You might recall that a while ago I tried making a dinosaur planter. I planted in it the smallest succulent I could find, in hopes that it won’t out grow the planter, but it turned out that the dinosaur really isn’t enough space for the succulent to grow, and the succulent died :(

Others suggested air plants. Well, I killed an air plant too! I really don’t know how, but the one I had didn’t live very long :’(

Not wanting to give up on the dino planter, but also not wanting to kill another plant, I thought I’d crochet some succulents. Found this beautiful series of patterns by Common Thread and followed them loosely.

Dino’s got its plants again :D

In the pattern the Burro’s tail succulent is made of I-cords, but I found the result to be too thick, so I just made chains and slip stitch into the chains.

Faux dino + faux sea glass + faux succulent

Quick weekend projects make me happy. Hope everyone is having a good weekend :D

Crocheting these sandals made me want to further investigate whether homemade shoes are a viable solution for my oddly shaped, high arch, achy feet. So I thought I’d make another pair in a different style :D possibly something for daily casual wear.

I came across this pattern from Hook Candy on Ravelry and really liked how shoe-like they are. I didn’t want something that would make it look like I’m wearing slippers out on the street.

I just used the same yarn as the sandals because I had a lot of the yarn left over. Used the left over jute as well for the soles and treated it as per the instructions from Wildflowers and Sage’s pattern to make them outdoors ready. And the insoles were made with some leftover Bernat cotton from another project.

I’m quite happy with them! :D I didn’t have to modify the pattern at all to make them accommodate the width of my feet. I did have to add an extra round of single crochet stitches to increase the height of the sides and heels so they don’t feel like they’re falling off my feet, and used double strand of yarn for the entire shoe to make it feel a bit sturdier. They were very comfortable when I walked around with them at home.

The other day I took them out for a test run and wore them to work.

After walking on them for a while the texture of the cotton insoles started to bother my feet. It was quite lumpy, and there was a knot in the jute sole that I didn’t hide and flatten very well, and at the end of the day it was digging into my foot and became a bit painful… (man I sound like the princess in princess and the pea…) and the lack of arch support was a problem as well. So when I got home I put in a pair of foam insoles and tried them on again, they felt much better. I’ll take them out again another day. It would be so nice if I could just make my own shoes from now on and do away shoe shopping forever!

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

I have such oddly shaped feet, it’s quite difficult to buy shoes that are comfortable. Shoe-shopping is always a time-consuming ordeal. So I thought, maybe I’d crochet my own shoes! That way I could make them custom fit and comfortable!

I have no idea how to make shoes, but I thought for sure there’d be patterns on Etsy, so I looked, and came across a pattern by Wildflower and Sage. I love that it includes instruction for making the shoes outdoors ready. There actually aren’t very many like this one out there.

Was very excited, went out and bought all the materials right after I downloaded the pattern :D I couldn’t find hemp (which is what the pattern called for) at the local Michaels and Home Depot, so I bought #48 jute, and started on the soles…

Jute is actually kind of hard to crochet with, and I had to use a larger hook than called for. No wonder the pattern called for hemp. Oh well. I just took lots of breaks in between so my wrists don’t get too sore.

So finally I finished making the two soles. If I make them again I probably will follow the pattern for regular width rather than instruction for wide, since I had to use a larger hook. I think wide was too wide. But it’s still ok! There I am waterproofing the soles by lathering them in silicon caulk. The fume was stronger than I thought. Ventilation is imperative.

Slowly working on the straps, trying them on as I go so the strap placements feel right :D I made the insoles with Bernat Maker Home Decor, which feels kind of like a t-shirt yarn.

And here they’re, finished :D

They’re actually really quite comfortable! I think I made the straps on the right shoe too tight though, they keep pushing my foot forward out of the sandals. But maybe as I keep wearing them and the straps stretch the problem will correct itself.

Side view…

I’m quite happy with them! Will find an opportunity to test them out outside sometimes!

It’s really an excellent pattern, highly recommend it! :D

Hope everyone have a happy rest of the week!