Oohhhh it's sooooo good. It goes super fast, and makes you feel like you can knit anything all the time. Until you make one slipper, realise it might be too small, put it down, and get working on your socks - with your fingering weight yarn and size 2 needles. Oh. Bad choice.
Let me take this time to confess that I'm no longer a knitting monogamist. I used to be. Diehard! I believed that if I was knitting, I needed to be knitting on THAT PROJECT because it needed to be finished. And that's what kept me from knitting most of the Spring and some of the Summer. With that "if you're knitting, knit that one thing 'til it's done" mentality I seriously began to resent the lace weight yarn SWEATER I was working on. Honestly, it was a little ambitious to put myself on a timeline for it, but I was determined that if I sat down to knit I HAD to be knitting that horrible thing.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. My best friend (and now doula) Laura finally convinced me to break that habit. Thank the heavens, because my knitting life is faster, fuller, and happier. And I encourage you knitters, even beginners, to do the same thing. When a piece gets too frustrating, put it down. When it's taking a long time, or makes your hands sore, set it aside for a day. Or two days. Or a week.Or a month. Or until next Winter. In the meantime, knit something easy, or big, or different. Knit anything else at all. (Or spend 2 hours on ravelry, like I just did.)
Right now I'm rotating 4 different projects. A pair of socks (only one more needs the ribbing on the leg), a few hats for a few ladies, snowmen ornament/gift tags, and various Christmas gifts. The last one I do until it's finished, even if I rotate it out. So right now I've finished my sister's gift and I'm rotating in the next one: my mother's slippers.
Oh, she knows about them. I'm mostly terrible at keeping secrets. I've also learned in the past few years that while I LOVE to give gifts, I love more giving the gifts that people actually want. When I asked what size her feet her, she immediately hoped I was making new slippers for Christmas. I'd made some before, maybe for Mother's Day. Not really sure when. But they certainly aren't the substantial, Illinois Winter slippers my mum really needs.
No, these aren't the ones exactly (spoilers!) but this is a good picture from the pattern, which you can get here. Yes, you have to sign up for a knitting daily email, which you can unsubscribe from after you download and save the PDF. Plus it has other patterns if you really want.
The best part? It's knit on size 11 needles. Yum. Not the biggest I've knit anything on (that would be size 20's! Woo!!) but considerably larger than the size 2's with some socks on 'em. Worsted weight yarn held double (2 strands from 2 skeins or balls) count as bulky and they knit up fast. A word of warning - heeeheheheheheheheheheeee - when you knit them and they're not on a foot, they definitely look like a willie warmer. Oh yes, those are real things you can knit. But if you're not a 8 year old like me, you'll be fine. I giggled for awhile until I picked up the stitches for the cuff. Oh, I also used the magic loop method instead of the double pointed needles the pattern mentions. Learn it, love it.
So, if you want to make these FAST easy slippers for a Christmas gift (it's not too late!) all you need to know is: knitting in the round, picking up stitches, magic loop or dps, and ribbing. You can do ribbing, right? Of course you can. If you know the magic 8 cast on, I would probably recommend that. I say "probably" because I haven't tried it for these slippers yet. If you do, and it works well, let me know.
Someday there may even be a point to my blogging. Right now I just hope that people see that knitting is super fun, rewarding, and anyone can do it!
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