Love Is . . .

Fraying, Splitty, Snagable Frustration

. . . working with hideous yarn (aka indestructible petroleum by-product) to create a beloved knitted item.  Recognize the above product?  Good old Phentex Craft and Slipper Yarn.  Ever work with this stuff?  If you have, then you totally comprehend my frustration with it. 

Now don't misunderstand:  I lurve acrylics (hey, my name should be a give-away), mainly for their affordability, availability and easy care.  But not all acrylics are created equal.  Sure there are some lovely acrylics out there.  This Phentex stuff just isn't it.  But it is durable.  

Guess what it is?

Now care to guess what I'm making?  I'll give you three clues: something to keep the chill away in the dead of winter; something your great aunt or nana might have made; something a man might request.  Figure it out?



Dear hubby seldom asks for knitted goods: he dislikes woolen socks, seldom wears hats and prefers his water-proof gloves to the hand-knit variety.  However, he loves those Phentex slippers his mom used to make for him as a kid.  And up until recently, his mom still made those slippers.  Now its my turn to make them.  

Right Side with Alternating Colours



Stranding on Wrong Side

I have made these before for my oldest boy back in 2009, but for some reason I didn't understand how to twist the two colours to avoid holes.  I've worked fair isle and even intarsia--all successfully I might add.  But these slippers seem to combine the two and my poor brain doesn't "get it".  So I changed up the pattern by alternating colours every two rows.  I avoid holes and still create the stranding effect on the back.  It's all good. ;)