Lazy blogger finally remembers to post...

Somehow that final countdown to Christmas, followed by travel, followed by guests for New Year's Eve, followed by New Year's Day with its all-time-low on the energy scale... Well, now that the dust has settled a bit (the resident dust rhinos are currently whooping it up in all the corners and under the furniture), just maybe I can get things back on track.
I finished a second Crofter's Cowl out of that skein of Blue Fog Nature Spun. I won't bother taking another picture. Just back up a couple of entries to here if you're curious. Absolutely freakin' identical... That was my traveling knitting for going to my Dad's house.
I didn't finish the second pair of Fiber Trends clogs. They were meant to be for Madman for Christmas (not the first time he's unwrapped a lumpy package complete with knitting needles...), but I ran out of yarn at the eleventh hour. I had planned to run down to the LYS to get more this morning (my only chance to go until next week), but when we woke up this morning we found that the pipes had frozen in the well-below-zero temps, so plans had to be changed.
I had to run to the coffee shop for coffee (where I got my first senior citizen's discount EVER. I'm still not sure how I feel about that. Fifty-five is not old.) then swung by the grocery store to pick up some gallons of water, and to the feed store to get some chicken feed. I'm currently thawing out the chicken's waterer on top the stove.

I hate winter.
At least I didn't have to be in to work early this morning. I would have had to brush my teeth with wine leftover from New Year's Eve...

A Little Help From My Friend

My little Ursula saw how far behind I'm getting, and naturally offered to help.

"Don't worry, Mom! I've got it under control."


"Now, if I could just remember how to cast on..."


"Ummm..."


"Crap. Afraid you're on your own."


Oh, well, her heart is in the right place.
Though it really would have helped if she'd knit the soles of that other pair of clogs...

I swear it's Magic!

The clogs are done and drying. Woohoo!

Here's a shot pre-felting:
These are bigger than ginormous - just crazy big. I began having doubts at this point... Notice how big they are compared to my hand.
I ran them through two cycles of hot/cold, holding my breath the whole time they were swishing.
Hey! They look like clogs!! And here's my hand again for comparison purposes...

Success! They're just the right size. Phew...
I am so lucky...

Pattern: Fiber Trends Felted Clogs (designed by Bev Galeskas)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Shepherd's Shades (131 yards per 100gr skein) - less than one skein Red Plum, a little over one skein Steel (but I knitted a gauge swatch out of the Steel and felted it, so not sure how much yardage that consumed)
Needles: size 13 circs (I had to go out and buy them special for the project - I own a bajillion small needles, but not many large ones)
Mods: I knitted these single strand, not doubled like the pattern called for. The gauge swatch I tried with the doubled yarn didn't felt down small enough. Shepherd's Shades felts gloriously and I decided it was worth the risk. (They were bound to fit someone...) I lucked out!

The pattern was easy to knit, though I did have to pay attention. (The first try had to be ripped out because I inadvertently skipped some rows. After that, I used a sticky note to keep track of what row I was on. )

I now want a pair of these for myself! Good thing I bought 4 skeins of the Shepherd's Shades...

And then there were three

Three fingers down, one to go. (Not counting the thumb, of course. Thumbs are a whole different category.) Annemor 10 marches on. The colors are definitely growing on me.And, just because I didn't have enough things cast on:
Yep. Finally started these clogs. I bought the pattern last winter, but hadn't gotten around to trying it out. I've made a lot of felted slippers (I'm wearing a pair, now) and really enjoy knitting big floppy whatsits and then washing them to the brink of destruction. (Isn't there something delightfully perverse in shrinking handknits on purpose...)
These are going to be a gift, but the recipient will be chosen after they're done - I've found this to be the safest course with felted objects. You know, you take it out of the washer and think "Okay, now who do I know that this will fit?" So much better than planning it for Aunt Betsy and finding it would only fit little baby cousin Sophie...
I've used the Shepherd's Shades before - it's a really great yarn for felting. But using it in this pattern is going to be a complete experiment. The pattern calls for using the yarn double, but when I felted a swatch with the SS doubled, it was way too big. So I'm trying it single, knitting the large woman's size, and hoping it will fit someone on my list when I'm done. Keep your fingers crossed for me - it might be a bumpy trip...
And as I knit this pattern, my admiration for Bev Galeskas is enormous. I've done a lot of designing myself, and I know how tedious it can be - knit knit knit, oops, that didn't work, unravel unravel unravel, knit knit knit, CRAP!! unravel unravel unravel... Which is crazy-making, but at least you can use the yarn over. When designing for felting, however - you don't know what you've got until after you felt it! That yarn is gone, baby. Holy frustration, Batman!
I had to go to the LYS for size 13 needles for the clogs. I may have accidently bought a couple of skeins of yarn while I was there.


For Christmas presents, of course. Because I definitely don't have enough things cast on, yet. Look at all the empty needles just lying there doing nothing!