Bright Slippers

My beloved felted slippers have started to show wear and tear, so I decided that I needed to replace them. As I loved the pattern used for my last slippers - Chilko by Chrissie Day from an old Let's Knit magazine, I decided to stick with it. I may just have to laminate my copy as I know I will probably be using it every year to replace my old slippers.

Felted slippers really are wonderful. They are warm, but your feet don't overheat or get too sweaty. The real bonus is that they don't get stinky the way man made fibres do, and if they do, you just lob them in the washing machine. If you have never had knitted, crocheted or felted slippers may I recommend you give them a go at some point. You won't be disappointed.

To ring the changes a little I changed my colour scheme and yarn brand. Everything else remained the same. I used Katia Trico-Fieltro in two different colours, pink and turquoise.

When the knitting part was done, I ended up with huge slippers, as I usually do. I didn't worry, as I knew they would shrink in felting. However the felting didn't make them quite as small as the previous slippers I used. I think if I was to use this yarn again I would drop down a needle size. However, though the slippers are not snug, they are not boat like and they remain on my feet when I walk. I can't really ask for anything more.

I love the contrast between the two colours on the toes.

You may notice the two thin lines embedded in the felt, on the side of the slippers. This was caused by elastic bands. I decided to be clever and use them to hold the slippers in my desired shape, around the stuffing of plastic bags, as they dried. They worked brilliantly, but did leave a mark. I would use them again but would place something underneath the elastic bands to stop them scoring lines in my lovely slippers.

Aside from these two issues, the slippers are great, as always. The yarn is thicker than I have used previously, so these slippers are slightly more padded and comfortable, which is a real plus. The colour of the yarn I used is so glorious, that I can't help but smile at my feet.

I used around 3.5 balls of yarn, a full ball of turquoise on each slipper and as soon as the decreases started I switched to the pink yarn. I will definitely be using this yarn again for felting projects as I is quite reasonably priced and the colours are great. I fear I may have caught the felting bug again!