Table Leg Warmers

Our little babe is growing up faster than ever.  She's 7 1/2 months old now and munching on solids twice per day with her 2 new bottom teeth.  She's on the verge of crawling which means that I've begun frantically yarn bombing the apartment in preparation for our moving groover.  

After Xena passionately head-butted the table leg, I decided to crochet some leg warmers with the Bernat Maker Home Dec Clay yarn leftover from the place mats and coasters I made a few months ago.  Since it's so durable and stretchy, it worked perfectly.

By sheer trial and error and nothing fancier, I calculated the increases and decreases of each row.  Xena loves the texture of the leg warmers and because they decrease at the top, they can easily withstand her playful tugs and pulls.

Not your granny's granny shawl

I love shawls but I detest the fact that the mere mention of the word immediately conjures images of downtrodden, raisin-faced old ladies fighting over bruised fruit at a bodega or shivering invalids clutching tattered old lace, sagging over their bodies like molten cheese cloth, etc.  I wanted to crochet a shawl in a traditional pattern but with non-traditional style in shocking colors and a variety of textures.

I started this project back in May when Xena was a but a wee lass.  The variegated yarn is Hedgehog Fibers Hula Hoop, and the hot magenta/neon pink (technically just Rose) is Madeline Tosh DK and the neon yellow (Edison Bulb) are Madeline Tosh Euro Sock yarn. 

I really love the results and I've received very sincere compliments along the lines of, "Wow!  I've never seen anything quite like that!" and "Great colors!" every single time I've ever worn this out.

The 100% merino wool is so soft that Xena loves snuggling with it too.

Christmas in July!

I started these stockings last fall when I was pregnant with Xena and in my third trimester and I literally went into labor while I was working on them.  Since I knew I technically didn't need to finish them until December 2018, I put them to the side for the past few months and only just finally finished them last night!

 

Each stocking measures 19" long.  The leg is 5 1/2" wide and the foot is 9" long so there's plenty of room to be filled with delightful treats.

I used 100g skeins of Ella Rae Superwash Classic Wool (machine-washable virgin wool) yarn and a size F hook.  It took about 1 1/2 skeins of each color to finish all 3 stockings in alternating color schemes.  

 I didn't use a pattern.  I simply referred to a photo of a stocking I found online that was made based on a vintage crochet pattern.  But you can refer to my previous post for a general idea of the pattern.

The crocheting was the easiest part of this project.  Stitching all of the medallions together was the most labor intensive and time consuming part but I'm extremely pleased with the results.