I did it! I finished the slippers in record time. And sewed on the soles. And made pom poms.
Seamless slippers in autumn
Seamless slippers in autumn with soles
Seamless slippers in autumn side
I used dark green heather Lionbrand Wooleze and some variegated acrylic yarn from a sweater that didn’t fit right. I love the muted colors. I hope my friend does, too.
You can also see the “tree” fabric on my chairs. The flash washed out the intensity a bit on the seat.
I grew up in a family where people made things. They recycled things before it became fashionable. My parents and grandparents lived through the Depression in the 1930’s. They had a vegetable garden and canned those veggies for the winter. We had quilts made from scraps of fabric used for our clothes. Braided rugs made from old wool coats, suits and skirts. I have two of those braided rugs in my home today. When I look at them, I see pieces of skirts and dresses I used to wear, suit jacket scraps from my aunt handmade clothing, my sister’s old skirts. Fond memories.
We also had redesigned blouses, skirts, and dresses made from out of style clothing. Our clothes were custom-made and the first time I went to a store and tried on a dress that didn’t fit, I was shocked. Store-bought clothes could be altered but never the way a custom garment fits.
Oversized mohair sweaters were the BIG thing when I was in junior high. My grandmother FORBID us to buy one. But my aunt bought one each for my sister and me. We weren’t allowed to wear them around my grandmother for the longest time but eventually she found out.
My grandmother taught me to knit and sew. My aunt introduced us to be paint, construction paper and felt. My mom helped us with papier-mache and rubber stamps and provided a place to be creative. We made spatter paint and stencil cards with felt and sequin embellishments. So cool to a kid.
So my interest in all arts, crafts and handiwork came from those people as well as my home economics and art teachers. I have friends who got me involved in cross stitch, ceramics, jewelry making, paper crafting.
We’re having a dinner party tomorrow night. Last night I cleaned off the island in my kitchen, set the table and made wine glass name tags. I’ll post a picture of those tomorrow.
I knit a few rows on the slippers and have four more rows before the decrease rows and then I will have one finished. I don’t know if I’ll get the other finished by tomorrow or not. They are a belated birthday present for one of my guest/friends. I could give her one of the other pairs I have in my stash but I picked these colors just for her. Again, pictures tomorrow.
I did a little dance for my 100th post. I thought I’d try this blog thing for six months to see if I liked it and if there was any one interested enough to read it. I like it and I have four regular readers. Of those four, two are family.
I cast on for another pair of slippers. I want to have these finished by Saturday. With soles.
Will I make it?
I love the green slippers. I forgot how nice and comfortable they could be. This is what I’ve been wearing on my feet since I tossed my leather moccasin-type slippers last year when the soles had more holes than leather.
Imitation-crocodile-faux-sheep-fleece footwear
They allow for NO air circulation and the faux sheep fleece is very hot. No air circulation + hot = S and S feet (sweaty and stinky)
Am I tossing the imitation-crocodile-faux-sheep-fleece footwear? No. I still need something quick to slip on when I have to run outside or go to the garage and it’s cold and wet…but only for a few minutes. Anything longer and I’ll put on real shoes.
Green slippers Nov 2010
My grandmother and aunt used to have a stash of these slippers (only their’s were knitted flat) and we would get a new pair whenever the previous ones were beyond repair. They used scraps of fabric for the soles to make them last longer. Without soles, they would have holes in them within a few weeks.
At a rummage sale a long, long, long time ago my mother found a handknit purple dress with bright pink, grey and white stripes along the cuffs, neckline and hem. I seriously doubt the dress had ever been worn. Ugly doesn’t come close to describing it. My grandmother ripped the dress apart, soaked the yarn to remove the kinks and wound the yarn into balls. There was more purple than any of the other colors and enough to make at least two sweaters but no one in my family wanted any garment out of those colors. So she made these slippers. Using two strands of yarn held together, she knit purple slippers, purple and pink slippers, purple and white slippers, purple and grey slippers and some were made with all four colors. Some had big purple pom poms on them.
When Mr. Aitch and I were first married, my aunt, Miss Kay, gave him a pair of these slippers. He loved them. When they wore out, I knit him a new pair. I made these for my children when they were old enough to keep something on their feet.
Now that I found the perfect soles, I should knit at least one pair a month to add to my stash.
See pattern to the right.
Knitting In Flashes 