Saturday, November 6, 2010

crafty FAIL

a few years ago while perusing my local yarn store i found a pattern for felted slippers and i knew i had to have some. i bought the pattern and told the store owner this was the perfect project for my first major foray into knitting. she stopped in her tracks, asked me how long i'd been knitting and almost laughed when i told her "about 2 weeks". she told me this might be a little too challenging and they offered classes on this pattern and i could sign up. i politely let her know that i would keep that in mind while secretly thinking, "lady, you don't know me!" because when i get my mind set on a project i am rarely detered.
so, i went home and made my mom's christmas present- a pair of felted slippers.
luckily they turned out awesome, and i had no trouble at all with the pattern {although it was by far the most advanced thing i'd done}

which brings me to this project.
i wish i could say that my latest pair turned out as well. since the weather has been turning colder i've been in serious need of some new slippers {husband gets mad when he wanders around the house looking for his only to discover that i'm wearing them}
 everything was going fine and i was super excited about having warm and toasty toes over the weekend.

but it didn't turn out so well.

 since they get felted they are knit several sizes too large, checking that they are going to fit before felting isn't an option.
its as big as my magazine {which is obviously much bigger than my foot}

and one sole is different because i ran out of black and used it as an opportunity to stash bust a little. i used the same yarn but in green {and a little blue, because i ran out of green, too}
i thought everything was fine, until i felted them.
and they came out too small, and different sizes.

how this happened is beyond me. maybe mixing yarn was the problem? although i really doubt it because it was the same brand/weight. i think i must have messed up the pattern {although why i'd rather take the blame myself than blame it on something arbitrary like yarn is beyond me...}
 
oh well. they're ruined. at least for me- i'll felt the larger one a little more in hopes that i can eventually make them the same size and then give them away to some needy relative with smaller feet. in the mean time, i had my heart set on new slippers so i'm already working on a new pair. hopefully i don't screw those up, too!

4 comments:

  1. aw so sad! those are amazing though, i can't believe you made them!! you are amazing at making things!

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  2. They look so great! You know, I have cold feet. And one is a little smaller than the other :)

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  3. oh no! but also, that's kind of funny. lots of people have different sized feet, so maybe there's a niche for you here. :)

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  4. These look like the FiberTrends pattern. I've made two sets of these. I loved them so much but blew holes in them. They really keep your feet warm. The pattern is a little tricky. I think my feet, size 8.5 are a bit inbetween the small and the large. I can't remember what I settled on was the best. The large was a tad too big and they wouldn't felt any smaller. I'm not sure why they felted differently. If you felt in a top-loader, you can periodically stop the machine and check how they are doing. I've felted bags and hats. It can be tricky to get the size. Persevere and you will be thrilled w/the results!

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