Monday, May 31, 2004

By Jove, I Think I’ve Got It!

The results of the last slipper experiment were lumpen and sad.  However, I can report success on the current version!

Slipper

This one not only looks like it’s supposed to, it actually fits!  Will wonders never cease! :)

Not a clubbed donkey foot

The original pattern calls for seven identically sized pieces to be arranged like this:

Arrangement of pieces

My thought had been that this shape could be made all in one piece (yes, I know I need to get out more) and so I took measurements, calculated gauge and set out to try it.  Made this way, it is a less effective stash-buster (though you could, of course, use as many varied colors as you liked) but requires a lot less sewing up.  While I don’t mind sewing, less is definitely better!

I made this to fit my size 10 foot, so my guesses about small and medium sizes are just that - guesses.  I think they’ll work but you’ll have to try it out for yourself and see.

One Piece Slipper

Materials:  Worsted weight yarn
Size 7 or 8 (US) needles

Terms:  inc - increase
dec - decrease
K2togB - Knit two stitches together through the back loops.

Cast on 2 sts.
1.  Increase in both stitches (4 sts)
2.  Knit
3.  K1, increase in both following stitches, K1 (6 sts).
4.  Knit.
5.  K1, inc, K2, inc, K1 (8 sts)
6.  Knit.

Continue like this, increasing 1 stitch at each end (just after the first and just before the last stitch) of every other row until you have 20 (22, 24) stitches.  Your last two rows would be:

K1, inc., K14 (16, 18), inc, K1
Knit.

Now begin decreasing.

K1, K2tog, K14 (16, 18), K2togB, K1
Knit

Continue like this, decreasing 1 stitch at each end (just after the first and just before the last stitch) of every other row until you are back to your original 2 sts.

Now begin increasing again and this time, continue increasing until you have 40 (44, 48) stitches.
Your last row for this section would be:

K1, inc, K34 (36, 38), inc, K1.
Knit.

Begin decreasing again, only until you have 20 (22, 24) stitches on the needle and then increase back up to 40 (44, 48) stitches.  Now you’re going to begin shaping the heel.

1.  K1, K2tog, K15 (17, 19), K2tog, K2togB, K15 (17, 19), K2togB, K1
2.  Knit
3.  K1, K2tog, K13 (15, 17), K2tog, K2togB, K13 (15, 17), K2togB, K1
4.  Knit

Continue this way until you have 4 stitches left - this goes quickly because every decrease row eliminates 4 stitches.  Then:

Sl2 tog knitwise, K2tog, pass slipped stitches over.

You have one stitch left.  Cut your yarn leaving a 4 or 5 inch tail.  Draw the end of the tail through the last stitch and pull tightly.

Now comes the fun part :) Referring to the above schematic, sew A to B, C to D, E to F and G to H.  Then sew I to J and K to L.  And there you have it!  I recommend sewing thing together in the order given because it’s easy to get a bit confused - but, of course, you can sew it in whatever order appeals to you :) Using different colors for the various sections makes it a bit easier to see which side gets joined to which.

Scarf Progress

The microfiber scarf is coming along very nicely.  I’m really pleased with the way this yarn works up even if it requires a little care to work with.

Pattern Play

I had wanted to do this whole thing in lace until I found out that the yarn is really too slippery to hold the pattern well.  But I discovered that little bits of lace, supported by the surrounding stocking/seed structure work just fine!  So now I have seven repeats of seed/stocking blocks, followed by seven repeats of stocking/lace blocks.  I’m tempted to go on varying patterns all down the length of the thing, but the blocks are only 5 stitches wide and I don’t know whether I can come up with enough different things to do to make that feasible.  Perhaps just alternating the seed and the lace is a better idea?

Grumpus, Jr.

Goldie is Fluffy’s son.  Unlike his father, he hates having his picture taken :) Here he is, ignoring me and hoping I’ll go away.  He is otherwise, an extreme attention hog which can be very frustrating depending on what you’re doing (or trying to do).  But if you point the camera at him (making sure he can see you doing this) he’ll go off and occupy himself elsewhere until he’s sure all possibility of photography has passed :)

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

No trackbacks yet.

1. Yay! No club foot - lookin’ good & kudos on figuring things out. I’ve been thinking “slippers” too - mainly ‘cause it’s still a wee bit chilly here in the early mornings. I’m thinking Russian...Dr. Zhivago...fur trim! Hmmm...ok, now I have to go experiment - hehehehe.

   Posted by Bron  on  05/31  at  01:12 PM
   Location :



2. Fur trim...oooooh!  I thought about making the Fuzzyfeet from Knitty, but I’m not into felting.  Besides, this exercized my brain more :)

   Posted by Robbyn  on  05/31  at  03:05 PM
   Location :



3. Felting? What’s that? :::evil smirk:::: Seriously, though, I’m with you - I think that’s one craze that’s gonna pass me by. :)

   Posted by Bron  on  05/31  at  04:13 PM
   Location :



4. I knitted the squares for the slippers too but thought that the seams will make them uncomfortable so I grafted 4 and 4 together and sent them out to MDK’s Afghanalong. With your ‘seamless’ version, I’ll give it a try again. Thanks!

   Posted by Siow Chin  on  06/02  at  01:28 AM
   Location :



5. Hi Siow Chin :) I hope this is useful for you.  I find that mattress stitch doesn’t add any bulk to what seams there are and that the slipper is quite comfortable.  I’ve also been thinking about picking up the stitches around the ankle and knitting a thick, fold-over cuff so the ankles keep warm.

   Posted by Robbyn  on  06/02  at  10:21 AM
   Location :



6. Slippers look fantastic.  Thanks so much for sharing the pattern :)

   Posted by Pamela  on  06/02  at  04:41 PM
   Location :

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.