Crochet Flip Flop Slippers

May31

Guys, this one really challenged me. I didn’t think it would. A friend requested a pair of crochet slippers made from flip flops (see the pattern here) then two more friends saw that request and requested some, and before I knew it, I’d agreed to make five pairs. Crazy, I know. But I read the pattern and it seemed simple. The supplies were cheap: I found flip flops at the dollar store, and Michaels had a great sale on Lily Sugar N Cream cotton over the weekend: 5 for $5!! At the time, I thought I might make a pair for myself, plus I want to make a few new dishcloths and washcloths. Gotta buy the yarn when it’s cheap, right?

The husband had a nifty tool to mark the holes exactly 1/4″ apart as specified, then I used an ice pick to make the holes. It was a little tedious but not difficult. Then it was time to use the small hook (B, 2.25mm) to make the first round, and that was pretty hard to get used to. The holes weren’t quite big enough for the yarn, working around the rubber sole was awkward, and I did split the foam twice. But finally I got to switch to the bigger hook (G, 4.0mm) and away I went. I followed the pattern exactly. I kept going even when it looked suspiciously large, when meant that when I was done, I had this huge clog-type monstrosity. I frogged that without any photos. Second attempt included a decrease row and created this lovely…thing. It’s not a great photo, I know, but I think you can tell it’s still rather tall. Also, it was supposed to be a size 7, and I could get it on my size 9 1/2 foot without stretching the cotton too much. Frogged again. This time I went back and read some comments, and someone else’s slipper came out super-size, and the author mentioned that maybe her holes were farther apart and the yarn was stretching more. So that’s a big thing right there: my holes were exactly 1/4″ apart and that was too close together. Let that be a lesson to you.

Okay, moving on. For the third attempt, I decreased the heck out of the body and only did six rows instead of nine. I made the tapered back one row shorter and left off one row of the decorative top. I *think* it came out okay. Grace approved.

After that, the second one went quickly and smoothly, and I’ve decided these might be okay after all. This was the first time I ever seriously considered saying no to a request. Now, I’m not going to be making a ton of these for craft shows or anything, but I can definitely finish the other four pairs.I can actually admit they’re kind of cute.

If you’re interested, my Ravelry notes are here.

Bonus FO: The Mermaid

May28

Hip Hip Hooray! I finished the mermaid last night! Of course I had to have the puppy model for me. The girl was the photographer since we had to move fast.

As cute as that is, it doesn’t show the blanket that well. Here’s a better shot.

I used this Mermaid Tail afghan pattern (free, and has a video too) and my only quibble was that I think it decreased too quickly at the bottom. Other than that, it was simple to make and looks great. The yarn is Big Twist Value Solids. For the medium adult size (fitting around 5′ 7″) I used almost 1300 yards in Medium Teal and about 370 yards in Light Teal.

The other fun thing from yesterday was a movie date with the kids. We saw Alice Through the Looking Glass in 3D. Fun movie, not as good as the first of course, but I did enjoy seeing Alice and the Hatter again. I don’t think the 3D was worth the extra cost, though.

That’s all for today, kids. Let’s see what kind of trouble I can get into today!

Finished Object Friday: The Rainbow

May27

I’m officially over the Rainbow scarf: I finished it yesterday afternoon! I’m quite pleased with it. I used a little over a skein and a half, plenty left over for a matching hat and then some. Now I just need to take some better photos outside and get it listed on Etsy!

But that’s not all! Oh no, that is not all! I also finished the body of the mermaid blanket last night! Grace says it smells just fine. I’ve got the tail begun and this project should be complete by the end of the day. Woohoo!

For my U.S. friends, enjoy the long weekend!

Still the Rainbow

May26

But at least it’s getting bigger! I knit on it after working out yesterday, while introducing the girl to the magical train wreck that is Keeping up with the Kardashians. It’s so funny to watch. (“Jump the shark? What does that mean? Don’t they mean jump ship?” and “The girls think you have this disease called colonoscopy.”) I know. I’m sorry. I can’t help it. Please don’t judge me. Actually, you can judge all you want. I’m still going to watch it and laugh. Anyhoo, I knit on the scarf a lot, and it went to flute lesson too, and it’s growing by leaps and bounds. I added on the second skein after flute lesson and knit some more last night while the boys watched The Flash. (Season finale! So dramatic!) I’m in love with this scarf and this yarn.

I could pretend that I’m going to work on the mermaid blanket today, but let’s be honest. I’m going to knit on this scarf until it’s done. Then, and only then, will I return to the mermaid blanket.

Here’s a fun shot of Grace. The hubby took both dogs on a 2-mile run yesterday and wore them out big-time. But they were so happy!

We have had rain for days and it’s still cloudy and gray. Here’s hoping there’s sunshine wherever you are!

Rainbow Scarf

May25

I cast on a new project yesterday. I didn’t mean to, it just…happened. I was near a Joann store, and I had three coupons about to expire, and nobody likes to let those coupons go to waste, right? There was nothing I needed, but I thought I could get some fun acrylic to add more inexpensive items to my inventory. I wandered around, enjoying the colors, and pondering several different yarns. Then I saw THIS yarn, and the choice was made.

Much Pretty! So Rainbow!

As soon as I got home, I perused scarf patterns, wanting something simple and quick to make that would show off the colors. I settled on Diane’s Diagonal Scarf, similar to a candy cane scarf I’ve made before, and cast on. If only it were that simple. That pattern said it made a scarf 4″ wide, and I wanted wider, so I cast on more stitches. My first attempt was too wide and too dense. I switched to bigger needles and fewer stitches. Good fabric but still too wide. Cast on again, settling on 31 stitches. I will note, this yarn does not like being frogged. It’s all fuzzy, so it likes to catch on itself and get stuck together. But I do love the colors, and it’s nice and soft to knit with.

But today, seriously, I’m going to work on the mermaid blanket. I swear. I mean, maybe after a few more rows of this scarf…

Diamond Cowl

May24

We survived another school year; I’m now the mom of a junior and an eighth-grader. After a celebratory lunch at Steak n Shake, where I successfully resisted the call of a milkshake, I managed to find some knitting time. I took a break from the mermaid blanket and picked up a WIP that had been neglected for six weeks. I’d done the easy part, the ribbing, but was waiting for the right time to start the more complicated pattern. Once I got going, I realized it wasn’t that complicated after all! It’s called the Kerr Diamond Cowl but I’ve done the stitch before as a Butterfly stitch. After the first time through the repeat, it’s been smooth sailing. It’s working up nicely and is a lovely way to show off the yarn. But no matter how hard I try to keep the yarn loose, it still puckers up, which is what I noticed the last few times I used the butterfly stitch. It’s just heavily textured, and I’m okay with that. Gives it more visual interest. The yarn is Show Me Yarn’s Cyclone in the All Dressed Up colorway, and it’s marvelous to knit with.

It was a nice knitting break, but now I feel I must return to the mermaid blanket.

Dogs & Yarn

May23

Weekends in May are jam-packed for us. We started with a Friday afternoon Picnic in the Park with a local weatherman and the jazz band from the girl’s high school. The weatherman always brings his dog, so it’s a pet-friendly event, and we were crazy enough to take our two. I’m not sure it was a great idea. Sure, Jack looks all cute and friendly, but in reality, he’s not great in a crowd. He’s protective enough that he’s uneasy with all the people and pulls hard to sniff them out. Or when he wants to greet another dog, he thinks he has to bark and act all crazy. *I* know he’s not trying to attack; I know my dog. I know his body language and barks and having seen both “on edge/aggressive” and “hey I just want to see hello”, I can tell the difference. But they don’t, and I know he sounds scary, so trying to manage him was a challenge.

Grace did better. She just wanted to lick all the people, play with all the dogs, and follow me when I walked away with Jack to help him calm down. So she was a bit wild, but in a friendly, non-scary way. And in her spare time, she wriggled around and ate grass.

Jack finally calmed down enough to sit on the girl’s foot and hang out in the audience…until someone walked up with a bike. Bikes freak him out, so off we went again to walk off the crazy. I think it was good practice for him, but he’ll never be a big-crowd party animal.

Saturday, the girl auditioned for the local youth symphony…and I finished a fingerless glove while I waited:

Yesterday I did two and a half hours of yard work to earn some guilt-free tennis-watching crochet time, and I worked A LOT on the mermaid blanket. It’s growing slowly and I think I’m getting very close to joining and working in the round.

Unfortunately, the several hours of crochet set my wrist to aching so I took a break to knit a tiny baby hat with leftover Malabrigo. I love baby hats. I want to add a button; I just need to decide which one.

Today is the last day of school, so I’m relishing my last bit of solitude. It’s likely to be a busy summer, what with driving the girl to summer school and work etc, but at least we’re not moving like we did last summer! Now I just need to find some fun, inexpensive things to do occasionally to get the boy away from his video games.

Knitting Fail

May21

Well, crap. I have made an error. You know that Marcelle Wrap I’m knitting? I ordered the right amounts of yarn, cast on, and knit away…and then I got toward the end of the striped section and ran out of the cream yarn.

I double-checked the pattern and yep, I did it as written. Yarn amounts? Yes, I should have had enough. So why? Why did I run out?

Needle size. The pattern called for 4.00mm, and I mistakenly grabbed a size 4, which is 3.5mm. Now, I haven’t been knitting long enough to understand how or why the heck that would screw it all up, but it’s the only variable. Dadgummit all. Guess I’m ordering another skein of yarn, and until it gets here, this project is going in timeout.

Selfish Knitting

May9

I didn’t do anything I was “supposed” to do yesterday. Well, no, I take that back. I did EXACTLY what I was supposed to do: relax, let everybody else do all the stuff, and only do what *I* wanted to do. So we had a lovely brunch, I got a couple of presents from my sweet daughter, we went to see the new Captain America movie (spoiler: I wasn’t a big fan.) and then I knitted the rest of the day while watching old chick flicks. (Sweet Home Alabama and Pleasantville.) I made lots of progress on a beautiful Pink Diamond Shawlette: Pattern is Diamond Shawlette and I’m using KnitPicks Galileo in Abalone and I’m loving everything about knitting this. But for now I must set it aside so I can focus on the things I have to do, like a mermaid blanket and a proofreading job.

Oh, and I finally have pictures of the rainbow scarf, which just got listed on Etsy this morning.

I hope all my fellow mothers had an equally lovely day yesterday!

KC Royals Knitwear

Apr15

If you remember, I recently received a request for some KC Royals-themed knitwear. The mitts were finished first, and yesterday I whipped through the four ear warmers. I have to say, they drove me bonkers at first. I’d made one for my friend as a gift, just improvised, and I needed to replicate hers. Well, I hadn’t taken any notes, and all I had was this photo.

I assumed it was 2×2 rib so that’s what I did, but for one thing, it came out WAY too big and the ribbing didn’t look like it matched. I set the first one aside and started over with fewer stitches and 4×2 rib. Still didn’t match, still too big. Frog, start over with fewer stitches. Finally, I found a recipe that pleased me: I cast on 65 stitches on size 9 needles and knit 3×2 rib with the yarn held double for a nice warm fabric. Six rows blue, two rows white, six rows blue. For the first one, I used Jeny’s stretchy bind off but that made it way too stretchy, so for the rest I just did a normal bind off and that worked just fine. After that, it was smooth sailing. For the last one, I did frog the first sad too-big attempt to reuse the yarn. Waste not, want not! I think they’re pretty cute! I’ve got about a skein and a half of the blue left, so I’m going to make some more fingerless gloves for my inventory. We’ll need them when the Royals get back to October baseball!

Happy Friday!

bonnyknits

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