Slippin' Up

After weeks of making socks of lace weight yarn and sweaters on size 4 needles, I needed a quick satisfying project. It's also been getting colder, so I needed more feet fuzzies. (Let's not talk about my bag of socks that need darning, that's unimportant in this discussion...)

In a single session of light knitting (that is, a day in classes) I finished one pair and started on the next. This is Aläfoss Lopi yarn from Iceland, it's thick and lofty. I'm using size 10.5 needles.

I first cast on to two needles like any toe-up sock, then knit the toe cap. I cast off about 10 stitches across the top and knit flat to where my heel begins. I did short rows back to be the length of the foot. (these are actually a little big, since I will be felting them down and I needed to allow for shrinkage.)

Then, I knit a full round, casting back on those stitches I had eliminated earlier. This joins the slipper across the arch of the foot.

I knit a few rows around, then cast off those stitches again. (Easy come, easy go.) I finished the short row heel, picking up two stitches per side on each turn. I wrapped up the top with some rows of seed stitch to keep it flat, then bound off.

I made two pairs, one slightly larger for the boy. Felted them in the washer and dryer, rubber balls added to the dry cycle (and a sweater that was too moth eaten to salvage *cry*.) The Lopi wool actually has some resistance to felting due to the courser top coat hairs in it, so there was not a lot of shrinkage.

And so, we have fuzzy house slippers! I'm not usually one to add cutesy details, but I may need to mark mine as my boy's feet aren't much bigger. One could add all manner of wooly designs to your slippers of you wanted. Now we're ready for the cold...

Are you staying warm?