last-minute presents

I made three pairs of these slippers for friends that have cold wooden floors in their houses. I looked at a few different slipper patterns and ideas, but ended up making my own pattern and figuring out solutions to various problems that came up.

They are surprisingly easy to make and, since I did 3 sets of them and am now an expert, I'm hoping to put together a tutorial to post in a few weeks.

This is a close-up shot of an upside-down slipper. I wanted to show the sole, which is covered in a thin layer of silicone. I read online that it's a great way to make the slippers have traction, so they won't slip on smooth floors. I was a little unsure about spreading silicone on a nicely finished slipper, but it works wonderfully!

While we drove to St. Louis to see my husband's family for Christmas, I decided it was a good time to knit these fingerless mitts for a friend of mine. She has four children and mentioned once that she can't wear gloves because she's always dealing with carseat buckles and zippers and things she needs tactile ability for. So I thought she could at least keep her wrists and palms warm with some fingerless mitts, even if her fingers are still exposed. I used the Lovisa pattern from ravelry, but changed a lot of it. I made them shorter, used only one color, added ribbing at the two ends, and actually had to start over with 10 less stitches than the pattern because they were huge. (I must have had the wrong gauge or something.) But they came out nicely.

We had a white Christmas here in Kansas City, it's been snowing for two days now. I wish I could get a good picture of it. There's just nothing more contenting in the winter time than to knit or weave by the fire and watch the snowflakes coming down in thick flakes outside.