yay! i finished the slippers in time to sneak them in as the final FO of 2012!
kiki’s slipper socks <–ravelry project page
pattern: on-your-toes by ann budd
yarn: cascade yarn ecological wool, maybe a half skein? maybe less? somewhere in the neighborhood of 230 yards? also elitespun fingering weight yarn in lava for the embroidered contrast to sew on the slipper bottoms.
needles: US size 8 (5mm)
on-your-toes is my default sock pattern. toe up, with handy-dandy charts for practically every size foot and every gauge of knitting. i have used it as the basis for four pairs of socks now (some cloudy day, pink explosion slipper socks, the ground beneath my feet, and these), and if i ever want to modify any other patterns, i tend to reference it for any potential gauge changes.
i finished knitting these up at the end of last year. basic toe-up pattern in a heavier weight yarn (i treat this yarn like it’s aran, because that’s kind of how it acts). lots of ribbing at the top, and a sewn tubular bind-off. after finishing the knitting, they got put to the side, which is an unfortunate pattern i sometimes have… but i ordered some slipper bottoms through my local yarn store, and it took a while to figure out what color would provide a good counterpoint to the slightly different grey tones. (okay, so i asked kiki.)
a note about slipper bottoms: i got them an inch longer than the recipients feet, so that feet + sock + the slippers could all fit within them and comfortably move around. then it was kind of a hassle to stretch the slippers to that length to sew them in, even though they stretched easily enough on the foot. also, i went for a less decorative stitch the first couple of tries, but it looked uneven. the blanket stitch actually helped a lot in terms of keeping it tidier.
kitty photobomb! baiza’s resentment that our little photoshoot interrupted her napping is palpable! sorry, baiza! gotta go where the sunshine is!
i mentioned a meetup very briefly yesterday. for those of you who know about me through solely knitting venues, i’m also heavily involved in the creation of a webseries, the platoon of power squadron. we have a smallish (by youtube standards) but fantastically loyal following. when we were in london, we had our first meetup ever, which was kind of scary (beforehand), and pretty fantastic (during and after).
anyways, it doesn’t frequently happen that PoPS world and my knitting world overlap, but one of the girls who came to the meetup brought me a lovely fiber-y present!
she brought me a skein of her own handspun! (i’m thinking rikke, perhaps? i definitely want to do the handspun justice!)
we had a mini tweet conversation a couple weeks ago when, as you may remember, i accidentally tore a hole in a freshly finished cowl, and i tweeted my frustration and self-pity, and she discovered that i do not own a darning mushroom.
thank you, kim!!!
in case you’re curious, she has a blog: art equals happy, and she sells her handspun and some of her illustration work (i really like her postcards!). check it out!
tomorrow is thanksgiving, and i’m dropping off the radar for the day, so quick knits is moved up to wednesday!
i have not really delved into the world of knitted toys, but when i see projects like these below, they make me want to dive into my stash immediately to start looking for materials.
for whatever reason, as i was typing up this post, i kept thinking of companion books that could be gifted with these toys, so i tossed a few titles in here, too. i love the idea of a little bundled package of related presents.
knitxcore‘s tilly the mouse! i like little rodents of all varieties, and look how cute tilly is!
mrs frisby and the rats of nimh, stuart little
(EDIT: oh my gorsh! i can’t believe i forgot my *absolute favorite* mouse story in that list!!!!! the tale of despereaux! such a great story.)
kelly-ann‘s hugable hedgehog. best use of fun fur yarn EVER.
elegance of the hedgehog, tale of mrs. tiggy-winkle
for the record, this pattern is free! such a cute little elephant! and while on a general scale of animals, i like elephants fairly well, i apparently love knitted elephants, because i was tempted to add two more elephant patterns: elijah and oliphaunt.
alicekathryn‘s supersized backyard critters fox family. check her felted matrioshka’s, too, they are Ah-mazing!
i’m really excited for thanksgiving! i hope y’all have great ones, too! and for you non-americans, well… have a fab thursday!
remember how i put up that wish list recently? well… does anything below look familiar?
target blouse, cardigan
j crew green chinos
unknown quantity braided belt
halsingers my comfy clogs
canvas gifted bag!
i happened to mention my wish list (maybe a little loudly) around my grandparents, and they totally heard me! so i got an early christmas present! wheee! it’s massive. i could, for example, fit an entire litter of kittens in it. or, more specifically, sgt. grumbles and soy sauce. do you think joe and tessa would miss them? probably not, right?
in other news, i’m totally sick right now. i revert to a giant child when i’m ill. mind you, i’m always this close to being a giant child anyways, so it isn’t hard. advil cold and sinus and tea are my current constant companions.
i’ve had a request to show off some of my recent aquisitions! i got this butter dish at west elm, where it battled it out with this owl to come home with me. but form + function won over form by it’s lonesome. shown here with my jugenstil tile from a berlin flea market (forgive my pretensions, i just get so much joy out of being able to say stuff like that), our two sugar bowls (yeah, we need two. we’re just that sweet), and my little salt & peeper.
as an interlude before i re-start my sweater, i knit up a quick hat:
it still needs some blocking.
book group was tonight! first one at our place! yay! we read the hound of the baskervilles, and talked sherlock holmes style.
i made my favorite cookies (chocolate chip walnut with sour cream… nom nom nom) and got to use our new electric mixer. it was nice, my biceps weren’t sore from whipping the butter and sugars (i’m such a wimp!). i also got to pull out one of my favorite little doodads:
the amazing/scary/awesome donkey salt/pepper shaker. i don’t have anything dog or detective themed, but this guy kind of looks like a weird dog. i LOVE it, but other people seem put off by the slightly possessed look in his eye, the bling on his teeth, and the amorphous identity of the beast. this creature brings me great joy just by the sheer unlikeliness of his creation.
caitlin also brought over our wedding quilt:
it is awesome, and it has a sheep!
(i will try to take a better picture in better lighting)
next month: if i were you by joan aiken. an awesome out of print book from the 80’s. i really should join in on the amazon reviews list, because there is no good description of this extremely awesome book… brief synopsis found on library thing: As they prepare to leave their English boarding school, Louisa Winship has a dangerous proposal for orphaned Alvey Clement: they look so much alike they could be twins, so why doesn’t Alvey return to Louisa’s home and family, posing as Louisa and freeing her to pursue a forbidden life as a missionary in India? Alvey is intrigued despite herself and accepts, taking her place within Louisa’s family. As she struggles not to reveal her identity, warm-hearted Alvey is drawn deeper into the family’s troubles. Oh, and did I mention Alvey wants to be a novelist and is working on a book called Wicked Lord Love? Just knowing that would have made me want to read this, but the impostor plot really made it a must-read, and I wasn’t disappointed: it’s richly characterized, has a lovely sense of place, and is utterly delightful.
ifandany 
