A friend of ours emailed The Husband that I should make Tank Slippers.

I think the friend was joking, but The Husband mentioned it to me and I could tell he thought it was cool. I kind of got the vibe that he and the friend thought maybe I couldn’t crochet tank slippers, so in true Katie fashion, I heard, “I double dog dare you to crochet a Tiger 1 Tank”. (It really is shocking that I didn’t get into more trouble as a kid.) I said a quick and fervent prayer that there was a pattern online and googled. My prayer was answered and I even had the yarn I needed. Winning!

Now, my crochet skills are not as good as my knitting skills, so I won’t be entering this in any contests, but it is coming along (much assembly required).

I decided that since The Husband doesn’t wear slippers, I’m only making one and it will be more toy/decoration than slipper. Also, only one tank is likely to be assembled by me in this lifetime. I’m pretty solid on the fact that I haven’t missed my calling as an amigurumist.

Ps. For Socktoberfest, I’m telling myself that a slipper is a kind of sock.

Pps. To see what other folks are working on, go check out Tami’s Amis.

For the most part, I thought this was a pretty enjoyable movie with a good story. I happen to agree with one of the characters that there could have been a little less talk and a bit more shooting, but the film was quite good enough. The all star cast each pulled their weight (Woody Harrelson, Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken). The humor and story-telling kept me entertained 93% of the time. The other 7%…I just admired the knits.

The costume designer wanted Sam Rockwell to have some attention since he turned up in the movie wearing this.

If you’d like to have your own dog hat, I couldn’t find a pattern, but I did find some on sale here.

I doubt that Colin Farrell was wearing hand knit sweaters, but they were classic designs. I’m not sure I think there’s any actor that can pull off knitwear the way Colin Farrell can. It makes me want to say things like, “Girl, he is WEARING that sweater.” I somehow resisted saying this to The Husband.

These are seriously the only pictures I could find of this sweater from the movie anywhere. I’m not kidding. I even tried Bing.


Ok, maybe I didn’t sell this movie very hard and you’re not sure if you want to see it. You do.
Ps. That’s Bonny. She’s one of the stars.

I had almost finished the blue cowl and was working on the final border. I glanced at the pattern and worked 4 rows just like the first border and then read the directions for binding off. “Bind off loosely purlwise on the wrong side.” I sent Alicia a quick email about how I would need to bind off on the right side after completing the border.

She graciously responded that I should bind off on the wrong side so the number of rows would be the same before the first shell and after the last one. She was kind enough to write that it wasn’t that big a deal if I’d bound off on the right side. She was even more kind not mention that it sounded as if I had no idea what I was doing and was actually not qualified to be test knitting at all and maybe even should have my needles confiscated.

I looked at the knitting and looked at the pattern. um. HOW does one bind off on the wrong side after the border? I don’t get it. I’m not proud to say that I sent her a second email asking how I should bind off on the wrong side after the border. I know how knitting works and after a wrong side row, you have to do a right side row when knitting flat. It’s like gravity. That’s how it works.
That’s how it works if there are supposed to be four rows in the final border.


But.

If the pattern actually says that there are only THREE rows in the ending border, well, then, my knitterly friends, then, I think we all know, you can in fact bind off purlwise on the wrong side just as the lovely Alicia suggested from the beginning.
Yes, I bound off on the wrong side and sent her an apologetic email to tell her what an arse I am.

Ps. I’ll post a link as soon as she has this pattern out. This is a fun quick perfect for gifts knit and I want to share the love.
Pps. Check out what others have finished at Tami’s Amis and Wisdom begins in Wonder