Simple Pleasure: Gloves

It’s been an odd winter, very warm until our recent snowstorm, but even on those days when the temps hit the high 50s, I was wearing my favorite new winter accessory – gloves – just because.

As a knitter, I’ve been a hardcore mitten girl because there are so many cute and quick-to-knit mitten patterns out there. But for my birthday (back in the fall) my husband gave me an olive green pair of cashmere-lined, leather gloves (on sale now). My hands are my least favorite body part, but when I slip them into these gloves, they are magically transformed into an expression of feminine grace. Okay that may be overstating things, but I love them immensely. They make me feel so … classy and refined. Not the usual words to describe my style. Even if I wear them with something as pedestrian as my Patagonia puffer jacket, I feel ever so slightly more sophisticated.

And I’m hooked, since then I’ve acquired two more pairs – one was a gift from a friend, the other, a consignment store find – I’m enjoying having a small wardrobe of gloves and it comes as a complete surprise to me how hard I’ve fallen for them.

I’ll keep knitting mittens, like these, which are lined with lace-weight mohair, but I think they will become gifts in the future. Perhaps I’ll try some knitted gloves on tiny needles. The pair below have been on my list for at least a few years.

What are the accessories that have surprised you, either in how they make you feel when you wear them or how they add versatility where you didn’t expect it?