Knitted Slippers

 HI Hi.

The past couple of days, my crafting time has been taken up with knitting a couple of pairs of slippers.  These are small slippers, but they were fun.

The first pair is a women's size approx 5 /6.  I used a pattern found on the Bernat website called "origami slippers".  I like the overall look, and I was able to change the pattern, so I didn't have quite as much seaming, but there was still way too much seaming!!  

The second pair of slippers I got the pattern "Aunt Maggie's Slippers" on bevscountrycottage.com.  I omitted the "toe" section as the sport weight yarn I used made a much smaller gauge, and these slippers turned out more child size then adult size.  They will be put into next year's Operation Christmas Child box.

 

These are only about 5" long, so they are very small.

Charlotte's Universe - Parts 2 - 4

 Hello again,

I have been furiously working on my Charlotte's Universe afghan.  

The last I shared was only the first two rows. Here is what I've done so far.

This is the central flower - part of part 1

The pattern mentions that this inside flower tends to cup a bit due to the chain stitches being too small, so I went ahead and added 1 extra chain in those areas.  I really liked how this turned out.  I didn't take a picture of the back, but it sure is interesting, and I don't think I've ever done a motif quite like this before.

This is part 1 complete.

This one was fun too.  I decided to continue with the light green as the background, bringing in the dark purple again so that those back post stitches really pop with the outline of the light green.  I can see this being a square all on its own.

This is part 2 - where it got interesting!

In part 2  - the instructions have you add triangles to the sides of your square.  I used primarily one yarn, so I didn't have to cut and weave in ends every row.  I added only one row of the dark brown to bring that color out from the center as an accent.  These triangles also have bobbles, which I don't particularly like to make, but I powered through and I have to admit they do create an interest in this piece.  I'm loving how the colors are playing together.

This is part 3. squaring it up again.

On the first row of this part, I used the same pink variegated yarn from part 2, but then added another dark purple row before continuing with the background light green color.  I had to redo sections of this, as I kept forgetting to do the ch8 loop to make the little flowers ... so I had to tear back almost an entire round *sigh*.  However, had I not done that, it would not have looked right, so I am glad I tore back and fixed my mistakes (there were multiple!).  

This is Part 4 finished !  

I again added a round of the dark purple and some light green.  There won't be much light green after this, as I am running low, but I then added the medium green (leaf green is what it's called on the label) before doing the two rows of flowers in the hot pink.  I was really scared I would run out of the hot pink before finishing the second round for the flowers (it's a two round repeat, 1/2 flower the first round, then the other 1/2 of the flower the 2nd round).  I actually only have about 5grams of the hot pink left !  I started with 105 grams !! So a full skein for those two rounds alone.

Here are some of the usage stats that I am starting to keep.

Round 41 & 42 together = 101 grams.

Round 41 = 54 grams and Round 42 = 46 grams.

Round 40 = 22 grams (Leaf Green)

Round 39 = 17 grams

Round 38 = 42 grams 

I am not sure why the big difference in grams in rounds 38 - 40 .... maybe because some rounds have dc and some have more chains or hdc or sc??  I will continue to keep track so that I can estimate if I have enough of a single color to complete the next round. This should help me in determining what color to use next.

Right now - after part 4 - this weighs 509 grams.  

It's starting to get pretty big - about 35 inches square.

I don't think I mentioned, although I showed you the pictures - I am using old Red Heart and Sayelle Acrylic Worsted yarn.

A little bit of Sewing

 In between my crochet and knitting, I've also been trying to straighten out my front room, which I use for sewing and paper crafts.  It had gotten pretty messy, and I need to clear some space so that I can work on the Christmas Cards for this year.  As I was cleaning, there was fabric laid out for cutting to make a bag, so I went ahead and made it! 

I had made several of these drawstring bags earlier this year, and I had it down pat, but I had to start thinking again about what sizes I needed to cut!  I cut the main portions out, and then cut two strips for the drawstring and the casing that holds the drawstring, and I ended up cutting those the wrong size, so I had to look for another scrap to do the drawstring.

All in all, I think it turned out pretty well.

Charlotte's Universe CAL Project

 So I have decided to start the Charlotte's Universe CAL.  You can view the pattern here.

I have started this because my mom, who was named Charlotte, passed away this May and this CAL has her name (no affiliation, just a coincidence).  The other reason is that I inherited her yarn stash, and there are tubs of Worsted Acrylic yarn.  This will be a good way to use up her stash, in a blanket that has her name.  I figured it would be a good way for me to remember her as we head into the Holiday season.  The first holiday without her.

My main colors are purple, green, white, with brown and pink also thrown in for good measure. :)

I am starting with dark brown and dark purple, then light green.  I figure the browns and purples will go dark to light from the center outward, and the green will go light to dark from the center outward.  In my head, this may work.

Here is the stash I am starting with.

After looking at this selection, and again trying to estimate how much I will need, I added a couple more skeins on top.

I think that will be enough.  I hope so.

This morning I got started on this CAL.  I completed 4 rounds.  Here is a photo of the first two.

I haven't taken a photo of rows 3 and 4 yet.  

I'll try to keep this blog updated on my progress.  

Have you ever completed this CAL or any other of this type?  It has many many rounds, and many many pages of patterns to print out.