Funny crochet slippers

Now that winter is here, I found myself wanting  some warm slippers. My mom used to make slippers for everyone in the family but now that she’s gone, I don’t have that luxury so I decided to have a go at it.

Traditionally, I don’t have a great track record with crochet slippers. I can make the heck out of one slipper but the second one tends to be a little more elusive. Either it comes out too small or too big, even when I do the exact same thing (at least that’s what I tell myself). Inevitably, I try to match the size of one of the slippers but instead, I end up with a craft bag full of different sized slippers. Lol  Well no more, I told myself! I was going to make myself a pair of slippers. And they would match!

I started rifling through my yarn stash, opening and closing drawers, bins and tubs. On my quest for the perfect slipper yarn, I came across a chunky ball of yarn. There was only one but it seemed big enough for my purposes. I had felt up this skien of yarn before and often wondered what I could make with it. I usually came up empty but knew that one day it’s time would come. It was soft and cuddly. Perfect! It looked like it would be enough to make two complete slippers.

I needed to make some decisions before I got started, like what kind of slippers I wanted, follow a pattern or make it up, what stitch, etc. I love Tunisian Crochet and Tunisian knit stitch would make a thick fabric, great for a slipper, especially the sole.

No surprise, I opted to come up with my own design (this may have been a mistake). I was feeling especially creative (this translates to lazy) and wanted to see what the slippers would look like if they had rectangular soles. I was being innovative (not lazy!). I made my starting chain the width of the widest part of my foot. I happily did row upon row using the Tunisian knit stitch until it was the length of my foot. When I got to my last row and finished the sole, I was ready to start the rest of the shoe. I looked over at my working yarn and realized there was NO WAY I had enough yarn to make two complete slippers. Dilemma. Abandon this yarn and rip back my work or find an alternative. Keep the yarn but pick a different style of slipper that used less yarn. I didn’t want to make any hasty decisions so I threw it in my craft bag while I pondered a solution.

I came back to my project with determination. I wanted to keep using that chunky yarn AND the style I was going for so I decided I could use this yarn for the soles only. I reasoned that the soles needed to be the thickest to hold up to wear and tear and keep my feet warm. Now I just had to choose another yarn that would match the soles and be plentiful enough so that it wouldn’t run out as well. I went back to my stash and found a variegated yarn that seemed to fit the bill. I finished the other sole, attached the new yarn and continued my work. I even kept count! I admit I made up a lot as I went, adjusting and readjusting until I finally got something I was satisfied with. I went to work on the second sole, making sure I kept to the same stitch count as the first one. It was looking pretty good when the unthinkable happened. I looked at my working yarn and knew I was going to run out of this yarn before I finished my second slipper! I It looked like so much yarn when I picked that skien. I threw the project in my bag in frustration. I needed to ponder some more.

Well, I retrieved the unfinished slipper once again and opted to find a suitable, solid colored yarn that matched the second variegated yarn in color and weight. I found just the thing and proceeded to the end. It actually blended in quite well so I finished the last rounds on both shoes in that same color. And Finally the slippers were DONE.

I was very proud of them. My husband took one look at them and asked me, “But why are they square?” I said, “Because they are new and innovative.” “But they’re square,” he said. “No one said slippers need to be round,” I said very sweetly. “I like them,” he said. “They’re just different.” My son took one look at them and said, “Make me some.” I’m sure I was being humored but I like being humored 🙂

So, I thought I was done. They were sitting in my craft bag when I turned on an episode of The Knit and Crochet Show on PBS. They were demonstrating a headband with these cute flower embellishments. I wanted to learn how to make the flowers and the only yarn I had at hand was that last one I had used on the slippers. I grabbed it since I didn’t care about the color of the flower (no one wants a brown flower). I just wanted to learn how to make it and follow the video. When I was done with the flower, I had a eureka moment. It would look great on my new square slippers. So I quickly made another one and TA DAH!

The details:

You can see where I ran out of the variegated yarn on the top slipper but it blends right in.

Tunisian Knit stitch up close.

The pretty flower.

Where I ran out of the variegated yarn!

A perfect fit!

 

Note to self: Make sure to have enough yarn. There is a reason you don’t see too many rectangular slippers. When you walk, the extra space over the pinky toes tends to curl up.  Overall, I like them. After all, it’s all about the journey and not the destination and the journey was fun 🙂

Advertisement