The Slipper Fits

Mom’s slippers are finally done.  Felted and fitted.  This was a late Mother’s Day gift.  As I’ve mentioned before, pretty much none of my handmade gifts are done on time!  Someday I will get into the habit of giving the surprise on time.

Anyway, I loved the way this yarn felts up.  The felted Berroco Ultra Alpaca feels really soft and silky on your skin.  And one thing I love, out of the nine pairs of felted slippers I’ve made, the double sole is totally necessary.  It feels so soft and cushy under your feet, and adds life to your slippers.

I love felting.  I love plopping the thing into the hot wash, even the smell of the wet wool (that’s probably something only a knitter would understand), and watching the handknit shrink up and take shape.  It’s really a lot of fun to pull out your new wearable item or accessory, let it dry, and start wearing it.  Whatever it is, it’s going to be sturdy and warm.

The process…

Pre-felting, size xxxl.  Then into the hot, hot wash they go…

Sometimes I set them in a pillowcase to felt halfway down, so the fresh knits don’t get too mangled in the agitating wash…

After a little bit inside the protection of the pillowcase, I take them out to go free in the agitation.  After a few periodic progress checks for size, they’re removed and the water is gently pressed out…

Done!  We were both loving the terra-cotta color, and the heathered flecks of purply-blues that really came out after felting.  Now I think this pair should last her a while with the double sole.  Enjoy, ma!  🙂

::On Ravelry::  Mom’s Slippers

Mom’s Felted Slippers, Take Two

Finally.  Finished knitting these Ballet Slippers for mom.  Now I can go on to felting them!  This will be her second pair of handknit, felted slippers, made by yours truly.  The first pair were made for her a few years ago as a Christmas gift, and she’s already worn through (go mom!).  She wears them a lot, loves them.  I didn’t knit a double sole on the first pair, this pair has definitely got a second/outer sole.  Built to last.

I was on a roll with this project and knitting them up fairly quickly, until I got to making the outer soles and knitting them on to the inner sole.  Then I just lost motivation and they got left waiting for me to just focus and finish.

The progress and final product..  You could fit a newborn baby inside each slipper, they are big.

Knitting outer sole to inner sole, via three-needle-join

Giant slippers, ready to be felted to fit!

::Pattern:: Felted Ballet Slippers, from Felted Knits, by Beverly Galeskas

::Yarn::  Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Flannery Red

Felted Oven Mitts for Aunt Connie

I recently made some felted oven mitts for my aunt, and gave them as a late Christmas/ early Birthday gift.  At Christmas time I always have great intentions and ideas of gifts I’m going to make for everyone, and they’re usually late or just get put off for the next year.  So I like to just give gifts at random times, better late than never right?

I knitted and felted the mitts, so they’re knitted extra big, then put in the hot wash machine to felt.  The felting is the really fun part, I love dropping the wooly knits in there and watching them shrink to size and take on their new shape.

These knit up really big, and are a super easy and quick project.  I chose some nice blue and yellow colors to go in my aunt’s french-country style kitchen, in Lamb’s Pride Bulky-weight.  I’m kicking myself for not getting a picture of the fun felting process, but I’ll be sure to get that part next time.  Well this is what they looked like after their hot bubble bath!

They ended up pretty furry.  I’ve knitted and felted with this yarn a lot, but was not remembering how hairy the felted knits end up, due to the 15% mohair.  My next oven mitts will be made with all wool, no mohair.  No one wants oven mitt fuzzies in their food, right?  So I took my husband’s electric shaver to them and gave them a hair cut..

Much better, all clean cut and ready for their appearance in the kitchen with Connie.

About a year ago, my Aunt Kathy made a pair of these for me as part of my bridal shower gift.  I absolutely LOVE them, and use them all the time!!  I love the colors and just how useful they are.

And if you get them a little dirty during use, they can easily be dropped in to some lukewarm water with a drop of dish soap, then rinsed, laid on a towel to dry, and you have perfectly new oven mitts again.

If you knit and are looking for a super easy and quick project, that you can use all year long no matter the weather or the season, I highly recommend making these!  So fun 🙂

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::On Ravelry:: Oven Mitts

::Pattern:: Felted Knits by Bev Galeskas

::Yarn::  Lamb’s Pride Bulky