Slippers

I'm knitting some slippers this week. I was reminded of the slippers my mom used to knit two weeks ago at the church's craft fair. I was knitting a doll cap...

and someone asked me if I ever knit slippers.

OK... well, I knit, and slippers are easy. So I looked around for the ones Mom made for me before she passed away. She developed Alzheimer's in her early sixties, so she stopped knitting and crocheting when she starting having trouble remembering how to do it.  She died in 1998. 

Found the slippers in a box in the closet -- they're getting a bit thin in the sole.  OK, so I might have to make myself another pair because these babies are warm and it's getting to be winter!

I didn't have a pattern for them, but they're so stinking simple, I figured I could 'read' the slipper and figure it out.

not mine... not the ones I'm knitting but darned close!

Mine are bright green, two strands of worsted weight, undoubtedly Red Heart or something comparable. Looks like 32 stitches on a fairly big needle, as well you'd have to if you were knitting double strands. On examination it looks like you knit 10, purl 1, knit 10, purl 1 knit 10 on odd rows and knit 32 on even rows until you get to about the ball of your foot, then you change to ribbing until it's a half inch shorter than your foot. THEN you have to sew it up at the toe and the heel. If you want to decorate the toe you can make a pompom or a flower or whatever you like, or you can leave it plain.

I knit a pair for my grandson in camouflage yarn. Actually the color says Camoflaj... must be some Red Heart cutsie naming convention.  I don't have to worry about him finding out since he doesn't read my blog...

Out of curiosity I searched the Internet for easy knitted slippers and came up with about a million versions. About half a million of those can be found free on Ravelry, a free service for knitters and all-round fans of yarn. You have to join, but once you do it's so cool to see what people are doing out there in Knit-land. You can buy patterns or get free ones; you can post and view photos of people's work; you can get help or give it; you can even find knitting groups and knit-ins.

My pattern that I read from the slipper was darned close to the ones called Grandma's Slippers!  (I know, right?)

On www.ravelry.com you can store your patterns in your own library, post your stash or sell or trade it, and locate knitters in your area. Boy, that's a rabbit hole you could disappear into without a problem. Ask me how I know this!

So next time you're in the mood to discover something cool, or have a memory of mom, or warm your feet, you will know where to go.

Sew on!

Stash Enhancement over the Weekend...

I finally finished DD's quilt a couple of weeks ago and am ready to send it off to the quilter, or so I thought.

I needed to find a backing, so I thought I'd just buy some extra-wide fabric. That is until I measured it! Extra-wide fabric is usually 108" wide. The quilt top is 110". You have to have four inches extending beyond your top in order for the quilter to get it on the long arm machine.

So either I have to reduce the size of the top or I have to piece a back. Or both.

If you remember, I had a big brown border on this quilt. I guess I must have thought I needed an extra four inches on the FRONT... duh.   So I can trim it down by about eight inches.  Now it's going to be 102" wide.  OK, that will JUST about fit.

Then I got to thinking, I have a couple of big pieces of the strippy blocks left over, why not put them in the backing?  It's not like I'm going to use them in another quilt. So I tried to go to Joann's on Saturday to pick up the main backing fabric (which I never buy with the quilt fabric since most of the time I'm working from stash).  (Anyway, who has five yards of double-wide fabric in their stash without a reason --  no, no, don't tell me, I'm sure someone does!!)

Saturday was either a good day or not so good a day to go to Joann's.  They had a 25% off coupon  that ended Saturday.  The cutting line was about 25 people deep, and the girls were waiting in the car.  I couldn't subject them to that long a wait.  So I went back Sunday.  No coupon, but what the hey, I'm only buying one piece, right?

Right.

The line was only about 10 deep on Sunday.  The bolt was pretty heavy.  I was number 16.  They were serving number 8.  I had to wait in the calico section.  Right next to the Christmas fabric.

Oh yeah.  You guessed it.  I'm now up five yards of red and green.  Oh and I also picked up three yards of Wonder Under.  It's a good thing I'm not keeping track!

Sew on!