I've been threatening to knit the MM a pair of slippers for the last few months, probably ever since I came across the Fibertrends clog pattern. Typically, the same day that I finally ordered a copy of it, someone from the AY forum posted a link to these equally cute felted slippers:
Fireside Footies. Of course, I couldn't wait for the clog pattern to arrive so I fished around in the stash and cast them on straight away.
They knit up extremely quickly once you get the hang of the pattern. It looked really straightforward initially but for some reason I couldn't make the numbers work for the heel turn. I must have knitted it and unpicked it three or four times before I fudged it to get where I needed to be. I also posted to the AY knitting forum to check t wasn't just me. Luckily
Fiona, one of the resident sock gurus came to the rescue to confirm that actually, the pattern was unclear and that from the comments after the pattern, the writer seemed to intend it to be a square heel. Fiona's explanation is so clear that I'm just going to post it here.
Turn Heel
R1: S1 P16 P2tog P1 Turn
R2: S1 K11 K2tog K1 - at this point there are 14 sts in the middle section which is a big clue! - and 4 each side still to be decreased awayTurn
R3: S1 P to 2st before the break (the last turn) P2tog, P1 Turn
R4: S1 K to 2st before the break (the last turn) K2tog, K1 - there are still 14 sts in the middle section, and 3 each side
work rows 3 & 4 for 6 more rows (until no st remain to be worked) (14 st should remain)
Hey presto, two square square heels later and we have a pair of slippers ready for felting. I thought that I'd just point out at this stage that the decreases for the toes need to be completed twice for each round, you'll see what I mean if you knit them.
They look rather stumpy don't they? He does have pretty big feet for his age so I'm hoping that when they felt they're going to shrink small enough as it was a pattern written for adults. If not, mum'll end up with an extra pair of slippers as hers are tiny.
I'm beginning to realise that it's usually a mistake to allow the MM to have too much input into the colour choice of the things I knit for him. Luckily the bulk of the slipper was going to be knitted in blue as that was what was available but I offered to put a coloured stripe around the top for a bit of interest and guess what he chose.... pink! I had to laugh but then he's still a bit young to understand that pink isn't generally a colour choice for boys.
I don't know whether it's just me being picky but if I had written a pattern and realised that people were having problems with it, I'd want to amend it to make it clear. Maybe it's my inner perfectionist trying to make itself heard again but I actually find it really frustrating that other people don't feel the need. Obviously I could just write all my own patterns and I do dabble with that and invariably I amend things as I go along but why reinvent the wheel? If you come across a really nice pattern, why not knit it? Anyhow, minor rant over.
Righty ho, what next. Mittens. I finally managed to get a reasonable picture of my aran mittens. No matter what I did, I couldn't quite do the colour justice as it is actually a much deeper red than the scarlet in the photo. They have a pretty diamond cable up both sides and are finished off at the top with a twisted rib to match the cuff. My fingers only just poke out at the top so they're quite toasty for fingerless mitts. These are actually the second pair of these I've knitted as I made a pair for my sister last winter in cream - in fact, the same time as these were started originally. Hers actually match my aran beanie.
These have been on the needles for a while but finally, I cleared another project from the UFO pile. A pair of felted clogs (Rav link) from Fiber Trends. This is the largest size of the children's pattern and has felted down to about a ladies UK 4 or 5. They fit mum really well so hopefully she actually likes them and wasn't just being nice!
Needles: 9mm Denise interchangeables and dpns
