Well, my old slippers finally wore out. I suppose I could mend them, but I've been wanting to knit myself a pair of those felted clog slippers for awhile and this is the perfect excuse.
I dug around in my stash, and found this yarn dyed with last year's natural dye experiments. At that time I was dyeing whatever fiber I could get my hands on; unraveling sweaters, buying inexpensive balls of Lion Brand wool or Paton's.
I figured I'd take a chance and knit up the slippers with some of this yarn and hope they felted well. (Lazy me, didn't want to take the time to do a test run).
Since the pattern calls for holding the yarn double, I chose to hold two differently colored strands together. I love the heathered effect; the colors seem richer and more interesting to me, blended this way.
The colors I chose were dyed with indigo, hops, Oregon grape root, hemlock bark, logwood, and the red was dyed with koolaid.
I used the classic Fibertrends Felted Clogs pattern.
This is an interesting pattern to knit; never a dull moment; completely trusting the designer to deliver me through this series of mysterious stitches to a completed slipper.
Then trusting that it will shrink to fit!
Wah-La!
I love them so much, I could barely bare to remove them for this photo-shoot.
Of course, one turned out slightly larger than the other. I think that I knit the 2nd one rather tighter than the first.
I can tell that even though they are double knit on the soles, they'll wear through fairly soon, so I want to sew on a sturdy piece of felted blanket to the bottom, and add a soft piece of felt to the inside. So far I haven't been able to take them off long enough to do so; I hope I don't wear them through before I get around to it!
I've read that some folks paint the bottoms with a rubbery substance to make them slip-proof or even moisture resistant for quick trips outside. I may just have to make another pair to try that out. Hmmmm...hey Rick, need a new pair of slippers?
I figured I'd take a chance and knit up the slippers with some of this yarn and hope they felted well. (Lazy me, didn't want to take the time to do a test run).
Since the pattern calls for holding the yarn double, I chose to hold two differently colored strands together. I love the heathered effect; the colors seem richer and more interesting to me, blended this way.
The colors I chose were dyed with indigo, hops, Oregon grape root, hemlock bark, logwood, and the red was dyed with koolaid.
I used the classic Fibertrends Felted Clogs pattern.
This is an interesting pattern to knit; never a dull moment; completely trusting the designer to deliver me through this series of mysterious stitches to a completed slipper.
Then trusting that it will shrink to fit!
Wah-La!
I love them so much, I could barely bare to remove them for this photo-shoot.
Of course, one turned out slightly larger than the other. I think that I knit the 2nd one rather tighter than the first.
I can tell that even though they are double knit on the soles, they'll wear through fairly soon, so I want to sew on a sturdy piece of felted blanket to the bottom, and add a soft piece of felt to the inside. So far I haven't been able to take them off long enough to do so; I hope I don't wear them through before I get around to it!
I've read that some folks paint the bottoms with a rubbery substance to make them slip-proof or even moisture resistant for quick trips outside. I may just have to make another pair to try that out. Hmmmm...hey Rick, need a new pair of slippers?
they do look nice and cosy! you could always sew a piece of suede to the bottom? the rough side down would prevent you from slipping on tiles etc. as well?
ReplyDeleteThese look so fab, I'd love a pair. I'm a bit of a slipper freak :)
ReplyDeleteKim x