Funny to imagine these as the dainty little slippers…a bit fugly at the moment, but hopefully, in a few hours and after a day or so of drying, they will look elegant!  That’s the fun of felting…..

This is the story so far with Jemma’s slippers!  She also has chosen Malabrigo for her slippers (the colourway is Brown Berries)

Now, where are all those progress shot’s you all promised you would email to us???  Don’t be shy now…….

Ok, this is my progress report for the Felted Slipper Knit Along!  I’m using Malabrigo from my stash and have two balls of different colours, but are close enough to each other that I figured it wouldn’t matter (as the slippers are knit with double strands).  So far, it’s been super quick, and I hope to have them all finished over the weekend, and firmly on my feet!

Sooooo, how are all your lads & lasses out there doing with your knitting?  You can email us at info@thewoolshack.com, with ANY photos of how you are coming along, or if you are a speedy super keen knitter, your finished shots!!

As Christmas is right around the corner (eeekkk!) we thought it would be a fab idea to run a knit-along for a great

quick knit that makes for a fantastic and stylish Chrissie Pressie for the ones you love (or yourself!).   These French Press Felted Slippers are truly unique in their elegance (nice and feminine, without being too bulky) and the ability to dress up or dress down with a lovely selection of buttons is just too good to be true.

The pattern can be bought from French Press Knits on Etsy, or, if you are on Ravelry, you can buy the pattern from the Ravelry Downloads for French Press Felted Slippers.

Once you have the pattern, all you need is the yarn, needles and buttons for the slippers.  We are going to use Cascade 220, or Malabrigo Worsted Merino, of which you will need 2 balls, and 10mm needles (when you felt yarn, you knit it up really loose, then shrink it down in the washing machine), plus two buttons of your choice (we have a fine selection in store at the moment!) and I think I will go for some nice big leather buttons!

For our Knit-along, you don’t have to buy the yarn from us, or the buttons, or the needles in fact!  Just grab the pattern, get yourself a 100% wool (superwash won’t felt) 10ply/worsted weight wool and lets get knitting.

What we DO want from you are progress shots, as we’ll create a montage of during and after slippers.  EMAIL us to let us know you would like to join the knit-along, and then we’ll contact you to see how you’re going and gather a few piccys from you to post on the blog.

It’ll be fun, and it’s easy to get hooked on small projects, hence planning this one in plenty of time to get a few pairs knit for Christmas Presents.

Ok, for those of you who are spinners and chomping at the bit for Spun Out to open, this is probably just cruel of me, but I love to share (and tease you!).  This fibre is from The Thylacine, a Tassie lady who now resides in the UK.  It’s divine…..it’s actually a million times better than divine, especially the overdyed grey merino and oatmeal blue faced leicester!  But, you will have to wait (sorry folks, things are taking longer than expected!) but trust me, it will be SOOOO worth it!  For now, just ooogle, enjoy and anticipate!

Now I admit that I often get sidetracked by little bitty projects for the kids.  It takes some of the sting out of my larger, adult projects, and they are definitely quick fun fixes, plus this particular knit was EXTREMELY well received by son #2, Luka Jack!  He LOVES it, and take’s it everywhere, which is always a nice feeling for the knitter in question.  This Alien 22 pattern is available as a download, along with a host of other yummies too!  I knit this in a standard 8ply wool, and it’s great for using up scraps leftover from other projects.

Kathleen has knocked up a lovely knit, just in time for Spring/Summer!  This pattern is from Jo Sharp Knit Issue 5 called Ribbed Top, and she knit it in Jo Sharp Soho Summer Cotton.  It looks so lovely on her, and we can see she will easily get plenty of wear from it this Summer.

Keeping my two eldest sprogs entertained when they come back from School/Kindy is always a challenge, but we recently decided to have a play at dyeing yarn with the American powdered soft drink, Kool Aid (which I purchased from an Aussie supplier, but you can buy it off Ebay).  So, with two sachets of red and blue, I mixed up the powder with water, popped some pyrex baking dishes on the garden table, chucked in a hank of pre-wetted natural yarn, and let the boys have fun squirting on the colours.

A quick zap in the mircowave, a rinse, hang out to dry and VIOLA!  Two tasty skeins of yarn that my boys won’t let me knit with (Luka keeps his in his ’special’ box).

I would highly recommend this bit of creative fun, as a non-toxic alternative to yarn dyes (the wool smells yummy afterwards too!)

We LOVE this pattern….not least because it’s a freebie published in Knitty, but because it’s the perfect ‘gift knit’ using just one ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran!  The pattern is called Fetching and is a gorgeous fingerless glove design, with lovely cabling on the cuff.  Kathleen knit this pair as a gift for a lucky recipient in her ‘Christmas in July’ gathering….. it went down VERY well, as you can imagine!

Jemma has been busy completing projects (she’s on a roll!) and the latest was a divine pattern from Knit 1 Magazine Spring/Summer 2008 called Gathered Cardigan.  Jemma knit this from Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran (now discontinued) that she had in her stash, plus trimmed the bottom, cuffs and feature band with Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed in Licorice.  This is such a wearable knit, although Jemma cut down on the number of stitches she picked up around the bodice (there were a couple of hundred!) as she wanted it less billowy.

It’s been a while since I blogged, so apologies for my absence,  it’s been a shocking few weeks all round (I won’t bore you with the details).   We have all been knitting though, so I will be telling you all about it in the coming days.

One of Jemma’s finished projects (we like those the best!) is a pair of Skull Hats for her twin boys (oh the pain of having to make everything twice!) and she decided to make them in the Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Organic Cotton.  The combo was fantastic and Jemma has proclaimed that the yarn is now her new favourite (until the next one comes along).  It was a quick knit, with enough interest in the funky skull pattern to stop you getting bored and I think you’ll agree they look fab.