2.14.2008

Father in Law's Fabulous Felt Clogs

I am one of those knitters that enjoys knitting for others. In fact it was just in 2007 that I started to actually keep any knitted items for myself. For years I gave away or sold every single item I made.

I especially love it if I can knit something for someone that they really need or want. About a month ago now my Father-in-law was complaining that he went slipper shopping and could not find any slippers to fit his gargantuan size 14 feet. So you can understand how I knew right then and there what I needed to do.

He needed some Felt Clogs.

The great thing about this pattern is that you can make all sizes of slippers. Even huge ones. In fact these slippers are even a tad too big! But the reason why is a whole other story....

I went to my parents to felt these suckers because it was the only top loading washer available to me at the time. It is a brand new super high efficiency washer. These slippers under the right felting conditions should take 10-15 minutes to felt down. My slippers were in the washer for *gasp* 3 hours!!!! The hot cycle was truly not hot at all so I had to manually load the washer with hot water from the sink. I also kept having to restart the agitation cycle a million times because it only lasted about 10 minutes, not to mention the agitator barely agitated! So 3 hours into it I knew they were a little bigger than I had hoped for but was too frustrated to care.

I guess I'll have to go to the laundromat next time.

I also sewed these great 2-piece slipper bottoms from Fiber Trends on there so that he wont slip and break anything. I sewed them on the others I made too. I think that they are especially necessary for little ones because they can be extremely accident prone.




So to make a long story shorter... my father-in-law likes them alot and I was really glad I was able to make him something that he will enjoy and use.

For these clogs I used Lamb's Pride worsted. My last clogs were made from Cascade 220. The Lamb's Pride made a fuzzier texture and worked just as well so I would say that these two yarns are both a great choice for this pattern.

I am still teaching classes on these clogs so go to the website to find out more information or call me at the shop.

(805) 466-Yarn

3 comments:

Rebekah said...

Isn't that an awesome pattern, I made 3 pair this last summer. One for my dad, one for my mother-in-law and one for me. I also made three pairs of moccassins from Fiber Trends too, another great pattern!

Unknown said...

After knitting my first pair with circular needles which drive me mad..., I have adapted the pattern to knit the clogs on straight pins in half the time. The only part which actually knits in the round is the very small heel rise and cuff, so it's MUCH easier just to seam this with a joining stitch. You have to make a couple of minor changes to the pattern by knitting stocking stitch to get a purl cuff, but otherwise it is SO much easier to knit on straight pins.

Helen from Scotland.

mrse08 said...

Helen,
I am still pretty new to knitting (one month since my very first cast on). Is there any chance you would share your adapted pattern? Circulars still intimidate me :/