Bathroom storage vessels

When I was in Edmonton my friend Jess and I ordered some Knitpicks wool. I'd never heard of them before, and as it turns out they don't ship outside of North America anyways (in this day and age? Seriously?), but they really do have a wonderful range of colours, particularly in cottons. I ordered a ball each of a range of colours, including their Cotlin range, which is a blend of cotton and linen and meant to be good for dishcloths etc. I always have good intentions of making such things but I think I must have a subconscious issue with the idea because somehow it never happens and now I've used most of it up making containers!



The pattern calls them bathroom storage vessels but I don't think I'll use them there, in fact I'm not entirely sure where I'll use them but they're fun anyways! I used the Cotlin doubled to give more body and they're certainly solid (though rather squishy despite that) but boy did it chew through the balls! I have no white left, and very little of any of the other colours either. Sheesh. The bowl is about 16cm wide and 9cm deep and the pot is 10cm by 14cm. I wish I'd done some more rows in the dark grey Wallaby to show it off better, it's my favourite of the whole lot. I have a ball of red left too, which would look great with the leftovers of the Wallaby, so maybe I'd better bite the bullet and do a dishcloth?

Slipper boots

One of the first things I did when I got to Edmonton was go through my mum's yarn and find something to do these slippers in. I ended up using this quite coarse worsted weight wool that she bought in 1980 here in Auckland from a carpet manufacturer who sold their short ends (which aren't all that short!). This amazes me for two reasons, firstly that there was ever places like that in Auckland because there sure aren't now, and how beautifully things keep in Edmonton with the low humidity and lack of wool-munching insects! The range of colours she has is wonderful, I would love to know what the carpets were like! Anyways, I made mine two-tone because I wasn't sure if there was enough orange to do them, although in the end there was plenty.



The pattern is very quick and I think you could probably make a pair in 2-3 evenings without any trouble. You start by doing the cuff in the round, and then switch to rows to do the sides and back, then switch to rounds again and come around the bottom and across the top of the foot for a couple rounds, before switching to rows to finish up the top. The soles in the pattern don't have much shaping other than some increases and were very narrow, so I started with a couple more chains at the heel and then increased more and only on the outside of the front so it matched my feet more closely. The original has quite a square toe which doesn't really suit my very tapered toes although I do like the look of it in the book! My slippers have a much more shaped look at the end there which maybe doesn't look quite as neat but they fit beautifully.

Despite the coarseness of the wool they are surprisingly comfy and I don't need to wear socks or anything (as you can see by my scruffy legs, I need to prep more for photoshoots obviously!). I still need to put the leather on the bottoms. They are supremely warm and will be very nice on cold days, although perhaps a bit too warm at the moment!

Back

So I did have good intentions of blogging while away, and the app was there on my phone, but nope I was having too much fun! We crammed quite a bit into a month including camping and two trips to the mountains. Hazel had two extra weeks off school in addition to the two weeks term break, so I felt I had to make things at least mildly educational.

A rock circle we built in the Pembina River (engineering, hydrology, public art)


The girls playing down by the river near the campsite (engineering, environment)

On the train to Jasper with Jess and the girls. Instant noodles for breakfast after a 6am start - class all the way! (transport, nutrition, cultural differences)


Inukshuk at Angel Glacier pond (it was tiny, about 15cm high tops). I have totally fallen in love with inukshuks and plan to make a big one asap (cultural heritage, climate change, environment, engineering)

We picked lots of raspberries in the garden (food, sustainable living, foraging, eating what you grew)



Visited the Tyrell Museum (dinosaurs! evolution, fossils, teeth, general coolness)


Admired the prairies...  (landscape, crops, transport, spending hours in a car and not driving your family crazy)

 ...and the badlands... (landscape formation, not hiking before a violent thunder storm, how flash floods develop)

...and the Rockies again up at Lake Louise (environment, finding the nicest hotel in the world, hiking without whining, putting up with a little discomfort without whining, how good it feels when you get there). 

 

It wasn't all education, nature and pretty photos though, I did get in some crochet! I'd taken a couple books to show my friend Jess who wanted to learn to crochet (which she did) and I was taken by a sudden desire to make a bunny that's in Simple Crochet by Sara Sinaguglia for her daughter Amy's birthday present in February. It was a little down to the wire but I got there the day before we left. I made things a lot harder for myself by deciding that the only wool in my mum's stash that would do for the stripes was this gorgeous marigold crepe stuff, but it was in quite short lengths for reasons I was never entirely sure of, so it had to be tied together and it made things a lot slower. The inside was a total mess of ends but as it turns out Jess likes sewing in ends and she volunteered to do it. I would have liked to have spent a bit more time on the face, especially the whiskers and mouth, but needs must and overall I'm pretty happy with it. Hope Amy is too!