Victory from the jaws of defeat

 This is a terrible tale, dear reader, a tale of accidental and wanton destruction.  Otherwise known as:  I've been shrinking things again.

The victims of the accidental destruction were two pairs of lovely woolly socks this time.  The pair above were quite cheap but relatively new and I liked them, so very annoying.  The pair below were most certainly not cheap and very new and I loved them and.... well, swearing might have happened.

The whole thing is doubly frustrating as I always collect up my woolly things and do a special, separate delicate wool wash with them, with separate, special detergent.  This time, I had collected my precious wool load, added my special wool detergent and then completely failed to set my machine to the wool wash - aghh!

(To add to my woes there was a Cath Kidston cardigan in there too, which has shrunk from fitting me perfectly to fitting Little Miss Perfectly.  So, I try not to dwell too much on the upsetting fact that I no longer have that lush, pretty, perfect shade of pink (sob) cardigan, because at least it still has a use to somebody.)

After a suitable mourning period were there would be occasional sorry attempts to try and force the sadly shrunken socks over my feet, I began to accept that they were no more and should leave my life forever. But, not so hasty, a brain wave suddenly came to me!  My cozy woolly sock obsession might have suffered a terrible blow, but it could be a gain for my cozy woolly mitt obsession!

Now we're talking.





So, from accidental destruction, to wanton destruction.  It was going to be tough love for these socks but if it worked I could breathe new and useful life into these limp and wretched things.  I got the idea (and the bravery) from taking my scissors to a failed pair of wrist warmers a last year.  So out came the scissors again and a few snips later my socks were just tubes.... tubes of lovely, fluffy, warmness that fit very well indeed on my arms.  Happiness begins to return.

From here the plan was simple, add a little bit of crochet to the cut off edge and hey presto, two nice new pairs of lovely warming wristies to wear.

I tried sewing blanket stitch along the edges first but wasn't very happy with the results.  Not neat enough against the raw edge and far too bulky if I folded in a seam.  In the end, I made a row on slip stitches below the raw edge by just forcing my hook through the felted material.  It worked like a charm and after a bit of jiggery pokery to get an even number of stitches on each glove I was away with my crochet edgings.


I just kept the crochet fairly simple, just a little something to finish them off and then tried out 2 different finishes for the raw edge.  The one where the edge will be on my arm, I simply trimmed down neatly and left raw.  The other, which will have the edge against my hand, I folded the edge down inside the glove and whip stitched it to the insides.

They both work well I think.  The raw edge is fabulously easy and the folded down version is just that bit neater and smoother against my hands.  So, I may not have my socks but at least they aren't completely wasted.

I like to think it's a small victory.





S x





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Comments

  1. Poor, poor you! But I love the mittens, specially the golden edge.

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  2. I really love the brighter ones and they look so pretty, pale blue isn't my thing so less keen on those but great job to claw back something wearable.

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  3. Pure genius Sandra! I actually think they'll be far more fun to wear now - as socks they were hidden in a pair of shoes and beneath trousers, now they can be on show! You might have to snip the sleeves off of Little Miss' Cath cardi...Chrissie x

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  4. Oohh, those are so cute! I want those socks, though... real real bad :3
    MaDonna xx
    MeMaDonna.com

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  5. From oops to wow all in one post!! Bravo!!

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  6. It's a big victory, Sandra! well done you! I feel for you though - this is the kind of thing I do and it happens so quickly and so irrevocably! sorry the cardi can't be similarly rescued! E x

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  7. This is the cutest idea, Sandra. Love them both!

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  8. Excellent recycling! Well done for thinking this out. Those wrist warmers look great with the crochet edging!

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  9. Silver lining to every cloud ! Perfect solution.
    Kate x

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  10. Sandra, forgive me but I had to giggle reading your story. Not that I am someone who is enjoying other people's misfortune! Not at all! But you did write it in a funny way and also you did remind me of my own 'shrinking washes', yes there were few (and once there was even a tiny dying problem as I managed accidentally to wash my husbands working shirt with my new pink tshirt that for some reasons did dye my husbands white shirt into a lovely salmon shade (he hated it though:-( ...).
    But let me tell you, you are a genius! what a brilliant idea to make the socks into the warm wrists! They are perfect and beautiful! Maybe you gone enjoy it more as hand warmers? ... And little Miss must have been happy with her new cardian I guess? I love how you can turn unpleasant into brilliant and happy!!! Have a wonderful weekend :-)) hugs, Jitka

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  11. Oh great recovery there, and dare I say you will see more of them on your hands than on your feet, beautiful x

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  12. I love the edging on those armwarmers. I would be crying in the corner about the cardigan but my daughter has had her fair share of 'washed' knits too x

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  13. You are brilliant! i love them as wrist warmers.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  14. This is the exact reason I hate doing laundry! I'm glad you were able to save them :)

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  15. Pretty Cool (heavy on the 'Pretty'!)

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  16. Such a shame, but you did so well to finish up with beautiful wrist warmers - every cloud has a silver lining, you are very clever! Joy x

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  17. Hi Sandra, I'm german and understanding is much more better than speaking or writing. But I want to say, that I love your kind of writing and the lovely idea. So I share the words of Jitka

    Mika

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  18. I would say that definitely is a result. I've got some long socks I never wear that I'm now thinking of destroying......x

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  19. *Very* nice, and I love the poncho in your last post too. Your hooks are clearly on fire!

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  20. oops i have too made this mistake once too often and isnt it always with some favourite garments? you have however made brilliant use of the problem and i willl certainly take a leaf out of your book nxt time it happens to me and not just throw the items into the charity bin. the wristwarmers look great , perfect for a spring walk outxx have fun wearing them i am sure you will get lots of lovely commentsxx only goes to show we should all go back to our grandmothers wsays of make do and mendxx

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  21. This was a wonderful lesson for us all! How to pick yourself up, turn yourself around and start all over again. Sometimes our attitude (towards a problem or day) is the only thing we can change to make things better. You certainly showed us what that means right here! How wonderfully inspiring, your beginning to your end with this post. Thank you, thank you so much for the sharing your insight and not the least your outstanding creation.

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  22. They look fabulous - the bonus being with wearing them on your arms you can see them in all their glory all day not just when you kick your shoes off.

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  23. I did the same myself with the sleeves from a shrunk jumper - it makes you feel better doesn't it? Jo x

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  24. Love the gold crochet edging against the blues of the socks. I've shrunk various things over the years but I've never thought to do anything so pretty with them. I usually just cry as I put them in the bin. (Interestingly, whenever I try to felt projects that are supposed to be felted, it never works properly!)

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  25. Oh, I cried with you, but what a most excellent recovery you have made! ~Kelly

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  26. Oh yes, please do laugh! I did intend to try to look at the funny side, even though it was a little bit tragic too! And yes, been there with dying stuff too - husband’s jumper turned pink. I think it’s just for decorating in now. - Oops!
    Sandra x

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  27. Thank you so much Mika. If it’s any consolation your written English is way, way ahead of any of my German! Thanks so much for your message, it’s lovely to have you here :)

    Sandra x

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  28. Gorgeous! Almost, just almost worth the washing machine disaster...

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  29. Bravo! More than a small victory, a big one I'd say. I really, really like them. And now they are perhaps more easily admired. Nice salvage job! x

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  30. Super duper clever girl!!!
    Annette
    My Rose Valley

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