Cute or Butt-Ugly?

In a fit of pique [overused cliche]   (fill in blank) Try again.

Do-over:

I don't know what got into me, but I decided I'd make a pair of Fuzzy Feet for our family Yankee Swap to be held Sunday the 26th.  I thought I'd be very clever and thrifty and use my leftovers.  You can see some of Abigail's Rogue in there, some of a periwinkle Party Purse I made earlier in the year, some of my very first adult sweater (the dark teal -- it may look like navy blue or black to you, but it's dark teal).  All very sentimental, but does it all look like crap together?  Because sentimental, if it's just crap, is only craptimental. 

I still have time, and plenty of yarn left, to make a solid periwinkle pair, or solid hunter green, solid royal blue, solid teal, or also any one of those colours accented with a little bit of the other, or accented with Rogue pink, or accented with black.  I have all those colours of feltable yarn readily at hand.   

Before I go to the trouble of making the second slipper and felting the pair:

What say you?  Will these be the gift in the exchange that everyone fights over, or the one everyone futilely hopes that someone else steals?  Please be honest.  I am hard-candy-shelled.  I just don't seem to have any perspective on this. 

(P.S.  Abigail looked at this one kind of funny.) 

(P.P.S.  The people at the exchange will be my mother, my two sisters, and my sister-in-law.  That is, the female people.  I thought I'd put a pink ribbon on the package and tell everyone that this gift is most suitable for one of the women present.  I have two other gifts that are gender-neutral.)

Comments

[Stasia]

I dare not comment on the Fuzzy Feet. But I *would* like to see them felted - just go for it! But... how COOL that Martin The Author wrote that note on your Blog! And I loved your musings on Wales - having been there, amongst the cows, I completely appreciate your experience! It is a gorgeous place, isn't it? Have a lovely weekend.

[Cassie]

I'm not a stripey kind of person. But I would suggest finishing the pair and felting them before making any rash decisions.

Being kind, understanding, and very forgiving, I would of course accept any type of hand-knitted gift from you. You've got at least 24 hours.

[erin]

I agree you should go ahead and felt them. They may take on an entirely different personality post washing. I once made a felted purse from scraps that turned out beautiful. Although while knitting it, I got a "Oh, Hon, what are you doing??", From the hubby.

[Celia]

Since you've already done the work on the one I say go for it with the second. Felting is going to make these Fuzzy Feet. There's a world of difference before and after. Someboty's going to have very happy (and warm) feet after Christmas.

[Debi]

I think it's cute...socks and slippers should be funky and loud!

[Sibylle]

Hmm so I am the only one who would say do it again? I dont like the periwinkle with the salamon pink. BUT if you have only a little time left and because I dont know how felting will change the expression, dont hear to my words :)Happy Holliday

[Jackie]

Felt them! I think they are going to be great fun - after they're all fuzzy, they'll look like happy and playful slippers! (Can slippers be happy and playful??)

[vicky]

Gee, Norma, I like the creative stripes:) Very Fun!

[sandy]

DO IT! I think that stripes are great and will be greater when felted! So there. :)
No time to waste with experimental slippers!
xoox

[Diana]

"Craptimental"?!!?!!? wa ha ha - 'tis the best new word of the season! I say the slippers look fine and fun and don't sweat it too much.

[gale]

Keep 'em. Stripey is way better than solid for felted slippers and funky colors are perfect for a Yankee Swap. I like those colors together. Can I use craptimental? Would that cover the adult sized hideous plastic animated singing santa man at the entrance to the supermarket?

[Stephanie VW]

uh, Norma, as a long time reader and a veteran of 8.5 pairs of Christmas Fuzzy feet (just this season!), I've pretty much lost all contact with reality and I'm not sure my judgement is entirely sound... but I think those are probably the strangest looking pair of FFF I've seen(yes, there's an extra F - if you remember the 8.5 pairs then I'm sure you'll know what the extra F is for). I can't decide if they are beautiful in that quirky, artsy-fartsy kind of way that only slippers can pull off, or if they will be remembered for years to come as "The slippers that Norma made for the Yankee swap the year before the knitting drove her mad." Keep going - make 'em and felt 'em.

(sorry to be so cheeky in what may be my first comment on your blog - the FFF are driving me mad. I'm finishing pair #9. They're black with lime green stripes. And I'm proud to say they're UGLY as Heck.)

[claudia]

They are *OK*. Not horrid. Not great.

Of course, IMHO.

[juno]

In the gentlest way possible I would say that the stripes lack...um...a certain sense of harmony and that a solid color pair with some simple accenting in a second color might provide you with a greater sense of artistic satisfaction.

There's funky, and then there's funky, you know?

[juno]

Oh, and the only time I've ever found myself in the middle of an unexpected herd of cows was indeed while taking a "walk" (read: 12 mile hike) in North Wales, while visiting a friend in Chester right on the Welsh border.
Do you suppose it is just something they do for the tourists?

That's a good memory - thank you for reminding me.

[margene]

This is supposed to be fun, right? Give everyone a laugh, right? Of course you do that regardless...but who cares what's on the feet if they are warm?!
Have a very Merry Christmas, Norma.

[Vicki]

I've never made FF, nor have I ever felted anything, but I've seen plenty of before and after pics and agree that there is a world of difference between before and after. They're slippers! They're fun! Go for it!

[Kate]

I'd have to see it felted first, the colors might blend well together. I agree with Vicki though, slippers are meant to be fun so just go for it. Oh and if no one likes them at the swap there are many of us who would fight over them I'm sure!

[alison]

Craptimental! HAHAHAHAHA! My kids could not be convinced to make gifts for their grandparents this year, saying 'homemade gifts aren't sweet, they're just more crap to collect dust'. The conversation devolved into 'crap that collects crap'. They won, we bought calendars.

[Stephanie]

I can't tell if they are ugly. (The fact that I can't tell may be a bad sign.) That said, I can't tell if they are cute as bees knees either.

What the hell is a "Yankee Swap"?

[Lisa in Oregon]

I think they might felt down into a pretty slipper. Just do it Norma, and see. It's the only way. ;)

[cari]

Just here to echo everyone else... because you really can't be sure until it's felted.

[Lene]

I'll vote for both, just to be difficult. As apparently felting changes things (what do I know - I've never felted anything), try that out and see what happens.

Gotta admit, though, for my taste, I hope they change significantly. As they are, they're so funky they... er... um... sorta transcend funky and goes into the other place.

[Michelene]

I saw a pair of slipper socks with those colors(more or less) at Wal-Mart. That alone would make me do them over. Do tell, where can I get the pattern for FF? We just replaced our dead carpet with laminate flooring, and I have 12 cold feet to cover.

[Michelene]

Damn, that was stupid. I guess that Fuzzy Feet in big red letters, wasn't clue enough for me. Teaches me not to try and read with my old glasses instead of my contacts.
Will you forgive my stupidity, if I give you a new word,
for useless objects that accumulate around your house, collecting in wads like dryer lint?
Shitzle.

[PJ]

My first thought was, "Er" then I didn't really know what to think! Then I looked closer and I thought..."Those would be fun socks to wear on a Sunday or somethinaround the house when you are just hanging out..." really no like or dislike, so I have to agree with many comments- Go For IT!!

[Jean]

I say felt them and see. Felting really changes the look. Teal and pink are great together so are purple and pink. I think the three of them should at least try to get along together!! Goat any of that lazer fx you could add in around the cuff?? p.s. I googled vanilla just to see, and there it was, right on the first page. then I googled one of your permutations on the "f" word. couldn't find you that way. maybe I spelled it wrong!! must try again.

[Ali]

I'd say make the other one, but DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES make them match. Make them as unmatched as possible, felt them to oblivion, put something fluffy round the cuff, and take them to the gift swap.

[Christina R.]

I agree with Ali. Plus, I like 'em.

[Susan]

I say go for it. They will look less weird after they are felted. While I was making my Market Squares bag I kept thinking how hideous it was... made out of odd ball wool. After it was felted it kind of made sense color-wise. I would make them matching though. If you want to go for cute or craptrastic, then they have to be mismatched.

[erin]

Just wondering how long you and yours have been doing a "Yankee Swap". I must say, I'm intrigued.

[Susan]

Here's my two cents.
Make another pair if you have time. Then, finish this pair and keep them for yourself. They'll be sentimental to you, even if they'd be craptimental to someone else.

[Elizabeth]

Start number two. You will like them felted. I love a Yankee Swap.(Although of course we don't call them that up here)
Have a great Holiday Norma!

[Dawn]

They're not bad.... but. I think they would look better if they were all pink or all purple, or pink with purple heel/toe or vice versa. The third color/stripes just aren't doing much for me.

[Lisa]

That salmon colour really is so beautiful it should stand alone, that being skilfully said, does the "Yankee Swap" mean I get your American husband and you get my Canadian one? Just jokin;) Isn't that when you can put the gift back in the kiddy and choose another?

[Adelaide]

Gee, Norma, they have a certain charm. I think a lot of your readers are being too hard on you. Who knows what the other gifts in the swap are going to be. You might have a real winner here.

[Alison A.]

I confess that I don't like the salmon with the periwinkle and navy. Or maybe it's the shade of navy/teal/black) against the salmon that isn't quite right. I hate to critique a handmade gift from the legendary Norma, but there you have it -- the colours are off (in my humble opinion).

[Kathleen]

I'd felt them anyway but I think, when felting, narrow stripes get lost.

[Gina W]

You need to go for it. They look fun and funky and they sort of reflect your personality - Bright with unexpected streaks of dark that make you laugh. If they work, will that change them from craptimental to f*cktastic? (To use the Norma vernacular)

Merry Christmas!

[travelita]

Pop some coal into it and give it to someone naughty for Christmas...

[julia fc]

Out of my deep regard and esteem for you, Norma--in a word: yuck. I don't like the salmon with the other colours, And I would doubt that they would all felt harmoniously together, being different yarns and all. But it's worth a try if YOU like them. But honestly, I think their best feature is that you made them. Other than that, yuck. Personally, I'd make green slippers with the periwinkle toes and heels.
Waiting for the flying monkeys to exact their revenge. . .
(my email's dead, BTW)