For the first time in ages, this week’s WIPs consist of both knitting and crochet projects. With the weather changing, I felt the need to make some wrist warmers for football and school runs, and I decided to try knitting to give my arm a rest from the repetitive motion of crochet. (Unsurprisingly, the crochet projects consist of more slippers!)
For the knitting, I wanted to try out the yarn I dyed myself earlier in the year. I found a pattern for wrist warmers which involved cable knitting, something I’ve only dabbled with very briefly before. The pattern was really quick to work up, which suits my impatient self very nicely. (I love how addictive repeated patterns are, I had a definite case of ‘just one more row before bed’ when I made this.) I just need to make the left one now! Also, confession time, I don’t love the way the yarn has worked up, I think my amateur attempts at dyeing have resulted in a speckled yarn that has too many speckles. I was aiming for a confetti effect and actually it just looks like someone vomited hundreds and thousands on it. However, I think they will go nicely with my pink coat so I will keep them and perhaps make another pair in mustard yarn.
In terms of crochet projects, I’ve almost finished one pair of slippers (I just need to add buttons) and I’ve started another pair, again using my revised pattern. I’m still taking it steady with crochet as my arm keeps feeling sore. This means it takes me about a week to make a pair of slippers. Hopefully, my arm will heal quickly, though I appear to have RSI in my thumb from typing blog posts on my phone (naughty!) instead of the laptop. From now on I am resolving to stop being lazy and just use the laptop for both writing blogs and reading others.
As you can see, the next pair of slippers are a deep red colour, which I quite like. Because these slippers are both for men, I decided more grown up buttons were in order. I managed to find some lovely dark wood buttons on eBay and they arrived very quickly. I think they’ll suit them perfectly, as well as being a change from the usual plastic buttons.
Now I need to tun my attention towards craft fair preparation, once I’ve finished the red pair of slippers and another pair. I think I may have to alternate working on slippers with making decorations so that I actually have some stock as the fair is in 5 weeks time!
What are you working on this week? Have you ever had a yarn/pattern matching mishap? I’d love to hear from you!
They look great! I have not tried color-changing yarn before.
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Thank you, I love to use colour changing yarn because I hate darning in ends when I change colour!
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Hello!!! =) I think your wrist warmers turned out nice!!! I am sure they will work wonderfully keeping you warm. Both colors of slippers are great colors. I am partial to that red pair too!. I can not wait to read about the craft fair. It is so exciting.
Today I have been working on some cute gift flower arrangments with some Boyds bear collectibles and I made a couple of anytime arrangements. I am writing a blog about them now!!! =)
I hope you and your family have a fabulous weekend!!!..<3
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Thank you, I will try and pop over to read about your flower arrangements, they sound like a lovely craft to be working on.
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Have you lost your mind???
Those fabulous fingerless gloves knitted in the wool which you dyed, which you say …. “just looks like someone vomited hundreds and thousands on it. ???
Are you by any chance self medicating?
Smoking baking powder wrapped in an oak leaf?
Sniffing the old herb jar in the kitchen?
That wool looks SO incredibly pretty that I’m quite certain that little girls will be asking their mummies for “magic Unicorn gloves like Mrs.Crafts” for Christmas!!!
We are our own worst critics. You have looked at that wool with a really critical eye. Now look again at it, and think of it as something you saw in a wool shop under a sign saying:
Hand Dyed Wool
Dyed by an Artisan Wool Merchant
who’s a maker of all things
Woollen and Magical.
Now you have to guess how much that wool would be on sale for … bearing in mind that it’s a one off. There won’t ever be another ‘ball’ or ‘shank’ or whatever it’s called, the same as that one. A ONE OFF!
Those gloves are truly beautiful Mrs.C. … and they really do look magical.
Had there been a little yellow in there, I would have called them Rainbows End Gloves. But … since there isn’t .. how about:
Unicorn Riding Gloves.
Carousel Horse Gloves
Magical Sprinkles
Magical Sprinklers
Magic Wand Gloves (after all… anyone with a magic wand will need gloves in the winter!)
Fairy Gloves
Tinker Bells
or for a Christmas feel: Tinselbell Gloves 😀
You’re daft Mrs. Craft. The gloves are truly beautiful, and they are because of the truly beautiful wool.
Love ~ Cobs. xxx 😀
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Lol Mrs Cobs, you do make me smile. I think my ‘issue’ is that the yarn doesn’t show up the cable pattern, so the design process hasn’t worked as well as I would like it to. You see, I’m a very impatient lady and so I wanted to use that yarn and do cable knitting and the two are not a perfect match. Never mind, I have tried a new thing. I wish I had included yellow, but I had heard that yellow food colouring doesn’t ‘take’ as well as others so I didn’t dare to use it.
Thank you for the lovely comments, take care x
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I’ve heard that too (yellow food colouring). Apparently it can turn out sludge coloured. So perhaps I should shut the Freud up and do what I’m good at.
Actually … what exactly am I good at? …
Nope… nothing comes to mind.
I’ll go and get a square of chocolate and try to think more.
Ohhhh… that’s what I’m good at — Eating Chocolate!!!
I have found my ‘thing’. 😀
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Yellow would have been nice if I’d used acid dyes, I’m just not that brave! You are superb at crafting and all manner of arty things x
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You need new 😉
lol. Love you, Mrs.C. ~ Cobs. xxx
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You continue to amaze me.
My project this week is loving on a new grand -daughter. I’m also working on christmas for the grands.
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Sounds like a perfect project to me!
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I actually really like what your handwarmers look like:) Great job on the dyeing!
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Thank you, the dyeing was an experiment. I enjoyed it but I’m not sure I will do it again.
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Lol dyeing is just too much pressure for me. I’m sticking with just using the gorgeous yarns other people create:)
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I love those speckles!!!
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Thank you 🙂
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Oh I love the wrist warmers! But maybe hundreds-and-thousands-vomit is just my kinda thing 😉
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Lol, it’s got a nice ring to it!
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Love those wrist warmers! Really fabulous yarn ❤️
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Thank you x
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Good ones!!
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Thank you.
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I am always amazed at the amount you have going and what you achieve Mrs C… Just wonderful xxx
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Thank you, I do try to keep busy! x
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I quite like the confetti look of your dyed yarn, it’s almost circus-y. The slippers look great too! Do the scales on the sides stick up off the fabric, or are they part of the fabric like the fancy design on the back of the gloves? (I hope that made sense, it’s difficult to describe!) 😊
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Thank you, the scales are worked in 2 rows. The first row is worked in v stitches, the then second row you work the scales by crocheting around the posts of the v stitches.
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I love your wrist warmers, I think you are too hard on yourself when it comes to your dyeing talents.
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Lol, thank you. I think there’s a lot more too it than I could learn in one attempt.
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Great progress. The yarn does like speckled and I understand it doesn’t look how you thought it would. I did start a quilt top for a nephew expecting a baby any day now – however our dog became ill quickly and passed away so I had other priorities.
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Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that.
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I actually really like the effect of your hand dyed yarn. So often random died wool you buy is not that random at all and you end up with mis-matched stripes. This is really random and fun looking.
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Thank you, that’s a lovely thing to say.
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