Hi everyone!
Ok, is it me or is May flying by? Wait, no… I don’t want to talk about that. I’m pretty sure I start 90% of my posts lamenting how fast time is flying and that’s just ick. I don’t want to be that person. I don’t want to always be complaining about how fast everything is going by and not taking the time to enjoy what’s in front of me.

Nope, today I’m going to talk about how well I’m doing at the moment. Ok, so I know I’ve talked about how the hubs & I are getting ready to move soon and how daunting that whole thing is, it seems like it’s occupying 70% of my waking hours, just always thinking about it. Well, last week we took a trip to New York to visit family and get away from the pressures of moving. It was wonderful to just unplug and zone out for a couple days. Since January I’ve been absolutely awful at relaxing. When I do take a minute for me, I feel guilty that there’s something I could be doing (packing, cleaning, organizing, etc). I don’t even find as much relaxing in crochet like I used to, it’s about getting my next design out and trying to make something that people will like as much as they liked “insert a popular design” and it’s becoming exhausting. I’m thinking about cutting back my publishing on my blog and maybe making only 2 posts a month (and one or two Patreon exclusive posts). I’m not sure any of that will help and maybe when we get moved and settled I’ll feel differently, I just don’t know though. How do you deal with relaxing or work/live balance?

Wow, that didn’t end with me talking about how well I’m doing. Awkward… despite feeling stressed, I’m ok though. I’m thankful for that.

Also, in a today exclusive, I can’t seem to get Google Docs to export my pdfs correctly so I’m very behind on publishing everything because images aren’t showing up and I feel like ripping my hair out. *sighs*

So, this week’s new design is for another barefoot sandals pattern. I didn’t realize until I was designing these and showing them off on social media how divided people were on barefoot sandals. I see them as just fun, they’re not serious and they don’t need to be serious. You can make a pair for yourself or give them to your friends who walk around without shoes a lot, or like to go to the beach, or whatever the reason – they don’t need to be like hats or bags, with purely utilitarian uses. Sometimes fun things are fun, ya know? And I hope you’re like me and you love the bright flowers in the center of these 🙂

To help me to create patterns week after week, please consider purchasing an ad-free pdf of this pattern in my Ravelry shop.

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Sunflower Barefoot Sandals Pattern Instructions

-Body-

Row 1: A: Create a magic circle, ch 1, sc 6 times into the circle, slip st into the first st – 6 scs

Row 2: A: Ch 1, sc twice into the same st as join, *sc twice into the next st,* repeat from * to * 4 more times, slip st into the first st – 12 scs

Row 3: A: Ch 1 sc into the same st as join, sc twice into the next st, *sc into the next st, sc twice into the next st,* repeat from * to * 4 more times, slip st into the first st – 18 scs
Fasten off color A.

Row 4: B: Ch 1, sc twice into the same st as join, sc once into the next 2 sts, *sc twice into the next st, sc into the next 2 sts,* repeat from * to * 4 more times, slip st into the first st – 24 scs

(rows 5 and 6 are the petals)
Row 5: B: Ch 15, skip the same st as join and the next 2 sts, slip st into the next st, *ch 15, skip the next 2 sts, slip st into the next st,* repeat from * to * 6 more times, slip st into the same st as join – 8 ch-15 spaces

Row 6: B: Ch 1, sc 25 times into the ch-15 space, *skip to the next ch-15 space and sc 25 times into it,* repeat from * to * 6 more times, slip st into the first sc – 200 scs
Fasten off color B. Weave in all your ends to this point.

Row 7: C: Create a slipknot on your hook and skip 11 sts from where you began row 6, sc into the next 3 sts, ch 10, skip the next 11 scs on that petal and the first 11 sts on the next petal, *sc into the next 3 sts, ch 10, skip the next 11 scs on that petal and the first 11 sts on the next petal,* repeat from * to * 6  more times, slip st into the first st – 24 scs, 8 ch-10 spaces

Row 8: C: Ch 1, sc into the same st as join and into the next 2 sts, sc into the next ch, ch 12, skip the next 8 sts, sc into the next ch, *sc into the next 3 sts, sc into the next ch, ch 12, skip the next 8 sts, sc into the next ch,* repeat from * to * twice more, sc into the next st, ch 20 (this is the toe loop, so make it longer if you want), skip the next 2 sts, sc into the next st, sc into the next ch, *ch 12, skip the next 8 sts, sc into the next ch, sc into the next 3 sts, sc into the next ch,* repeat from * to * twice more, ch 12, skip the next 8 sts, sc into the next ch, slip st into the first st – 39 scs, 7 ch-8 spaces, 1 ch-20 space

From here, you can block the petals while laying them flat on a mat and wet them down, but this is totally optional.

– Straps –
With color C, ch 80, sc into a 5 sc section 2 5 sc sections from the toe, ch 78, sc into the last 2 scs of your first ch 80. Fasten off. Do the same ch 80, sc into 5 sts, ch 78, 2 scs on the other side of the toe.

Tada! Here you go! Another fun and cute barefoot sandals design. I really hope you like them! <3 See ya next week.