Christmas Gift #1: Slippers

These are the slippers I have made for my Grandma. They were easy to crochet in a pretty blue wool and I finished them off with some novelty yarn to make them look a bit more colourful. My Grandma's feet are smaller than mine which is why the stitches seem a bit more open in the picture. If my guestimation is right they should fit her ok (fingers crossed!).

They didn't take long, probably just a couple of hours per foot and that's while watching TV and drinking copious amounts of tea. Which reminds me, isn't series 3 of Heroes the most disappointing thing in the world? "Oooh" said the writers "Here's an idea let's take all the characters they've grown to know and love and change them completely. That'll keep the viewers on their toes." IDIOTS. I can only hope it gets better.

Anyway, rant over and back in slipper world; they used very little yarn at all and could easily be made with leftovers. The pattern is here if you want to make some yourself!

Sneezy Lack of Wool Week

I have had a very bad cold since Friday, when I've not been coughing I've been asleep or blowing my nose. As a result all my yarn projects have gone on the back-burner. Can't go spreading germs with my woollen craft can I?

I felt a bit better yesterday so began looking for ideas for Christmas presents. Thanks to Ravelry I stumbled across this Nintendo DS holder which I think I might have a go at for my little sister.

I also found these cute Amigurumi toys, I'm not sure if any of my family would want them but they are fantastically cute. I've never tried Amigurumi before but may well start, my main problem is I have nowhere to keep stuffing!

The checkerboard scarf is coming on ok but I've been too grouchy to knit much of it. I've managed a few rows but then the yarn gets tangled up and I end up putting it down in a snuffly strop!

That's why last night I started crocheting rather than knitting - I find it less taxing on the brain and I've started making these slippers as a present for my grandma, only in blue and with less alarming legs.

Checkerboard Scarf

I'm in the process of knitting a chessboard scarf. I've always wanted to knit chessboard patterns but everytime I've tried it the squares were not joined together. I stumbled upon this video tutorial last week and I'm now please to announce I'm 14 inches into a successful cheesboard scarf! I'm still not sure what I was doing wrong in the past but at least now I seem to have mastered it.

I'll post pictures later.

Fingerless Gloves Experiment

I've always got cold hands and when crafting I get what I like to term "Knitters Fingers" meaning my hands are absolutely freezing. To stop my fella shouting at me when I try to warm my cold hands on his back I've been experimenting with fingerless gloves.

Here are my results so far: I started with these - fancy multi-coloured wool. I made the pattern up myself which I will post once I find a way of clarifying the thumb instructions. I basically crocheted a square, and sewed up the sides leaving a gap about 2/3 of the way up for the thumb. Then I crocheted the thumb basically using trial and error, putting them back on my hand every row to make sure the curve of the thumb was right!

I then got an order from my mum for some for her friend at work who gets "typists fingers!" I managed to get 2 pairs out of one ball of yarn.

Then I started to get a bit experimental using 2 colours for effect. My sister then demanded a pair of blue ones for her upcoming trip to Switzerland, which then meant Ithen needed to make a hat and scarf to go with them!

So, sorry for not blogging, I've actually been far too busy making!

Stashbusting Crochet Cushion

Here is my latest stash-busting project. I've far too many teeny-tiny balls of wool and this is how I've been trying to get rid of them:It's a one piece rainbow crochet cushion! The directions are really quite simple.

Make a chain the desired length - mine was 46 inches. Single crochet for about 12 inches. You will end up with a huge rectangle, then fold following the diagrams below (and yes, for ease of photographing the diagrams I have used a piece of paper instead of crochet!).

Start with your crocheting as below:

Fold in half:

Fold one half down diagonally:

Do the same with the other side then flip over (as below):

Fold the bottom corner into the centre:

Do the same with the other corner.

Then sew across the front and up the back. Leave the vertical gap at the front open for stuffing. Stuff, then sew up, you should now have a comfy crochet cushion!

Close up view of the reverse of the cushion.