Friday, December 22, 2006

Last Minute Christmas Gift Mayhem

No Chris, not gifts for Mayhem, I'm creating mayhem by thinking I can whip up last minute gifts.

I spent last weekend in South Dakota with my parents. Watertown is really hopping these days and they have recently opened a Starbucks. I'm a Caribou Coffee gal myself, but the absence of really good strong coffee in Watertown has been a whine of mine for quite some time. So imagine my joy in a Starbucks with a drive-thru only 6 blocks from mom and dad's!

Saturday morning I drove through said Starbucks for a medium (yes medium dammit, I told you I'm a Caribou girl) carmel latte. Feeling nearly giddy with the joy of intense caffeine, I swung by the LYS on my way home. Don't get me started on how clueless they are at this shop, it's really just a corner of their "art" gallery. While there I purchased some of that new Paton's SWS. It was right there on the floor next to some Mountain Colors. Don't worry, the acrylic and $1.27 a skein dishcloth cotton was safely put away up off the floor in neat bins!

I've been tempted by the SWS before but stayed away from it because it seems kind of expensive for Patons. But I have to tell you, it's soft, shiny, has good stitch definition and the stripes are very well defined rather than blurry or muddy. All in all it's pretty great stuff. I decided since I've been on a Fuzzy Feet roll lately (can't post pictures, they are gifts) I would knit a pair for my son's stocking with the SWS.

Here is the post felting picture:

Did I mention that my son and I wear the exact same size shoe these days? So I made the Fuzzy Feet the exact same size I made my own. Let me show you a picture of my Fuzzy Feet for reference.
My slipper is the large one. Here I was feeling so pleased with myself that I had whipped up these slippers in less than 24 hours. They would be perfect, if only my son was 4 instead of 14. This is Christmas karma. This is the knitting gods spitting in my smug face. This is Patons SWS on one lousy cycle of the wash machine. So get smug about your Christmas knitting with caution and watch that wash cycle while felting.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's bad news. Is your adorable nephew that wanted his aunt to knit something warm for him the right size?

I played around with some SWS and it does felt really quickly. I guess that's good and bad.

Merry Christmas!

renee said...

Oh, that's so disappointing! At least they're lovely - SOMEONE will enjoy them.

Chris said...

Whoops. Good to know about that yarn, but bad timing! The first time I used the washers at this building for felting, I felted a tote bag into a freestanding wastebasket in less than a cycle!

Mayhem is crushed that she's not getting gifts. ;)

Anonymous said...

I've given up on the holiday knitting and am venturing into the stores. It's for the best really...

Love the Fuzzy Feet!!!!!

Kelly said...

Where is the fuzzy feet pattern from. I am really unhappy with the current slipper pattern I have been using. No backs, they just fall off your feel!

Chris said...

Helloooooooooo??