Genius, Part 2

 

As much as I love these felted slippers, they do have one fatal flaw.  The softness that makes them so cozy , also is not very durable for walking on. 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Sadly, the bottoms wear out fairly quickly.  While they are not terribly expensive or difficult to replace, I just couldn’t toss out something that was only worn out on the bottom.  So I decided to try to save these favorite slippers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cut off the bottoms....

Slipper on left has been surgically altered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and stitched on a pair of slipper sock soles I had lying around. 

Stitching in progress

I never got around to making the slipper socks, but now I have….

 

 

 

 

drumroll, please…….

 

 

 

 

RETREADS! 

 I’m thinking these bad boys should last forever!!

Genius, I tells ya, genius!

Remember those grade-school aptitude tests where you had to look at a flat diagram with a dot on it and then predict where the dot would be when the diagram was folded into a cube? I   thought I was pretty good at that, but this pattern completely blows me away.  It’s called Midnattsol’s feltedslippers. 

  The pattern starts out as a row of squares knitted in alternating colors with two other squares picked up and knitted on the sides. When stitched together like one of those cube diagrams, it makes a bootie shape. 

 Even after sewing up four of these, I still can’t see how the shape goes together until the last seam.  I can’t imagine being able to visualize and design this pattern, but I love the magic of seeing it take shape.

The best thing about these slippers is that they are felted, which makes them soft and dense.  Felting is also great because it disguises any minor mistakes and sloppy seaming.   Also, the slippers are knit in garter stitch, so, simple even for a beginner. You could make these for friends and let them felt them to custom fit – you can control the shrinkage by monitoring the felting process.

 I love the harlequin design and the way they end up look like jester booties.  I used inexpensive but sturdy Paton’s classicwool.  Two skeins will make a pair of slippers with quite a bit of yarn left over.  Because this yarn felts easily, the leftovers can be used in a variety of ways, which I’ll show you soon.

 

I’ve already worn out one pair of these slippers and made a second pair. The simplicity and functionality of this design are genius.

Regarding the Stash

Every self-respecting knitter or quilter has a precious reserve of yarn or fabric known as a “stash”. The stash is a source of pride, reassurance, and bragging rights. It’s where the artist turns for inspiration or for that spark of color or texture to add to a project. However, the stash can take on a life of its own, growing out of control like that sourdough starter we had during the 70s. There are warning signs: Denial: “Oh that – just a little extra yarn I’m saving in case there’s a sheep plague, something like the Irish Potato Famine.” Projection: “I have a friend who bundles fabric to disguise it as pillows and furniture – she really has a problem.” Rationalization: “I might as well buy it now, because if I wait until I need it, it will just be that much more expensive.” There are rational (note the root of the verb rationalize) reasons for stashing: Good quality yarn and fabric are expensive, so a good sale is hard to resist.

Sale Yarn

There is also a little-known principle of physics that works against us: it takes significantly less time and effort to purchase yarn or fabric than it takes to wrangle said fiber into a sweater or quilt. While there are no recorded instances of a stash becoming a "Little Shop of Horrors" life form and actually devouring its owner, when the stash achieves the size where it requires its own room and zip code, clearly something must be done. While quilters and knitters joke about their stash providing insulation in the case of an apocalyptic weather event, we all know there are limits. The stash that seemed like an asset in the past becomes a definite liability when one is considering moving, especially if downsizing. Suddenly, those beguiling colors and textures become overwhelming and oppressive. The first step of reducing the stash might be a “yarn diet”. I’ve been on that diet for about a year, with no obvious shrinking of the stash, probably due in part to some diet exceptions I’ve allowed. First, yarn purchased to use with stash yarn to complete a project. This becomes a dilemma similar to the cereal and milk quandary. Eating a bowl of cereal always leaves about a quarter of a cup of milk in the bottom of the bowl, but if I add cereal, then it seems a little dry, and needs more milk, and so on and so on. Yarn is like that. Few patterns use up all the skeins needed, especially if a little extra was bought for good measure. Odd balls inevitably remain at the end of the project. Second, comes “souvenir yarn”.

Souvenir yarn from NYC, Salt Lake City, and Coer D'Alene

Visiting a local yarn shop is a great way to explore a new city. Yarn shops are often located in interesting shopping districts and the staff is frequently a friendly source of advice about other local sites of interest. Sometimes souvenir yarn appears serendipitously – such as the skein I purchased at a farmers’ market in a sunny meadow of Manhattan’s Union Square. How could I not support a small family operation like Catskill-Merino who produces such lovely skeins as this? So, clearly, the yarn diet is not working. A more intense stash reduction program is necessary. I’m considering “hoarder-avoidance” therapy but haven’t found a counselor who lists “fiber management” as her field of expertise. The program of last-resort is a pact I have with my quilting and knitting friends. It goes like this: when a member of our group moves on to the yarn and quilt shop in the sky, her friends will converge upon her stash and subdivide it into fat-quarters and yarn bundles and distribute them at the wake. Suitable beverages will be provided. In the meantime, I have found some simple patterns that can use a variety of partial skeins and leftovers. The sustainability principle I’m working on this year is “use up what you have.” Details will follow.

The Intersection of Old and New

A co-worker had a plum tree that was exceptionally productive this year – I spotted her in the hall lugging large grocery bags of heavy fruit. Much like the zucchini fairies who leave overgrown squash on one’s doorstep, she was trying to dispose of share as much of the fruit as possible. These are the plums, purply black Italians, that my grandparents grew in their orchard and argued over – (plums or prunes?) while we cousins lobbed them at each other, leaving a trail of pulp and purple stains. Kids don’t think about waste; they only think about having fun. We were soon enlightened as to the error of our ways. I was delighted to accept a sack of plums and her Plum Crisp recipe. It was excellent, but two people can only eat a limited amount of that. What else? I remember quart jars of dark, sweet canned plums emerging from my grandmother’s dark, dusty cellar. They were my favorite, probably because I had not eaten them in any other form, before Sunsweet’s marketing campaigns. I scoured the internet, and found this recipe which had received rave reviews. They are lovely – amethyst jewels with the spicy, orange-peel infused flavor of Christmas.

I also dried some, thinking they would be nice snipped into bits and mixed into a batch of granola. My friend made savory balsamic plum preserves, so I have another version to try on toasted baguettes. There is a good feeling about having some full jars on the shelf – a squirrel-like satisfaction of knowing that winter will not catch us unprepared. It’s the rhythm of giving and receiving, a nod to the traditions of preserving the bounty of the earth, made easier by easy access to instructions and recipes via the Internet and an Ipad.

Growing My Own

Growing a small salad or kitchen garden is so easy, I don’t know why everyone with a deck or patio doesn’t do it. Lettuce, for example. (Let us consider lettuce!) A packet of mixed seeds costs less than $3. I bought “Bon Vivant” from Ed Hume. It has several varieties of green and red leaf lettuce.

You scratch a little groove in some potting soil in a pot or window box. I use a bamboo skewer for a lot of my planting. Very high tech! Scatter in the seeds – they look like pepper. Brush a little dirt back over the groove and gently press down. Water. In a couple of weeks, you will see tiny leaves popping up. Keep watering.

In a few more weeks, you can start snipping some of the larger leaves for Spring Mix – that very expensive organic mix that looks like weeds in the grocery store. You might have to watch out for birds or slugs, depending on your climate. That’s why I like to garden on the deck; it’s right in front of my nose to watch for problems.

And here are the benefits: this lettuce couldn’t be fresher, unless you just ate the seeds, which I don’t recommend. Less waste because you only pick what you want right now for your salad. You can avoid using synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, especially important since lettuce is one of the "dirty dozen." No waste of energy resources for transportation and no packaging to dispose of. And best of all, unlike most other things you pick up off the ground, you know where it’s been.

If you want to branch out a little, you could plant a box of greens. I mixed mustard, spinach, and chard seeds. The mustard is predominant, and I’m thinning it for salad also. It’s great – spicy but not at all bitter. I also planted a bush tomato plant (Early Girl) and I’m doing my sunshine dance in hopes of ripe tomatoes soon.

So right now, the only effort is to water and admire. Tasting summer—priceless!

The Intersection of Time and Money

One of the rules that I have always found to be consistently true, besides the one that the cereal and the milk never come out even at the bottom of the bowl, is that there is an inversely proportional relationship between time and money. Put more simply, if you have plenty of one, you have little of the other. Working means more money, less time. Time off means more time, less money. This rule makes me want to spend my time wisely, so that the things I do give me a good return for my effort.

That's where gardening comes in, because the minimal effort of planting seeds and watering them can produce amazing results...and sometimes, heartbreaking failures. Still, the investment of money and time is low and the results are well worth it.