Forward momentum, yay!

I feel like I'm back in the game again, huzzah!

I made pretty decent progress on my Serene Shell this week.  I am planning to finish the first side of the sweater today.  No pic yet though cuz it's just a lovely green rectangle at the moment.

I am really digging the 3 Double Crochet Fan/V Stitch combo going on in that pattern.  I think I may utilize it for a baby blanket as summer gets closer.  We're doing a safari theme for the bedding, and I love how plant-like this pattern looks in green, so I have some yarn I got last month on my trip (in green of course) that might be perfect for this.  I think it will look really cool and jungle-y.  

But that's not all I did this week, oh no.  I also made a pair of slippers yesterday.  They were inspired by the slippers my mom has been knitting for me (and others) pretty much all of my life.  Perfect little house slippers.  Now that I no longer live as close to Mom as I would like, and now that she has so many irons in the knitting fire, I hate to ask her to stop what she's doing to make me a new pair just because I already wore through my most recent set.   So for a while I have been thinking I bet I could make myself some really similar slippers via crochet, and last month I started playing around with it a bit.

The first pair turned out to be a bit too big for me (they actually fit my husband quite nicely though), and then I wanted to make a pair for my mom in thanks before my trip.  But until yesterday I hadn't gotten the chance to sit down and just make a pair for myself.

I used Dream In Color's "Classy" yarn in "Wisterious."  I won a skein in a raffle while I was in Illinois and since it's washable I thought it might be fun to use for a project like this. It's a handpainted yarn in purples and pinks and oranges.  I suppose it should invoke thoughts of sunsets, but it reminds me of nothing so much as sherbert, so I give you the Sherbert Slippers:

Here's a shot that gives you a better idea of the colors:

So now, I can totally make my own slippers when I run through them.  Not that I won't treasure any pair my mom makes me, cuz you know, they're from my mom.  

For anyone interested, here is the pattern I came up with.  These will make a pair to fit a size 8.5 woman's foot.  They do seem to have some stretch to them though, so I may end up adapting for a bit smaller pattern in the future, I'll have to see how they hold up after washing.  If you want to make them in a different size you would just need to play with the width of the heel and the length of the toe I suppose.

Pattern:

Uses size G crochet hook.

1. Chain 3.
   
2. 2 single crochet in second chain from hook, 2 single crochet in next chain (4 sc).
   
3. *Chain 1, turn.  2 single crochet in first single crochet, 1 single crochet in each stitch across to last stitch, 2 single crochet in last stitch.** Repeat from * to ** 3 times (5 rows, 12 sc).
   
4. Rows 6-20:  Chain 1, turn, single crochet in each stitch across (12 sc).
5. Chain 1, 1 single crochet in each row along edge of heel, two stitches at bottom and each row along opposite edge (42 sc).
6. Rows 2-8:  Chain 1, turn, half-double crochet in each stitch around (42 hdc).
7. Chain 1, turn, 1 single crochet in same stitch.  Single crochet next 2 stitches together, single crochet in each of next 16 stitches, single crochet 2 together twice, single crochet in next 16 stitches, single crochet 2 together, single crochet in last stitch.
8. Join to first single crochet on opposite side with slip stitch.
9. Chain 1, 1 single crochet in edge of each row and in each single crochet across bottom of heel then in edge of each row along opposite side.  Join with slip stitch to first single crochet (30 sc).
10. Rows 2-8:  Chain 3 (counts as first double crochet here and throughout), double crochet in next stitch and in each stitch around.  Join with slip stitch to third chain in chain 3 (30 dc).
11. Chain 3, double crochet in next 2 stitches *(3 dc), double crochet 2 together.** Repeat from * to ** around.  Join with slip stitch to third chain in chain 3.
12. Chain 3, double crochet in next stitch *(2 dc), double crochet 2 together.** Repeat from * to ** around.  Join with slip stitch to third chain in chain 3.
13. Chain 3 *(1 dc), double crochet 2 together.** Repeat from * to ** around.  Join with slip stitch to third chain in chain 3.
14. Chain 1, half-double crochet in same stitch and in each stitch around.  Join with slip stitch to first half-double crochet (12 hdc).
15. Fold toe in half, slip stitch to edge (if necessary).  Single crochet edges together (6 sc).
16. Finish off, turn slipper right side out.

And there you have it.  Yay!

Anyhoo, I hope everyone has a wonderful week.  Enjoy spring now that it has sprung and all.