Possessed to Knit

Norwegian Star Slippers Completed

Here are Joshua's Norwegian Star Slippers knit with Cascade 220 in the Puget Sound and Black colorways.  I noticed with these slippers that though black is called the main color, that the Fair Isle pattern looks better when I have the black yarn in the contrasting color spot (the left side of my knitting thimble).  I had the black yarn on the right side of my knitting thimble for Justin's slippers and the pattern does not stand out as strongly.  It has also been challenging for me to make the second slipper the same size as the first.  I ended up going up to the 2.5 mm needle for the second slipper.  The checkered pattern on the cuff was also difficult to line up with all the picked up sts followed by some shaping decreases.  I certainly learned a lot from this project!

I like to keep a tally of my knitting accomplishments for the year.  In 2012, I knitted one set-in sleeve sweater, 1 tank top, 3 hats (1 handspun), 3 scarves (1 handspun), 1 cowl, one handspun tea cozy, two pairs of Fair Isle slippers, and 11 pairs of socks.  I hope to knit with more of my handspun in 2012.

Norwegian Star Slipper

Here is the completed foot of Joshua's Norwegian Star slipper.  I am using 2.25 mm Addi Turbo 40" needles and my knitting thimble with this Cascade 220 Superwash yarn in the Puget Sound and black colorways.  It is a bit much to be knitting almost worsted weight yarn on sock yarn size needles, but it is necessary to make child size slippers.  I realized after I received the yarn that I could have used sport weight instead, it just did not occur to me when I planned this project. 

I have started the foot part of the second slipper and will then pick out the row of blue yarn between the heel and the foot to knit the leg and cuff sections of each slipper.  The edges on this slipper are a little wavy and some blocking would be in order, but I will likely mail them as soon as I complete them.  I had the foot turned inside out as I knitted to improve the edges, but this might have been a situation where dpns might have worked better.  Justin and Joshua will outgrow these slippers, which will not become heirlooms, and the sooner I finish them the sooner Joshua can wear them.

Justin's Filigree Slippers Completed

Here are the Filigree Slippers I knitted for my nephew, Justin.  The pattern is from the book Scandinavian Slippers and Socks.  I used Cascade 220 Superwash in Maroon and Black and size 2.5 mm Addi Turbo 40" needle for the first slipper foot.  Somehow my tension loosens when I use my knitting thimble for a second sock or mitten so I ended up going down to a 2.25 mm Addi Turbo needle for the second slipper foot.  I knitted Fair Isle with the slipper turned inside out to keep me from pulling the yarn too tightly at the edges.  I had to turn it right side out once I got close to completing the toe.

These slippers are started at the heel and a row of waste yarn is knit into the top of the slipper after the heel.  Once the foot is complete, the waste yarn is removed, the stitches are picked up and the ankle/leg section is knit with twined knitting.  I had never done twined knitting and I found it to be utterly annoying.  With two balls of yarn (as two ends from center pull ball result in a very twisted yarn), one stitch is knit with one ball and then the next stitch is knit with the second ball, and the yarn is crossed over the previous yarn, with each stitch.  The two balls of yarn become very tangled and then have to be untangled.  The result is a stretchy, durable fabric, but still, I had no fun knitting this way.  I went up to size 3.0 mm needles on both slippers for this twisted knitting section as the cuff looked too small when I used the 2.5 mm needles.

I had been planning to make Lawrence and John this Danish hotpad, which is knit with twined knitting, from the Folk Mittens book.  Sorry guys, that's probably not going to happen.  Joshua is waiting for his slippers, but I am taking a little break until I find out how these fit Justin.  They could end up being Joshua's slippers if they are too small for Justin. 

Aran Isle Slippers

These are the Aran Isle slippers from the new Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2008 issue.  They are an early Christmas gift for my sister, Teresa.  Her home has hardwood floors and these slippers will come in handy for her this winter.  She wears a size 6.5 shoe so I made these slippers a bit smaller than the pattern size of 7 to 8.  I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in the Bubble colorway and my size 5 Addi Turbo needles giving me a gauge of about 6 sts to the inch.  I made them a little shorter, too, and added a round to the back of the slippers to compensate for the tighter row gauge.  I knitted short rows for the shaping rows of the cabled uppers.  I like the seed stitch pattern, however, I prefer an odd number of sts to knit seed stitch in the round and adjusted the pattern accordingly.  The soles are knit slightly differently for the left and right feet and I sewed 5 sts of duplicate stitch in contrasting spare sock yarn to mark the right foot for her.  I also discovered that if I buy one more ball of yarn (these slippers require 2 balls of yarn), that I can make her another pair so that she will have an extra set.  I found the pattern to be a bit tedious, yet it does make a nice gift.