I've recently made several pair of these slippers (all of which gratefully received) in various colour combinations and sizes. The above were made for two of my neices, who are ages 5 & 9, in their respective favorite colours, which was somewhat 'painful' to look at while creating, but if you don't respect their current favorite colours, they won't wear them.
I used Paton's Classic Merino yarn for both slippers, and then used up some novelty yarn I had in my stash. The purple one is 'Boa' in Parrot, and the lime one was 'Funky Fur'. The pattern calls for a double strand of yarn to be used throughout, on size 8mm needles. The only thing I did differently (from the pattern instructions), was to replace one of the merino strands with novelty yarn when knitting the cuff.
BTW, I won't be making these for awhile, as a combination of the big needles and all the 'make 1' and 'pick up' stitches require a lot of wrist twisting which became quite painful after the 5th pair!
Then it was into a lingerie bag, before dropping them into the washing machine (in hot water!) to felt them. BTW, if you're going to felt anything in your washer, make sure you place the item securely in either a pillow case, or lingerie bag first, to avoid mechanical failure later, when all the yarn fluff collects in your motor! Also, my husband and I have been considering replacing our washer with one of the new front loading ones, but I've heard tell that you can't felt effectively in the new ones ... anyone care to comment??
My dad is currently over visiting his homeland (Scotland) where his mum (98) was in hospital. He got there on Friday, and she passed away, very peacefully, last night. There didn't seem to be anything specifically wrong, but I think her body was simply 'done'. I'm glad dad had a chance to be with her before she went ... apparently she was very lucid & aware. The family was with her the whole time, which was lovely. It definitely changes the dynamic now, with the family 'matriarch' gone. I image it will be (in one sense) a relief for my aunt (77) who has been predominantly responsible for her care, but it will be very strange to walk down the street where, at one end, my cousin lives; then my aunt lives in the middle; and granny lived just a few houses down and realize that everything has changed ... I suppose change is unavoidable, but this one seems huge ...
Longevity definitely runs in the women on both sides of my family. My mom's mom died 2 years ago at almost 98 ... there's that number again!
On another note, it's snowing HUGE, fluffy flakes here at the moment ... one day we're out in light jackets, admiring all the spring flowers that have bloomed, and the next day, we get this??? Go figure ...
I'm off to get my hair cut/coloured/etc. and should return a 'new woman' ... ?!
2 comments:
Re: fulling in your front-loading washer
It's true -- we switched to a front-loader from a top-loader and I had to re-learn how to full in the washing maching. The trick is: do the fulling in the dryer.
I put my Fibre Trends slippers through the washer and dryer with my regular laundry. I find that more fulling takes place in the dryer, but the washer part is necessary to get the wool scales to open. It takes about three trips to get the fulling really going. Four or five for a really thorough job.
Front-load washers are great and the gentle way they handle clothes means that they won't wear so quickly. But it also means there isn't enough action to full wool. (For my sweaters, that's great. But not so much when you *want* to full.)
so where do i find the pattern? am i missing something
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