rip back the cuff and do another decrease row with decreasing 4 stitches (so you can keep the k2 p2 ribbing) and re-knit.

Final fit (on a bare arm) should be comfortable and long enough that they should be able to bend the arm without pulling the sleeve down over their elbow. It's very important to not have anything tight on this arm!

I've made this one long enough that Mom has the option of pulling it part-way over her hand if she wants to.

Of course, if you want a pair of these, you'll need an extra skein.

My extra skein is going towards a matching mitten to keep her hand warm, too. Pattern for that to follow....