Monday, April 28, 2014

Long time no write....


...but I have a great excuse. I've been concentrating on getting all my parts back in working order. I'm better thanks to a steroid shot...but still have a ways to go. I'm stunned that I'm still in PT, but I don't know why I should be. I'm hoping soon I'll be able to put on my own underwear if you get my drift.

I am, however, knitting again. Not as long or as fast, but I'm not worried about those things. Hanging around the house for so long enabled me to take stock of some of my well loved knitwear, and some I had to part with. For example:

These are my beloved French Press Slippers. I made them in 2010, and wore them out.....what do I mean wore them out?













Allow me to demonstrate:



 I installed suede soles on them so that the holes in the soles would not be visible, however, it wore them through again anyway.....

Not even I could justify keeping them, so I snipped off the soles, and out they went.








I started from scratch....



Can't help but love the red......

These were OK to knit, though I struggled a little with the triple yarn on the sole. I'm still struggling a little with knitting. But the designer made substantial improvements to the pattern, and they were easier to sew together.








And here is the finished product:

 I reused the suede soles, and changed out the buttons. I think they're sweet.

















And because they're like potato chips, I had to knit a second pair in graphite. You can see the comparison here. I need to add a felted shot though. I made a few changes to the black slippers making them a little deeper. They look less like ballet flats and more like regular slippers. They will be fine though especially if we have another winter like the last one.











Love this pattern. Easy peasy. And the finished product is highly useable.

That's not all I've been doing though. I started a Prayer Shawl for a friend and colleague who is going through a brutal treatment for melanoma. I don't know how she is managing. I just don't. I started the piece, enlisted my knitting colleagues, then we passed it all over the university to anyone who wanted to add a stitch or two, even the men who tried to demur. Everyone then signed a cardstock graphic wishing her well. The illness and treatment she is experiencing really puts my shoulder and, neverending, physical therapy into perspective. Who needs to be able to reach behind to hook a bra really?