New Name Needed for Idiot String

Remember those homemade crochet mitten strings mom or grandma made to keep mittens from being lost? They were usually a simple chain stitch frugally made from whatever leftover yarn was available from a recent homemade project, run through the sleeves of the coat and attached to the mittens.


I remember the taunts from older kids because we needed these ‘idiot strings’ to keep track of our mittens, and I remember that we carried on the tradition by taunting younger kids once we 'matured enough' to get out of the house without them.

Those homemade mitten strings, although accomplishing their purpose, would wind tight around my arms, causing physical discomfort along with the emotional abuse that was heaped on me.

Now, there are elastic straps with fasteners to attach expensive gloves to expensive jackets, but the clasps fray the cuffs of both, and often come undone.

My 8 year old granddaughter has lost several gloves because of this, and, as often happens with dramatic 8 year old girls, suffers greatly with each loss of the favorite glove in the whole world.

My exasperated daughter-in-law crafted several one inch wide knitted ‘idiot string’ and fastened each pair of ‘favorite’ gloves. Of course, she made sure to use matching yarn and called it a homemade accessory, but I still remembered the taunts of ‘idiot string’ as my granddaughter proudly set off for school with her new homemade accessory.

Imagine my surprise when her best friend asked if she thought she could have one made for her.

Now my daughter-in-law is busy knitting the homemade glove accessories for several 8 year old girls who are tired of losing their favorite gloves in the whole world.

A name has to be thought up for these homemade children’s accessories before someone slips ups and calls the idiot strings and another generation shuns them.

Any ideas?

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