Beads, Slippers, and Hats, Oh My!

After a fun-filled but very busy 2 months, I am happy to finally be able to sit down and think back on what projects came out of the rush. Caution - this will be a LONG post!

Sometime in November, I was offered a gig for January, singing a concert of cabaret songs. I was excited about the opportunity, but realized that there was no way I would have time to learn my music and finish the larger knitted gifts that I had planned to give for the holidays. So I began to think about small items that I could quickly create.

I had been wanting to give knitting with beads a try ever since my friend Kim gave me a knitted bracelet as part of our 2007 knitted birthday gift exchange. I looked for patterns online, and came across this one from Spun Magazine, which looked like a great way to start. With instructions in hand, I went to AC Moore to see what materials I could find, and came out with some vials of semi-precious chips, a spool of silver wire and some toggle clasps.

This was my first effort, and I gave it to my MIL for Christmas.


It worked up so quickly, that I became mildly addicted, got some more chips and wire to knit these.






These next two were happily received by Abe's preschool teachers.



In my knitting with beads frenzy, I also tried two patterns by Rosemary Hill - Bauble and Bijouterie. Bauble is extremely clever, and it works up amazingly fast once the gazillion beads are on the stretch magic cord. The beading part is a bit tedious, so I found that I enjoyed it more when I did the beading little by little over a few days, rather than trying to rush through it.

This was my first try. I used clear 6mm beads, turquoise seed beeds and 3 colors of larger seed beads.

The larger seed beeds didn't really show up against all of the turquoise, so I decided to make the next Bauble less subtle in color variation. This one was for a very patriotic friend.

And this one was for a lover of pink. I used only small beads this time to better suit the recipient.

It was serendipity that the Knitty issue with Rosemary Hill's Bijouterie also happened to come out during this time. Bijouterie is such a brilliant, economical and addictive pattern - I will be making many more of these!

I made both pairs to match with the Baubles.



Another fun part of my beading experiment is that after seeing me work on these projects, Bran decided that he wanted to make some jewelry as well. I got him some alphabet beads, and he made some simple name bracelets for friends. Then we decided to do a collaboration for his kindergarten teacher. Bran picked out beads from my collection and put them on a long strand of wire, and I knit them into a necklace and earrings.

His teacher was very thankful for the set, and I did get a photo of her wearing it, but I didn't get permission to put it on my blog, so here is a picture of me wearing it.



Another type of quick project I found was slippers. I used three different patterns and had a great time working on them. The first was House Slippers from Knit 2 Together.

These were made with Patons Classic Merino in Paprika. I originally planned to decorate them with with felted flowers, but found these appliques and thought they would look cute. The recipient loves the color orange, as I do, and these were greatly appreciated.

The next pair went to my MIL who is suffering from Lewy Body Disease. My FIL told me that she is always complaining about cold feet in the house, and that a pair of slippers which covered her ankle would be great. Cathy Carron's pattern for Ribby Slipper Socks in the Interweave Knits Holiday issue was perfect. I made them out of red Wool-Ease Thick and Quick and black Caron Simply Soft Eco leftover from Abe's Kitty Hat. It was imperative that the slippers would not be slippery, so after researching the options online, I decided to add puffy paint to the bottoms, since it would be easy for my FIL to reapply it if it started to crack.


The last pair was for my FIL, in purple, his second favorite color. Yellow is his favorite, but I thought they would get too dirty, plus I already had the purple in stash. The pattern is Felted Moccasins from Felted Knits. I had a ton of fun watching these come together. Beverly Galeskas is a felting genius! I wanted to make sure that they fit my FIL before I added a non-slip coating to the bottoms, and it is good that I waited, since they ended up being a little big. I still need to felt them to a smaller size and add plastidip or caulk to the bottoms so he can wear them outside, but at least he really seemed to like them. G also wants a pair now.

I also made two hats for the holiday gift rush - Meret for a friend and Koolhaas for G.

For the Meret, I once again used Patons Classic Merino. I misread the pattern and worked rows 1-10, 4-10, 1,2, 4-10, 1,2, but it turned out cute nonetheless and my friend loved it. I’ll definitely be making more of these!

G's Koolhaas was knit from Laines du Nord Cashsilk which I bought at Tuesday Morning. It is lovely stuff, and so far has not pilled at all. The black yarn made it a little challenging to see my stitches when I got started, but once the pattern was established all went smoothly. G appreciates having a soft hat to keep his head warm. I want to make one of these for myself in a lighter color.

So all in all, it was a successful season of gifting, even though the gifts were smaller than the sweaters and vests I had originally intended to make. I can definitely see why some knitters stick to small projects - to have the satisfaction of a finished product without hours of work is beautiful thing. This I need to remember.