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Friday, January 28, 2011

FO: Apple Press Slippers

I am very late to the party, but I made some French Press Slippers finally. I think I'm number 4498. Better late than never?

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Pattern: French Press Felted Slippers by Melynda Bernardi

Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool

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Notes:
This required a surprising amount of concentration! That's not a bad thing, just not what I thought would happen. To begin with, the directions use a space-saving style that makes you think: "knit the first piece as such. Now do the opposite for the second piece." I'm a big girl and should be able to handle a little thinking during the knitting process, but I'll admit getting lost a few times while working on this project at my knitting group. Apparently I can't think and talk at the same time.

Also, the thing is knit in a million tiny pieces. Okay, four pieces per slipper. There are knitters on ravelry who have modified these slippers to be seamless or at least have fewer seams, and I might go that route next time. French Press Knits has some good video tutorials on youtube which I found very helpful while seaming them up.

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These slippers were my trial project for felting in my washing machine. They worked pretty well, considering I have a front-load machine. It is clear that my machine isn't one of those famously gentle front-load washers, since the felting process only took about 1.5 cycles. Excellent. The only thing is, they didn't felt as evenly as I would like - there are some bulbous bits that didn't shape properly, and there is some stitch definition still present. That's not such a problem, but given that I used a yarn famous for felting, I was expecting them to felt more. I suspect that felting it for longer would have solved this issue, but I would have risked too-small slippers, so I took them out when they fit me.

They fit perfectly and they are very comfortable, despite bulbous areas. Maybe next time I'll do some hand-felting to even them out, but these are good enough for me now.

More Friday FOs at Tami's Amis

12 comments:

  1. I love these and what perfect buttons!

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  2. Such cute buttons! Great slippers :)

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  3. They look fantastic! I had a blast knitting these - they were like magic. Love your button choice, too!

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  4. I've had my eye on those slippers forever! And I have yet to make myself a pair...that'll have to change soon

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  5. I have this pattern, but all the seaming makes me a little queasy... might knit these for my mom's birthday in March. Love the buttons you chose!

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  6. I have so much love for those buttons. Good find!

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  7. It's good to fashionably late, right? that's what I will tell myself when I cast on for the 13,000th Citron shawl and the 14,000th baby surprise jacket! : )
    I think your slippers look great. Love the color and the cute buttons.

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  8. Great slippers! And knitting the 4,498th pair means that 4,497 people have done the trouble-shooting for you!

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  9. Four pieces is faaaar too many for each slipper, I'm with you on that. They look cute!

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  10. I really want to knit these and also have a front loader. I wondered about felting them in the bathtub but I might go mad!

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