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Susan's Super Slippers

 This is a simple pattern for my super slippers. These make up quickly and are terrific for fund raisers, gifts or to indulge your self. They travel well and are good for when you are staying away from home and want some foot cover to duck into the bathroom.  Do take care on polished boards, as they can be quite slippery. I have provided these in three sizes however there is quite a bit of stretch in these and depending on your yarn they will fit a range of foot shapes. Once you have the hang of these you can experiment with buttons and bows, pom poms and embellishments however then they wouldn't be so simple!

Have fun, and do donate as many as you can to charity.

THE PATTERN IS IN BOTH UK/USA TERMS

Susan's Super Slippers

Australian UK Terms are first/ USA term second = tr/dc

 

Materials: 8ply/double knit/worsted weight yarn;   3.75 /4mm/ J6 hook

Sizes (foot length)

• A = 13cm / 5 ½ in (little kids)
• B = 18cm / 7 in  (ladies)
•  C = 22cm/ 8 ½ in (big foot)

Begin at the sole; the heel is at the start of the round

1. Loosely ch 16 / 20 / 24, starting 4^th from hook 1tr/dc next 12 / 16 / 20;  4tr/dc next st,  working on other side of ch, 1tr/dc next 11 / 15 / 19; 2 tr/dc next st, slst join to 3^rd ch of start = 30 / 38 / 46

2. 3ch start, 1tr/dc same st, 2tr/dc next st, 1tr/dc next 11 / 15 / 19st, 2tr/dc next st 4 times, 1tr/dc next 11 / 15 /19, 2tr/dc next st twice, slst join = 38 / 46 / 54

3. 3ch start, 1tr/dc same st, 2tr/dc next st 3 times, 1tr/dc next 11 / 15 / 19st, 2tr/dc next st 8 times, 1tr/dc next 11 / 15 / 19st, 2 tr/dc next st 4 times, slst join = 54 / 62 / 70

4. 3ch start, 1tr/dc each st around, slst join = 54 / 62 /70 (Omit for size A)

Pigeon toed, under toed.....

  

Shaping

5. 3ch start, 1tr/dc next 16 / 20 / 24 st, (miss 1st, 1tr/dc next st) 10 times, 1tr/dc next 17 / 21 / 25 slst join = 44 / 52 / 60

6. 3ch start, 1tr/dc next 16 / 20 / 24st, (miss 1st, 1tr/dc next st) 5 times, 1tr/dc next 17 / 21 / 25 slst join = 39 / 47 /55

7. 3ch start, (1ch miss 1^st 1tr/dc next st) 6 / 8 /10 times; (miss 1 st 1tr/dc next st) 5 / 6 / 7 times (1ch miss 1^st 1tr/dc next st) 8 / 9 / 10 times, 1ch, slst join = 20 / 24 / 28 tr/dc posts

8. 3ch start, (1ch miss 1ch 1tr/dc next tr/dc) 7 / 8 / 9 times 5ch, miss 4 / 6 / 8tr/dc, (1tr/dc next tr/dc, 1ch) 7 / 9 /10 times around, slst join = 16 / 18 / 20 tr/dc posts

9. 3ch start, (1tr/dc into ch sp, 1 back post tr/dc next tr/dc) 7 / 8 / 9 times till you reach the 5ch of row 8, 1dc/sc into 3^rd ch, continue on other side with (1 back post tr/dc next tr/dc, 1tr/dc into ch sp) 8 / 9 / 10 times, 1 bp tr/dc last st then slst join at back to finish off.

use up those annoying bits of faux fur from the scrap basket

Contrast Edge: Join at back of heel in space between tr/dc. Work (1dc/sc, 1tr/dc) miss 1 tr around. Slip st join and weave in ends.

Cant wait to see your finished slippers!  Have fun,

cheers Susan.

(c) crochetroo. copyright please do not sell or copy this pattern .  Links are welcome.

Bargain Bag Baby Blankets

It has been a miserable wet long weekend. That is the down side, but the up side is that this is perfect crochet weather. I have been working on a number of things and have a backlog of unfinished projects. Numerous afghans that seemed such a great idea at the time, until I got bored or summer arrived. One of my goals is to try and reduce the number of half finished afghans lurking in the cupboard as well as use up some of that yarn that was such a bargain at the end of last season.

One such bargain was a huge bag of chunky baby yarn in yellow, lavender and blue. Seems that the number of baby girls out numbered the boys as there was no pink remaining. At 50cents a ball for top quality yarn I couldn't resist and sneakily brought into the house a bag of  15 balls - 2 aqua, 9 lemon and 4 lavender. My primal instincts of hunter gatherer had been stirred. Was never sure what I was going to do with the stuff  but reasoned with myself that the reason I had so many half finished rugs in the cupboard was that my intentions were too big!  That is, if they had been planned to be half the size then they would have been finished ages ago. (And the yarn was so deliciously soft and snugly).

Having always wanted to try a few of the more challenging styles of crochet, I figured I would give it a go. This included entrelac, tunisian and the waffle reversible patterns. So here are my creations which have now been passed to a few young mums with bubs on the way. The trick is that the colours are gender neutral and did turn out quite pretty.

Baby blanket Number 1 
 This was my first serious attempt at tunisian and I worked it on one of those bamboo hooks with the nylon extensions that was also on the bargain table. As I had an uneven aqua/ lavender/ lemon ratio in my bargain bag I worked this to use up the aqua.

This one turned out really pretty, and the texture of the blanket scrumptious. Lovely furrows of snugly colourful goodness!



Baby Blanket number 2- checkerboard.

My confidence with tunisian was improving so I embarked on some entrelac. I must say, this nearly did my head in. Logically to build up blocks from the corners messed with my mind and the habit of crocheting in rows. Once I had the knack of it, I really enjoyed the pattern.

 



This was an adaption of an entrelac pattern. Because the yarn was so chunky I worked it in trebles (USA dc) with a size 8 tunisian hook. I really like the simplicity of the design and it gives a nice firm fabric that little fingers wont get caught up in. Now lavender and lemon checker board may not be every ones cup of tea, but I can honestly say that I do like this colour mix.

The entralac does need to be finished with a boarder edge as some of my checkers were a bit wonky.




Baby Blanket number 3- reversible waffle


This was constructed using a simple V stitch on a base of 60 ch. The reverse occurs as you use one colour for all the even rows, and the second for all the odd rows, This is quite a thick fabric with a nice drape as I used a large hook

Row 1, using Colour A : 2ch, * miss one st, into next st (1tr 1ch 1tr) miss 1 st, 1dc next st* across

Row 2, using colour B: 2ch * 1dc into ch sp, insert hook horizontally under dc of prev row and work (1tr 1ch 1tr)* across. At the end of the row insert your hook under the 1st st at the beginning of the row.


If I did this one again I would use a lighter yarn and choose colours with a stronger contrast. This is quite a heavy blanket and would be suitable for a baby planning an antarctic expedition! I haven't given this one away yet as it is not really suitable for the Queensland born babies I know.

So 14+ balls were used and I have about half a ball of lemon left. I also feel much more proficient at tunison, and ended up with a nice stock of baby blankets for a mere $7.50 AUS!
Thanks for looking.

Afghans that boomerang

I'm Back!!

Hello! After a blog break I am back. Not sure where I went, but with floods, house renos, travel, kids and a full time job things have been busy. The good news is I have a huge back log of things to share with you all. I have decided that a number of my afghans have become "boomerangs". That being, they have come back to me! Some under sad cirmunstances and others under happy ones. When my Mum in Law passed on one of the things I realised when cleaning out her treasures was how many things I had crocheted her over the years. I have posted about this previoususly but I dont recall sharing the afghans with you that I had gifted her.

The circle one above I remember doing in the late 80s when the kids were tiny. Quite a simple pattern and on reflection I do like how the colours work. Grandma was always a cheery lady and she proudly displayed this on her couch. It is a wagon whell motif out of a very old book and I remember paying particular attention to the placement of the colours. I had forgotten how simple but effective this pattern is.

Our daughter has lived in the Southern States since she finished school and went to the Australian National University in Canberra and subsequently landed a job in Melbourne. Both are bitterly cold (when benchmarked against Gold Coast weather) which has enabled me to generously send her off with crochet woolies to keep her warm. She has now decided to take 6 months leave from her job and travel overseas. The time has never been better as the Aussie dollar is so strong I really think this is a terrific thing to do.




The sequalie to this is that she has to minimise her "stuff" and put the remainder into storage while she is away. I guess the benefit of her living a couple of thousand kilometres away is that her "stuff" wont be getting stored at our place. Lordie I have enough stuff (aka junk) of my own! Yet the afghans, she feels were bulky, and as she tactfully put it in "90s colours", so she has returned them to me.

Actually, I lugged them back from Melbourne in my suitcase when I visited her last weekend. That with an enviable collection of Myer bears, and of course
 my own Melbourne purchases, I just met the Qantas baggage limit.

The orange and brown number she requested to match her charity store bought orange and brown couch she had in her student digs. I noticed recently (on her fobidden facebook face) that this had been used as a decoration at a friends 80s parts. Truth is I made it in the 90s, and she chose the colours. It seems the perfect party discussion point and  soaks up the beer slops quite good as well! Good thing I used acrylic yarn so it washes quite well.






The photo to the right is a bit dodgy, but this square uses a front post treble to give it a bit of texture. This was quite a brainless crochet and travelled well. The two coloured effect also looks good. Not sure that I would ever do another one like this as there was a lot of dark brown to join which was pretty tough on the eyes.
There are a few more which I will post in the coming weeks. Now that winter is approaching it is perfect weather to bring them all out of the cupboard and appreciate them.

Take Care! Cheers Susan