Such Sweet Hands

I’ve never seen this little magnet before. It caught my eye as I picked up a load of clean laundry to take back into my apartment. I’m not sure if it’s been there on the side of that outlet for a long time and I never noticed it, or if it’s a brand new addition to the laundry room.

As you may know a laundry room is often the place that receives random discards from the tenants’ apartments. We used to live in a place where the laundry room was full out decorated with discarded posters and teddy bears. It always made me sad to see those bears sitting on their shelf collecting that sticky lint dust found only in laundry rooms. Aside from purple walls and the obligatory soap sticky table, our current laundry room just has a few random orphan items in a laundry basket and a stack of dryer sheets I hope my neighbors will adopt because they make me sneeze. I’ve always appreciated how this room is clean and not junked up with random things.

I love it though when little things like this appear in my world. It’s not just a treat to find a magnet featuring sushi laying in bed, but look closer; it says, “Wake up little sushi”. Awesome.

Now I have something to ponder while I crochet, just who are those little sushi, why are they in bed, and who is asking them to wake up?

I’ve deleted the ramble I wrote on all the mild nuttiness that the last few days have been. Instead I’ll just share this, wearing one of my boyfriend’s favorite T-shirts is so comforting I can’t believe I forgot the magic in wearing the way to big clothes of the guy you love. I have been wearing it since Sunday night though, so it’s probably time I do some laundry. Here in the crochet hermitage, no one sees me anyway!

The other little thought I have to share:

Some days I make pretty things and other days I make bangle bracelets that look like doughnuts… this is a doughnut day.

Remember that fantastic mess of buttons I had on my desk a while ago?

I had too much fun with all these little bits and pieces. This is a little felted coin purse diddy that you’ll find in Amy Swenson’s upcoming felting book.

Meanwhile I’ve got many irons in the fire. A little piece for Crochet Today, 2 pieces for the spring Interweave Crochet, and some other fun stuff up my sleeve. I’m also trying to learn to fit regular visits to the gym into my routine. We joined the downtown Y and it’s great and all, but I honestly don’t enjoy gym equipment. There’s only so long I can say I’ll find dance classes and yoga classes and attend them all the time before Rob gave up on me and dragged me to the gym. Best moment at the gym so far: While meeting with a “wellness coach” to get a workout regimen set up for me I told him I needed to make sure I don’t strain my hands. I said “If that excersize gets in the way with my crochet I’m not doing it.”…. the look on his face was priceless. You’d think he’d never heard of a career in crochet before.

More on one of the projects I’m working on tomorrow…

So did anyone catch the “It’s My Party” episode of Uncommon Threads?  I ask because my cable company mysteriously dropped DIY so I couldn’t watch it at home and my plan to have it Tivo’d by a friend seems to have fallen through.  I haven’t heard any mention of anyone seeing it so those days spent in that Burbank studio some 14 months ago seem even more like a mirage.

If anyone happened to tape it I will be more than happy to buy you a new video tape and pay shipping costs to get a copy.

You can catch Kim, Donna, and myself on teevee tomorrow morning!

Look what arrived today! A little ray of spring sunshine in what had simply been a dull day in which I just couldn’t get myself motivated to do housework or errands or creative work.

This is Blue Sky Alpaca Melange, a luvvy heathery 100% Alpaca…

Gotta go! I’ve got swatching to do!

I spent most of yesterday working on a breakdown for sock construction that I can use for future foot related projects. I have a stockings design due in November so I figured I’d figure out the approach for the project now while I wait for yarn for other pieces I have in the works.

I’ve never made a finished sock before. I’ve toyed with shaping for the foot here and there, but I hadn’t really figured out how I’d like to use crochet for the foot. Yesterday’s experiments yielded a bunch of notes and a rough outline I can use to approach toe up crocheted socks in the future. I also came upon a nice snug idea for a slipper sock. My feet are cold most of the time and I can’t fall asleep without something on my feet. I’m now imagining some handmade sleeping slipper sock thingamabobs feeling really nice on my circulation challenged toes.

I honestly wasn’t sold on the idea of a crocheted sock being something I would enjoy. My shoes that do call for socks won’t accommodate anything thicker than a fine weave sport sock. I have piles of cotton socks that I love to wear to sleep and around the house, they keep my feet warm and happy in our not so cold weather. I also have to admit that I hadn’t seen a crocheted sock that enticed me to make and wear it. The only way to get past my sock prejudice was to dive in and figure it out for myself.

I’m fully aware that I haven’t reinvented the wheel and I haven’t made a piece of sock eye candy. But, this little slipper thing that came out of yesterday’s experiments feels really nice on my foot. Crochet stitches make for some crunchy, puffy textures that feel so cozy and plush on tired feet. I know I’ll be refining the pattern to make some sleeping slippers.

I used Lana Grossa Elastico, cotton and acrylic with a tad of stretch, with a 3.75 mm hook. This example actually stretched more than I expected, so I’ll be cutting back on the number of rows, it would also need some edging work to smooth the edge and keep the slipper on my foot. And check out the crazy colors for my experiment yarn! So silly.

What are your thoughts on crocheted footwear? Bad memories of acrylic house shoes haunting you? Still as suspicious as I am (though I’m becoming less suspicious) that it’s worth it to make your own socks?