Last week I shared with you how mommy brain took over and I completely flubbed up a slipper. Well, I got to work and knitted two more this week.
These slippers, called Trim Clogs, are a double thick slipper. They are meant to be felted and put together. Just to give you an idea, here's what they look like together before felting:
I'm working on my photography skills - the light is slightly off in this picture. But, you can see how ginormous the slippers are before felting. This was my first felting project!
You've probably already felted something and you might not realize it! That perfectly comfortable wool sweater that accidentally got thrown in the washer and then the dryer...and came out looking like it would fit your 5 year old? That's felting! Felting changes the structure of the wool fibers through heat and friction. It is an irreversible change (see that - getting slightly scientific on you!). I like it because it hides any not-so-nice stitches in your knitting. Like my gussets. I stink at gussets. I hope to master them so that I can start knitting socks that look a little better.
Anywho, back to the slippers and felting. I did one slipper at a time. I really should have read the instructions in the book first, but there were pictures. And so I thought I could do it without reading. You know, kind of like a husband might. It took a while for my first slipper to felt because I started out with cold water. D'oh! Initially you are *supposed* to put your work in hot water and let it cool down. My second time around went faster. Felting is just like kneading bread dough. But in this case, you end up with nice warm wool slippers that you can't eat :-)
I used a bowl on my kitchen island. This way I could work the slippers and still watch my kidlets play. Have I ever mentioned I love our open floor plan? Because I do!
The transformation is actually pretty cool. You go from a nice, loosely knitted slipper to a thick slipper with no visible stitches.
I put some crumbled up newspaper in the slipper after fitting it to my foot. This will help it hold its shape while it dries. The second slipper felted much quicker since I started with hot water. I've been saying lately that I need to get back to exercising and I think I can check that off the list today!
They're both drying on top of our woodstove now. I'm anxious to wake up in the morning and slip them on! I'll probably add some anti slip something or other on the bottom. They were a lot of fun and I think I'm going to try more felting projects in the future. Next up will be slippers for Dan and then on to starting my Christmas knitting.
Be sure to check back tomorrow - I'm going to share how we helped Rex Roo with his vitamin deficiency!
Sharing over at The Homesteading Hippy for the weekly blog hop!
No comments:
Post a Comment