The Slipper Dilemma

Well, I've been trying to fit in some crocheting time between the demands of my family life and it's not really working these days. To boot, my MIL's slippers are taking longer than I wanted (I'm not the speediest crocheter) and I want to give her the shawl & slippers together by the end of the week. Hence the dilemma. So, I'm going to scrap my initial plan for now, frog it, and go for a new slipper pattern posted by a friend of mine: http://stashaholic.blogspot.com/2005/03/finally-something-for-me.html

They look great, warm (needed in our -26C weather...that's -15F...and this is with the windchill) and should satisfy my MIL as well. An added plus is that they work up fast. A frogging we will go.....

Currently working on....

On the hook:

Here's the beginning of my MIL's slipper. I'm using a pattern from an old Leisure Arts leaflet from 1981 called Crocheted Slippers for Women & Children (#205). Now, what you see here is the sole. The pattern calls for 2 strands ww yarn and a 4.50mm hook and normally I'd use the instructions for size large. However, I'm using a chunky weight yarn and want to stick with the 2 strands to make the sole cushiony thus I'm using a 5.50 mm hook. I thought it best to try instructions for small (to make up for the gauge) but they turned out a bit too small. So, I then jumped to the large and they're turning out way too large. So, I think I'll have to frog it and go with the medium size instructions. S'okay as I only did 3 rounds anyway.

On the needles:

Last week, I bought two knitting kits for $12.99 each at the Real Canadian Superstore (Loblaws' answer to the combo grocery store/department store and Canadian competition for Walmart). The kit included the following to knit a scarf: instructions, 1 skein Bernat ww yarn and 2 skeins Bernat Boa. I bought one where the Boa is silver and the ww is in a neat variegated blue, grey & burgundy combo and the second kit has yarns all in black. Here's the beginning of the first kit:


And here's a pic of the yarns of the first kit:

I love the way this is turning out. It's so soft & shiny and really looks to have more silver than the pic is letting on.

Now silly me didn't read the pattern correctly at first. I was searching high & low for 13mm needles in Toronto, ended up buying 12.75mm plastic Susan Bates ones (short needles for a scarf) and then went to start the pattern only to realize that I was supposed to find SIZE 13 needles (9mm) instead. How dumb of me. So, I'm using 10mm instead as I don't have 9mm right now and I figure that it's a scarf anyways and the tension doesn't have to be so exact. (I knit tightly anyhow.) Well, I can't wait to finish this one and then get started on the black one. I've been wanting to do one of these eyelash scarves for a while and I hope that the Boa/ww combo will make it a much warmer scarf especially considering the frigid weather we've been having these days.

Midnight Ramblings

I just put the finishing touches on a shawl for my MIL. It's the Seraphina Shawl (aka the "batwing shawl"). Here's the url for the free pattern: http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/donisfuff/croshawl.html

It's a really great pattern because of it's "batwing" style. It sits on the shoulders without slipping off. It's also practically a no-thinkum once you get the hang of it and can be made with any type of yarn and hook size. I've used a DK yarn with a 5.5 mm (I) hook and RH Plush with a 9 mm (N) hook. Others have used regular ww yarn with a 9 mm hook, others with sports weight and a 5 mm hook. I have a friend who used up a stash of Kroy Sock yarn and a small hook (3 mm I believe). Anyhow, what you use to make this shawl with all depends on your preference including: stash availability, if you'd like it really lacy looking or not, and how you'd like it to drape.

This one is made with RH Misty Heathers and a 9 mm hook. It was originally a Mother's Day gift for my MIL...I worked on it while I was on disability leave near the end of my last pregnancy this past year. However, it turned out shorter than I liked as I ran out of yarn. I then had a hard time finding more and I found out it was discontinued. Well, on a shopping venture to my local department store (Zellers), I found only 2 more of the claret but 4 more of the grey. I picked them all up of course! I managed to do another 12 rows and I even had to fudge the last row a bit as I was running out of the claret yarn again. I think it turned out a bit bigger than I thought it would be, but my MIL is a largish woman with large shoulders to cover as well as a largish derriere....so I should be safe this time.

Now, I'm going to make her some slippers in grey to match as I have so much left.

A new toy

As if I didn't have enough to do, I decided to enter the world of the bloggers.

I'm Maggie, 32 y.o. and I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I've been married for 5 years, and we have two sons who are 4 y.o. and 8 1/2 months old. I'm a self-taught crocheter. Although I've been crocheting for 10 years now, I've only been doing it consistently for the past three. I've called this blog Midnight Crocheter because most of my work is done in the very late evening, after the boys are in bed and I have time to myself. I tend to go with "one more row" and keep crocheting until after midnight, sometimes into the wee hours of the morning.

I also do other needlecrafts such as counted cross-stitch, simple needlepoint (continental stitch, petit point) and some very simple knitting.

I'll post details of FO's, WIP's, UFO's in later blogs.