Progress and next projects

I know Mondays are normally reserved for trend posts, but I wanted to update you guys on some stuff! My free trial of Final Cut Pro ran out over the weekend, so I had to buy the full version... Not exciting for you, at least, not until you see my next little video project. Here's a teaser photo:

I finished my lovely Guernsey Wrap at the beginning of last week, gave it a quick blocking and took some photos:

And I was lucky enough to finish those Oh, Slip test slippers. On Friday, I decided a teeny bit of felting might help the shape and fit a little. So into the hot washer they went, and I watched them like a hawk. They needed a little rinse and some blocking, before being placed on the stationary rack in my dryer. The shape improved TREMENDOUSLY:

Full disclosure: This was my first felting project, EVER. I really liked the texture of the fabric and the shape after washing! These slippers have been saved! And had I let them go a little while longer, they would have been at least another size or two (or three) smaller. This was just a low agitation hot water wash! 

So with those saved, I moved on to the "final" slippers, which are knit from double-held strands of Debbie Bliss Andes. The recipient loves the color blue, but I am super skeptical of the final product, yet again:

This time, since the yarn is 65% alpaca, 35% silk, I'm not sure that felting will give me the same result, but I'm going to give it a shot. They're a size 9 right now, but I'm sure that I can felt them a little and stretch them back out to the correct size. I'm done with the first slipper and moving on to the second, which is at the heel short rows. 

I think I'm really nervous about the final product because I feel like this is a big gamble: my recipient is my grandmother-in-law, and I'm petrified that she'll hate them, think they're stupid, or they won't fit right. Not being thrilled with the look of the slipper is definitely making that worse. I find that the vast majority of my projects end with positive results, which makes me hypercritical of anything new. Does anyone else feel the same way?

Luckily (or unluckily) for me, I'll have plenty of time to work on my gift-giving neuroses, as my next few projects are giveaways. Another pair of these slippers for MY grandmother (probably in the same oat-colored wool as my first pair, and felted more), a pair of baby converse booties for one of my wedding videographers, who just announced their pregnancy before we went to video school, and a secret beanie project for my OTHER wedding videographer. 

I also have to finish up my Oh, Handsome rugby sweater for our friends' baby, who is due in the new year. TONS of things on the to-do list, before I can even get to my alpaca cardigan or my texelle shawl.