happy birthday alli

Crocheted, felted wool slippers for my cousin. I'm starting to get the hang of the felting now. It can be a bit hit and miss. Throwing a pair of wool slippers in the washing machine always seems a bit risky, and often they shrink more than I intend them to. Like Cinderella and the glass slipper, who ever the slipper fits best... Luckily these ones I crocheted for Alli fitted her perfectly. Happy Birthday.

new shoes

Crocheted Slippers... warm toes. I think she will grow out of them very soon though... will have to start making a larger pair.

felt slippers

I found the cutest pattern for crochet felted slippers and they reminded me of Mariska. So I had to make them for her. I had no idea how they would turn out. When I finished crocheting them, they seemed so huge, about twice the size they should have been. I crocheted a little sample piece and felted it by hand in a bowl of hot water. It seemed to work ok, so I thought if I put the slippers in a pot of hot water on the stove they should shrink and felt. After an hour standing stirring the pot they were only a fraction smaller and hardly felted at all. I could still see all the crochet stitches. So I stuck them in the washing machine on the hottest program for an hour. A little scary. It brought back memories of when I put my Dad's woollen scarf in the wash when I was a teenager. When I took the slippers out of the machine I had that same feeling of oh no I shrank them! But this time it was a good thing. They were the perfect size, and better than I thought they would turn out. The perfect birthday pressie for a sister with a winter birthday.