Mary Janes and Skates Shoes; Old and New

Everyone is having a sale, and I have been suffering from shoe fever. I sold my Mary Janes size 5 above, because they were too big and I was kidding myself. I then saw some MJs DMs on eBay, put in a bid and lost. But got these 2 pairs, one navy and one green and navy. I am keeping the navy ones.

So next time some came up in my size, I put in bids for about 3 pairs and won 2! One pair was too tight, and the other was perfect.
This means I am selling the ones that are too tight, a UK4 Euro 37 on eBay.
Shame because I love this colour. A navy and green mix. They were a lot more expensive than the plain navy ones as well, perhaps because of the unusual colours.



So the ones I am keeping only cost me £6.99 and they are about £60 brand new. These were reduced supposedly because the uppers were marked, but I couldn't see a mark on them
I love them with the blue spotty socks, and they feel great with my hand knitted TOFUtsie socks, Sweet Socks For Sugar Free Feet.

Note the very swollen chubby leg, and you will see a very fine rib going down the side of each gusset of the sock and continues on the foot. This is styled like a sports sock and so is very forgiving. The cuff is loose too, for a chubby leg. The pattern is free and can be downloaded from here
I have also yearned to have some comfy sandals for a few years now, and had my eye on DM sandals that would look OK with jeans. I am very much a flip flop person, but since getting the greyhounds find them dangerous if I need to move fast on my feet. So I have been looking for the DM sandals called Dune, or fisherman sandals. And shockingly they are about £60 new! I realise that with sandals, to cut them out and stitch them can sometimes be more work than a shoe but you do feel like you are buying the 'air' between the straps too. I have just won on eBay today, a pair of Dunes in deep red for £25....a bargain! The sellers pic looks like this, which is correct for the style, but this was also described as peanut brown on another item, so I am assuming that they would be more like the red ones below. I can paint my toe nails, and feel a little bit feminine whilst clumping around on cushioned soled. I couldn't resist either, putting a bid on this shoe too. It is normally around £48.50 and comes in denim, tan or red and is called Stephanie with ankle strap and toe post.

A sandal with a 'thong' so a flip flop that is strapped to your ankle, very pretty but will have to see if it fits me. I am a bit chubby at the moment and ankles might not want attention drawn to them.



If not, I can always sell on eBay again and as long as I get what I paid, I am OK with that. Or I can get a refund.

So that covers the sandals options, I want one pair of Mary-Janes to be able to show off home made socks and to wear on hot days and cool. And I need one pair of every day sandals, and if I treat myself one pair of 'posh' sandals or very hot weather sandals.

I have also gone a little bit mad with other footwear too and I currently own a pair of skate shoes called Phun House by Eckored, which I had to buy firstly in a sale but mainly because of the Dia de los muertos theme painted on the side. They glitter and have lots of little details with little rhinestones....very ghetto fabulous and not my normal sort of wear but it has skulls....therefore it is MINE.

In addition to this, I am also battling to get some 1/3 price skates shoes by Zoo York. I love them, they have little skull and crossbones jewellery as well as the printed skulls design. But, my size seemed a little on the tight side so I double checked the sizing.



Sadly, the people selling these have put UK4 stickers on the trainers and box, but when I felt they were a bit tight I rechecked the manufacturers label, underneath the sticker and they were really a size 3, I returned them, got a replacement, and that too was a size 3 with a UK4 sticker over the top...mmm not good. Now it means, if I want a 'real size 4 I have to order a size 5, and guess what? Size 5 is not in the sale. I battled with the company who by the way charge for replacements BEFORE refunds are given, and they are going to try and promise to match the price if I have a size 4 with a size 5 sticker on. They did try to tell me these were a size 4, and that size 3 labels were incorrect but they can't fool a sock knitter when it comes to shoe and foot length, I know that I am about a size 3 but need 4 to allow for swelling and if 4 does not fit, it is not a 4....but I also measured them and they are indeed about 5cm too short.

I love skate shoes, I fell in love with them when once in a rush to go to the hairdressers I couldn't find my shoes so slipped on my friend's son's shoes, and they were like giant cushioned slippers....and made my feet look less like trotters. So I love the style and have an old pair of Vans, as below, but they're a little boring to look at so like all the graffiti style artwork on other brands.



I also have my all time favourite 'sneakers', my Adidas green ones. I got these back in 1997 when I was still clubbing and raving and they took a while to break in, but are brilliantly comfy and very retro. I like some of the new Adidas trainers but they aren't as acid coloured as these once were. I must try and revive these, they are suede so there should be some dye to paint on.

Then I have my Dunlops. For when my arms and hands cannot do buckles and laces, and I don't have a carer around to help out. They are based on the green flash retro but are brown and pink and have Velcro straps.


For walking the dogs, and general kicking around I also have my Merrell walking trainers, called chameleons. This is my 2nd pair of Merrells, the first pair in Nubuck were wonderful and these replaced them but are not as good. They fit OK, and are comfy, but if walking in wet grass the fabric does let moisture through. So I have a pair of hi-top walking boots from Merrell which I only just got broken in this year after 4 rs of ownership.

New Photos & New skills

Raid Zero, which is Stevie's little bit of Erssie Knits and more, has been updating its tools, and learning new skills. Just after a couple of hours reading up though, the pictures are already amazing. Not knitting related I know, but what a difference! The colours are just amazing and the depth of the photos makes me want to step in.

I can't convey this to you as obviously the files are huge but I can show you just a little bit of what the right camera, lenses and filters can do in the hands of someone willing to learn all the tech stuff (and that is not me!) but remember these are greatly compressed and totally unedited.



Here is a pic of the moon, it was so amazing on the big file we could zoom in and see the actual craters and surface of the moon...how wierd!

Then there is the lovely pics of my hounds on their new cushions, on the big versions I can see every hair and the sheen on the dogs coats.



And lastly a flower, just an overblown rose in our garden but the colour repro on that is spot on.



Can't wait to see what sort of pics we can get for the knitting. Although I am not looking forward to seeing every stitch close up!
After Steve has mastered the camera bit, we have just got to try and learn exactly how it all translates to print. I still haven't learned how to do layouts, perhaps a college course is overdue as I need a kick up the backside to do it really. Being ill a lot of the time, means it is really difficult to get out the house to go to things like courses but if it was local and I had transport, then perhaps I can at least try to get there but maybe not every single week.