Something Special

When my Mother-in-law turned 70 last month I wanted to make her something special. She likes to wear slippers especially when she stays in a hotel so I started to look for the perfect pattern. I found the Tweed Slippers by Natalya Berezynska on Etsy. There were several things I like about them. First of all I think they look good. The combination of crocheting and knitting is very clever, because in general a crocheted fabric is very sturdy and a knitted fabric is stretchy. I also like the double soles which make the slippers very comfortable to wear.

I decided to dye the yarn purple, because it is a colour that my MIL really likes, but thinks it does not suit her. I thought purple slippers would make her smile. For the outer sole I found a very sturdy yarn that I had bought many years ago. It is not soft, think carpet yarn. For the rest of the slipper I used two strands of my Aran weight yarn one in light purple and one dyed in dark purple. I made no changes to the pattern other than messing up at one point and crocheting an extra row.

It turned out that my arm likes crocheting even less than knitting, especially since I tried to make a firm fabric. At one point I thought about giving up,  but I persevered and finished the slippers just in time.

To make the slippers even more whimsical I attached two needle-felted flowers. I felted these onto a water-soluble stabilizer so that you can make the petals thin and soft. In the end I added lines of puff paint to the soles to make them less slippery.

The slippers look huge and they are a size 9/10, but they fit and are very comfortable. If I were to make them again I would add a few decreases at the back of the heel to a make them a bit more fitted around the ankle.

My MIL is very happy with her slippers and I am glad I got them done after all.

You can find the pattern on Etsy and on Ravelry.

Well, I guess it could be worse

I have not been feeling well lately: very little energy, a cold which lead to an Asthma flare-up etc. Also the weather has been so bad, that I have heard people calling this month “Juniary”. Ehem!

I noticed the other day that my dental implant hurt and jiggled a bit. Well, apparently I broke it while biting on a seed or a grain. Now it is infected and needs to come out. I have had it for only  2 years. “That is a bummer.” said my dentist. Yep!

I have been contemplating if it is possible that a tooth could be cursed. This tooth has caused me repeatedly great pains ever since I had it. When I was in Grade 2 it caused my cheek to swell up in a way you normally only see in cartoons. Years later a large piece broke off when I ate some leftover candy. ( Lesson learned: Never eat candy your little brother does not like.) Then there were several botched attempts to do a root canal which were so painful that I avoided the dentist for 2 years after. The next dentist told me it needed to come out and even that was difficult. And now here I am. I guess I can be glad that I have only one “special” tooth…

So I try to distract myself with postcards of handsome slugs and crocheting dishcloths.

The postcard is from fellow etsy seller cheezombie and the dishcloth pattern is from the German magazine Landlust. The pattern is created by crocheting only into the back loop and by making 3 stitches into the center stitch. The cotton yarn is Super 10 by Kertzer.

Moebius Scarf

I saw Cat Bordhi’s videos on Youtube and decided to knit a Moebius Scarf with my handspun yarn.

The yarn is more or less worsted weight and it took 4oz. Here is how I did it:

Cast on 80sts ( Instructions are here) and knit first row as on the video, place marker

Row 2: *yarn-over, knit 2 together through the back loop* repeat until end of row

Row 3: purl all stitches

Repeat these two rows until you have yarn left for about four rows, ending with row 2. Use a matching crochet hook, pick the last knitted stitch  and insert crochet hook.

Last row: *chain 3, slip-stitch around yarn-over loop, chain 3, slip-stitch into following knitted stitch* repeat until end of row, pull yarn through the last loop, darn in ends

This post is part of Fiber Arts Friday. Thank you for inviting me!

I don’t know

A few days ago my god-daughter turned 4 and since I have the slight suspicion her Mom picked me, because she likes handmade things, I felt the urge to deliver. I went out and bought 3 skeins of Mission Falls Cotton and cast on for the Jane Austen Shrug from Mason-Dixon knitting. Now I do not have a picture of the finished piece and the reason is, that it looks like nothing you would recognize lying flat. It also does not look like it would fit a four year old. I held it up and tested the stretch and worried some more. Finally I made up my mind to take out the last row and replace it with a sewn bind-off, which is more elastic.

Then slightly nervous I decided to crochet a matching hat, hoping that if I make two things at least one of them would fit. I wanted something light for summer and because my god-daughter is very stylish I added a small brim. This is what I came up with:

After handing over my gifts I still do not know if the shrug fits. She refused to try it on. However for the one second she wore the hat I could tell it fit and looked cute on her. Mission accomplished!

Gift For a Teacher

I found this cute pattern on Ravelry, but decided to crochet it instead of knitting and made it up as I went along.

The yarn is from my stash. It is a superwash wool in worsted weight, but I do not remember the brand.

I think, I will gift this in a brown paper bag. Fitting, no? It is for the same teacher who lent me her spinning wheel. I believe, she will appreciate it.  

Here is how I did it:

I started out with a small ring of 5 slip stitches that I increased with single crochet (increasing every stitch) until I had a disk 12 sts around. I placed a marker to show the beginning of a round. Then I increased 4 sts * every round until I had 60 sts. After that I went straight for 2 rows,  crocheting back and forth from this point to create an opening. In the following rows I decreased 4 stitches every other row.  When I had only 12 stitches left, I crocheted a small loop and cast off. 

The stem I made with 5 slip stitches, turned and then stitched 1 single crochet into every loop. For the leaf I made 3 slip stitches, crocheted in single crochet 2 rounds, increased to 6 sts the next round, continued straight for a few rounds and decreased until I had 1 stitch left. 

The embroidery is a simple back stitch. I folded the leaf in the middle lengthwise and stitched it together in the end to give it more shape before I attached it to the apple.

* stitch 3 increase 1, repeat ;  next row: stitch 4 increase 1, repeat;  next row: stitch 5 increase 1, repeat  etc.