A Blast From The Past: Crocheted Moccasin

 

This week, I took up crochet for a change and made a pair of moccasin out of the old patttern of mine. Even if I say so myself, the pattern was easy and fast. However these slippers are much heavier than the pair I recently wore out (I loved those), which demonstrates the difference between knitted and crocheted fabric.

 

The yarn was some Red Heart acrylic languishing in my stash I am so glad I found a way to use it up. I might experiment and get our local cobbler to apply a sole, if such a thing is possible. Maybe.

 

Snowflake Gloves

These days, my son is really taken with all things frost-related. So it came to me as no surprise when he wanted me to make him a pair of gloves with snowflakes on them. But it was taking a things to far, when he decided he wanted the color of gloves to be light blue. I tried to talk him into navy blue, but there was no dissuading him. Also, he handpicked the snowflake and all.

   Though not my first choice of color, the light blue has slowly grown on me and the finished gloves do look quite cute. And, of course, they make him very happy, so much so that he has worn them to school for two days straight (and brought back an intact pair).

By the time these pictures were taken, the gloves had seen two days of  wear.

 For the actual knitting, I took elements from a couple of patterns, with a bit of improvisation thrown in. The patterns are listed on the ravelry project page. I ran out of blue yarn with an inch of thumb left to be knit, and the extra few yards that I managed to get from the yarn shop, were not an exact match. So, I did a bit of striping, alternating both yarns at the left thumb, in an effort to blend them. All in all, this pair for a pleasure to knit, and I think I love knitting fair-isle more than the cables.

Grandpa Cardigan

In an amazing turn of events, I actually met the deadline of finishing this cardigan by the weekend. Perhaps the facts that pattern was easy to memorize, the WIP (work in progress) looked promising, and that I desperately needed for a new cardigan to wear around the house, helped move things along faster.
On the other hand, the tubular bind-off all over this cardigan, took much longer than the simpler bind-offs. Thankfully, I am not averse to Kitchener st, and managed to get it done.

 The finished cardigan looks quite nice with all the cables and has a nice fit too. The pattern was well-written and easy to understand. Sleeve construction technique was new for me but it went smoothly. I am a bit skeptical about the tubular bind-off, that it might stretch out of shape. It has not happened yet, after one evening of wear, but I am watching out for it. The other thing, I have doubts about is the collar, which amounts to only a semi-shawl collar. It works fine for me, but in case anyone wants a true shawl collar, one should add more short rows.

My little assistant helping with the photo shoot.

The yarn is our old faithful acrylic, warm enough for our weather and easy to care, (not to mention, inexpensive and readily available).
Next up, before I get back to the boring aran pullover, I hope to knit a pair of gloves. No more cables for now, It is time for some colorwork.

KAL Update

 

All the slog over the past two weeks has paid off, and I am happy to report that I am done with the body of the grandpa cardigan and nearly half the way through the first sleeve. The tubular bind-off, at the lower edge of the body, took its time but gave satisfactory result. I hope to get this cardigan done by the next weekend, inshaAllah.