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Thursday 5 January 2012

bits and pieces

I've been busy making new (and better fitting:)) slippers in knitfelt. and bingo - this time it worked! I used a different pattern this time, same material, and I even needed less, so that I could replace the "hoof covers" with proper slippers. I felted them once and let them dry and the size looks good, but because they are so small, I cannot try them on myself. those are the two pairs before felting - for giant feet obviously:
 the ruler is a normal 12 inch/30 cm one! the upper slipper is supposed to be a size 42, the lower one size 36. sorry for the bad light, it's always raining outside and the flash has a life of its own:(
this is the larger (my) pair after felting. I had enough to knit a border around the opening for the smaller size, but not enough to do the same for this pair. I've experienced this before - I added a simple crochet edge - and it shrinks differently in the wash! it stays looser, which (with hindsight) makes sense, because normally crochet is denser than knitted stitches - and can't shrink as much. I knew that, it was just hard to estimate how many stitches to work to avoid having the hole too tight! I figured that it's better to have a bigger hole for the feet than one too small:) works fine for me, I just had to add some "anti slippage" goo to avoid accidents on tiles and timber floor!

I also made a pin cushion following a pattern I found in the interweave holiday gifts 2010. the original is done in fine wool, but I wanted to use cotton instead. this is handspun cotton in natural white and natural green. from the top....

.... and from the bottom. I do find it a bit weird that most of the pattern is visible from the bottom - and the fleur-de-lys looks odd the wrong way round! if I ever did that pattern again, I'd start later with the pattern, so that the tip of it is closer to the middle of the upper side...

I added the beads on a whim, because I thought it could do with a bit more colour. I stuffed it with wool, because the natural lanolin is supposed to keep pins from rusting. this one is going to be a gift - I don't think I need another pin cushion, even though it's nice and big with lots of space on it! but it was a fun knit anyway.

no time for diddling about now - I have to get going with that quilt! the main fabric is with birds, but it wasn't all that easy to find fabrics with birds in the right size and colour! I managed to find a few due to the help of quilting friends, but eventually I decided to quit hunting around further. I had some silicon stamps in stash, bought a few fabric paints to go - and started to print my own. the first batch wasn't that great, because I had to figure out how to add the right amount of paint, not too much to make blotches and not too little, to have the motif well covered... eventually I found out that I get the best results if I spread some paint evenly on smooth cardboard (glass or plastic would work, too), dip the stamp lightly into it and stamp - it doesn't leave smudges and gives clear results. you can even make multicolour motives by blending different paints only a little. it's fun to do - and I got rid of the leftover paint by playing mad artist on the last piece of fabric:)  I just have to wait for them to "cure", iron over them - and start quilting. in the meantime I'll cut the rest of the fabrics to shape.

I also finally started on the black shrug made of handspun merino. I found a better pattern than the one I had planned in one of the Barbara Walker pattern collections and did the gauge and calculating yesterday evening. it's only a 4 row repeat, with purled wrongside rows, which makes it easy enough for tv knitting. I won't be able to sew on the quilt all day! off to dig out the cutter and mat now...

7 comments:

Delighted Hands said...

Looks like the new year is off to a great start! I like the new slippers...amazing how much they shrink! The pincushion is very classy-will make its recipient squeal with delight! Looking forward to pics of the quilt in progress-nice work on the fabric!

Antje said...

Das Nadelkissen ist wunderschön!

KateCrafts said...

I love the slippers. My feet are still cold because I am still finishing holiday IOUs.

I love experiments and wonder if you could felt them with a provisional crochet border made with a non felting ribbon, shoelace or plastic lanyard material. Would this leave usable holes in the felting? Then after felting replace the non felting provisional ribbon with a crochet or knit border using the non-felted holes. Or perhaps easier weave a ribbon or shoelace into the edge before felting to let you pick up stitches later.

Nina said...

You've been busy! The new felted slippers do look good! It's amazing how much they full up. How cool is that? The pincushion is adorable. What a great idea to use the wool as a stuffing. Your stamped fabric is totally awesome. That is a spectacular project and a fabulous way to get the fabrics you need. Very impressive results with that one!!!!!

Woolly Bits said...

Cindy - thanks, I couldn't believe that those huge galoshes actually did shrink down to size:)) and they don't have a hoof shape, what an improvement! the fabric is a bit difficult to work with. I don't have huge amounts of course, so I only used it for small pieces. as it turned out most of the birds ended up in the seams:(( my solution: I have to print at least one little birdie into an open space on the front! can be done after sewing, no problem...

Antje - danke, es gefaellt mir auch recht gut, bis auf den mangel mit dem wenigen muster oben:))

Kate - you should make some slippers for yourself! it's really easy to do and they are nice and warm!and yes, I'd say working some "spaceholder" into the edge for holes should work. or you could use a finer crochet hook to push through for adding crochet or knit edges! you could of course just knit the edge instead of crocheting it and you'd end with the same amount of shrinkage! but for this I just didn't have enough of the yarn leftover...

Nina - maybe I should have a bobbin lace pillow stuffed with sheeps wool - the pins for this tend to get rusty over here in our damp climate!
making the fabric is fun - using it is slightly more difficult than expected:) but I am working on it...

Leigh said...

I absolutely need to make some felted slippers for my barn boots. They're too small to wear with shoes, too large to wear without, and regular socks don't cut it, not to mention they're a tad cold. Yours look really cozy. And I love the pin cushion. Great idea. I'll have to keep in in mind for next year's Christmas gifts. :)

Woolly Bits said...

Leigh - there was another pretty one with colourwork in it as well. great for small amounts of precious yarns:))
I'd go for the felt slippers, they're really cozy. mine are knitted in rows for the heel part, then in rounds for the rest, tip like a flat sock toe. all you do is graft the heel with kitchener. the only thing you need is a felted sample - or you'll end up with "hooves":))