Monday, February 22, 2010

Rose gets slippers

I have knit a couple pair of felted slippers for Brian. I knit three more pair before I got one to come out right for Joe.  (luckily one of those pair fit me, so I got some too) And now finally I finished some felt slippers for Rose.  She didn't want the clogs that I have been making so I had to search for a more stylish pattern. I found one at French Press Knits that are just like the flats she wears to school every day. Rose picked out some hot pink yarn for her slippers.  They are knit in sections, two soles, four uppers and two flaps. The soles and uppers are sewn together before they are felted except for the flaps.  They are felted separately and sewn on later with the buttons. Here are the prefelted slippers. It never ceases to amaze me that these huge ugly pieces of knitting turn into something adorable after being felted!

I have had good luck felting in my front loading washing machine, set for a hot wash with no spin.  I throw in a pair of old sneakers for a little wool abuse, then squeeze out the excess water with a rolled up towel. Then I let them dry overnight on the stove (off, of course!). Our old gas stove has pilots that put out a fair amount of heat for drying dishes and felting projects.
 

That blue thing in the back is a small envelope purse I made for an evening bag. I want to decorate it with needle felting and beads as soon as I can get around to it. More photos of that when I get to it.
I went through my old button jar with Rose and we picked out some cute leather buttons. Voila! Here are her happy feet in nice warm slippers.

 
Next a pair for Pat. I may have to make them look like Birkenstocks to get him to wear them!