12/5 - Enough is enough. Seriously. Today it was 26 degrees outside - at the warmest part of the day! Winter has definitely come to Cleveland, even though we haven’t seen any real snow yet. We had a shower earlier this week, but it lasted all of 5 minutes and melt as soon as it hit the ground, so it doesn’t count. Still, it’s cold. Damn cold. Cold enough for me to have started leaving the heat on (but low) when I’m sleeping.

At the end of last winter, I threw out my slippers. I had gotten them junior year of college which means that they were 6 years old and absolutely disgusting. The lining was totally black from all the dirt they had picked up over the years and they smelled. Smelled really bad. Febreeze didn’t really cut it. So I threw them out so that I wouldn’t be able to wear them this year and intended to make a new pair for myself. But then it was summer and I didn’t need them and then it was fall and I still didn’t need them, then it was later fall and I started to want them but I didn’t have the right yarn and then I had the yarn but it had warmed up again…I fell in love with this pattern when I saw it and thus, I’ve decided to make a pair of these darling slippers before I make a pair of Felted Clogs (I love that pattern!) since these might be quicker, are definitely cuter, and might be a bit more lightweight than the clogs. Plus, I already bought 2 really cute buttons to go on them when I went into the horrible-LYS-that-shan’t-be-named! The name of this pattern and the shape of the slippers always makes me think of the very simple breakfasts I’d eat with my French neighbors, both when they lived here and when I visited them in France. Still-warm croissant and a hot cup of dark coffee - mmm. Plus, I think these slippers look a little like the parquet slippers they use in France to polish the floors.

I took these with me to knitting group today and I’m already about halfway done. Hopefully by the end of the day tomorrow, I’ll have a pair of slippers! I decided that I didn’t like the pattern instructions for how to reverse the shaping. It wants me to basically reverse the purls and the knits - um, why can’t I just do a SSK on the opposite side from where I did the original shaping? So I ignored those instructions and did it my way and lo, the shaping is fine!

12/6 - I finished all the pieces just as Desperate Housewives was ending - I must admit, I’m a little bit irritated that I now have to seam all of these together. Sewing things up is one of my least favourite things. That’s why I liked the clog pattern so much. Oh well - these will be cute and since it’s worsted, I’m sure it will go quickly! I’m hoping to sew them up tonight and then felt them tomorrow before I go to work.

12/12 - Well, I would have been finished with these much sooner but I had a HUGE issue with them once they were felted. I’m no stranger to felting, so I was checking on them every few minutes, especially once they really started shrinking. The bottoms were still huge, but the edging around the toes and at the back of my heel tightened up SO MUCH that I had trouble getting them on my feet, even while the rest of the slipper was huge! I figured I would problem-solve later, so once they slipper itself fit my foot, I pulled them out and gave them a few days to dry.

Once they were dry, I took a pair of shears to them and cut around the toes and at the back of one of the heels (the other one will, I think, stretch a little with time). Once I did that, they fit much nicer. So for the last two days I’ve been stitching around the area where I cut so that they won’t fray any more. They’re finished now and lovely, but if I had to do this pattern over again I would make some big changes. To start with, I’m totally unimpressed with the directions for how to sew, especially when she talks about the “cup” for the heel. I think the directions could be much clearer and that more illustrations might help (maybe?). I also think that part of why my edging was so damn tight was because of the poor sewing instructions. I think that I might have sewn a few stitches too many, although I can’t be sure at all since the pattern doesn’t give a very clear stopping place. I would also make the sides wider, since they don’t really do much to cover my feet.

Oh, and the yardage confused me - I didn’t use anywhere near the 330 yards the pattern called for…I don’t see anyone else having had this problem, so maybe it’s just me!

I do love the buttons I used though - I love buttons! They are cute and I think that with some modifications, they’d be a fine pattern. I think that I’ll always prefer the felted clogs though because they’re so much easier - all knitted into one piece, no sewing, just cast off and shrink them!