Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Toasty Toes

Considering how cold and snowy it's been, it's lucky that I just completed a project that has been keeping my feet warm.  As my husband will tell you, my feet are always cold - and when I say cold, I mean make-you-scream-out-in-the-night-cold, if they should happen to touch your defenseless leg in bed.  So, when I say that my feet are actually warm right now, you should imagine a choir of angels singing in the background.

The miracle fabric to make my cold toes happy?  Wool, of course! I mean, duh, right?  I'm not talking Smart Wool socks here, I'm talking felted.  wool.  slippers.  Oh yes. 

The gorgeous pattern is from French Press Knits, and you too can purchase, download and start creating your own.  The pattern works up very quickly on size 15 needles.  You work the souls, sides, then straps, sew your slipper together, then felt.  Here is the giant clown-slipper that results, pre-felting.




And, brought to you by the miracle of hot water - here is what they look like now! 



And here is what my feet look like:

They look happy, right?  It's cause they're so, so warm. 

This was a highly gratifying project.  It was quick, painless and now I have custom slippers!  I was thinking about sewing some black leather onto the bottoms, but then I realized I might not be able to slide around on the floor if I did, and what's the fun in that?  They were also relatively cheap to make.  I used Pattons Classic Wool, purchased on sale at Joann's.  The resulting fabric is shockingly soft, and really traps the warmth in the way a wool sock never can.  Add in a regular old sock, and you're cooking with Crisco people. 

I never thought I'd get into felting, but now that I've started, I'm not sure I can stop.  Hopefully there's a support group out there somewhere...

6 comments:

Cheryl said...

LOVE these. So pretty and how great your feet are warm! I think that's a big reason I jump in the tub each night cuz it's the only way to get mine warm! xx

Amanda said...

Lovely slippers!! And what a great winter project. I may have to pick up my knitting needles again...

Melinda said...

What cozy looking slippers! I don't know a single thing about felting but it looks amazing.
Just found your blog and look forward to reading about the adventures of another central ohio gal!
Melinda

Cat Herself said...

I know, right? Felting is like magic! I love making felted bags and things!

David and Katherine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
David and Katherine said...

I'll try to spell correctly this time--- I love these and maybe even I can felt? Mine will have rubber treads and oh, what button will I pick?