Travelling Slippers Done!

I've been working on them steadily for the last few days and they are finally done!

I had to make a point of working on them at home after the easy "take-along" knitting was done. I got the edging around the opening done and then knit the strap. This is where it was getting dicey about whether I had enough yarn left. To give myself a heads up, I marked the half-way point of what I did have left with a knot and then rolled the yarn back into a ball. This way if I got to the knot before I had finished the edging and strap for one slipper, I would know I didn't have enough for the other. But it all worked out fine and I had enough with just a little left over.

The first strap, however, didn't turn out very well but I learned enough to know what to do the next time. The main problem was the kniton cast on which looked terrible. Switching to the cable cast on fixed that and then I did a little shaping around the buttonhole so it would have a rounded end instead of being so square and blocky. So I ripped the strap out and then went to sleep (it was very late) with thoughts of being able to lick it next time I got to it.

Well, the next time I got to it was at the airport waiting for someone to arrive. I got there very early and then his flight was 45 minutes late so I had time to make two straps and do the edging on the second slipper. [An airport turns out to be a very good place to knit without being bothered or interupted, and I had nothing else to do!] Today I sat down and stitched the second one up while watching football--my team wasn't playing so I didn't really have to watch closely--and found some buttons, and voila, done!

What was also pushing this along was the fact that I'm going "home" for Christmas this week and I wanted to be able to show my mom the finished project. She was interested and liked them very much when she visited in November so I like to reward that with a finished object to look at! (Let's be honest, not just to look at, but also to admire!) Plus her house will be much cleaner than mine so I can wear the slippers without fearing too much about how dirty they're going to get. (My half-constructed, half-destructed house is definitely not the place to wear them.)

It feels so good to get projects finished! My Ravelry record says I started them on Oct 24 so they took just about 2 months in all, with other projects in between, of course.

I now have four pairs of slippers that I can think of off the top of my head. I don't think that's too many...is it?

-christina

ETA: 2nd place ribbon at the 2009 County Fair (misc knited item)

How to get Knitting Done

Although this post won't help those with "startitis" or FOF (fear of finishing) I have learned a simple but powerful lesson recently about getting things done. If you've got smaller projects that can travel with you, bring them everywhere and knit whenever you've got 10 minutes. But to make this possible you need...you guessed it...to be prepared.

So what this means for me and knitting is that I am not often sitting at home working on my Caps for a Cure hats or other projects which are perfect travelling knits. I might be casting them on, or finishing them, but I need to leave the main straight ahead knitting for when I'm away from home.

What this has changed in my life is my previous (pretty-much) one-at-a-time approach to projects. Now I might spend an evening gathering supplies and casting on two or three projects that will get me through the next while of lunch breaks, meetings, and waits for choir to start. It seems so extravagant, and yet it's working.

Last night, for example, I started two projects. The first was the lace slippers from my new socks and slippers book. I'm hoping the slippers will make perfect travelling slippers: not too heavy or bulky, yet warm enough to help my constantly cold feet, and dressy enough to let my friends see!

I needed some time to set these ones up because the pattern wants you to knit up four soles and then sew two of them together for each slipper. This will make the sole thicker, warmer and more durable. But I don't like to do more than two of most anything. So I decided to double knit the sole. This will give all the advantages and won't require a seam at the end.

The second cast on was for the Amanda hat for this month's Caps for a Cure. I was the one that nominated it to the group and yet I've done every other hat on the list but this one. And it's almost the end of the month...time to get going. I'm not sure I've chosen the best yarn to show the nice textured pattern, but we'll see what it looks like. I'm pretty committed to using stash and donated yarns for the Caps for a Cure projects. (It's a good thing they like acrylics for the hats because I have a lot of it!)

And of course, the final thing you need for good travel knitting is a great bag to carry it all with you. Not too big, but big enough, cute, and secure so things won't fall out. I found a perfect bag while shopping at Sally Ann with my mom last week.

My only mistake is that I've started using it as a purse. It was so convenient to just throw my new wallet in and just carry the one bag. (Between my knitting, purse and laptop, I really look like a "bag" lady sometimes!) Now, an appliqued cat bag is cute for a project bag, but as a purse?? Not really my style. I've got to pull out a purse purse soon but it's just so dang convenient!!

All for know,

christina