Felt Clogs Complete!

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And after:




The stats:
Pattern: Fiber Trends' Felt Clogs
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky in Oregano and Aubergine.
Needles: US 15 18" Denise Circulars.
Size:Women's Medium (Size 8 feet)

This was a very fast and easy knit, although it required plenty of counting. I finished the knitting in two weekends and felted them this morning. This was my first felted object. The pattern is extremely detail, and the only error I made (and subsequently fixed) was a result of not reading exactly what the pattern was telling me to do. The shaping is very clever and employs short rows. The slipper is knit almost entirely in one piece; there is a second sole on each for extra cushioning which is knit separately, however, the only seams are straight down the center of each sole.

My only modification to the pattern was to use one strand of bulky yarn instead of two strands of worsted. I used almost entirely one skein of Aubergine (brown) and 1 1/2 of Oregano (green). Each of these skeins is 125 yards. The yarn felted nicely. I was originally going to attempt handfelting, as the thought of using so many quarters in my apartment building's expensive washer was painful. I set up a hot soapy tub and a sink of ice water, put on some rubber gloves and started scrubbing, but after a half an hour, I was tired and sweaty and one slipper was just starting to felt. My time was worth more than the quarters, so I hauled the dripping wool downstairs in a pillowcase with an old pair of jeans and a little detergent and threw them it. It took exactly two wash cycles, but this may be because these washers have extremely short wash cycles. It's only 22 minutes long with 10 minutes of hot water agitation before going into a cold rinse and spin cycles. I took them out prior to the cold rinse, so machine felting took only twenty minutes.

They fit well, although they're slightly wider on my feet than I would have liked. I do have very narrow feet, however. I originally entertained thoughts of attaching a rubber sole of sorts to them to wear them outside, but that's not going to happen. They're definitely house slippers, although that's just fine by me. They could use a bit of a shave, which reminds me that I forgot to pick up disposable razors for that purpose when I went to CVS this afternoon. Oh well. I like them a whole lot.

Two more pictures just because: