Ever have a yarn languish in your stash because you're just not sure to what to do with it? That was the plight of four skeins of Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica that I had purchased several years ago at my favorite LYS in Jackson, Mississippi. I was drawn to the gorgeous variegated colors and yummy fiber, but the wooliness of the yarn gave me pause the longer I lived in our humid Mississippi climate. It just wasn't yarn that I wanted next to my neck (makes me sweat thinking about it!) and the thick and thin nature of the yarn put me off most of my go-to patterns. So the poor skeins sat untouched for quite some time ... then for whatever reason I started looking at slipper patterns for potential Christmas knitting this year. And ta-da! Someone had made a gorgeous pair of slippers using this exact yarn in the exact colorway. And then I knew exactly what to do with it! Nothing makes me happier then finally finding a yarn's purpose!
I ended up using a different slipper pattern than the original inspiration, but I love these just as much! This is a free pattern, which is written to be knit flat and seamed. Given my despise of seaming, I instead knit the ribbed cuffs in the round, and switched to flat knitting for the foot (since I equally loathe knitting garter stitch in the round). After knitting the cuffs you knit the top of the foot by itself, and then pick up stitches around its edge to knit the sole. Then I did a three-needle bind-off to close the bottom of the foot, leaving only 1.5 inches of the back of the heel to actually seam. Yippee! They are soft, cushy, and totally dreamy. This pair I'm claiming for myself--they are such a treat to wear--but already have a second pair started in my remaining Manos (a yummy red) to be gifted away.
Pattern: Nola's slipper pattern, a freebie (scroll to the bottom for a link to the pdf)! (link to my Ravelry project page)
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica (used about 1.5 skeins)
Needles: size 8
Mods: Pattern is written with yarn held double to make a man-sized slipper. To fit a size 9 women’s foot, I used aran weight yarn (held single, not doubled) and size 8 needles. Otherwise followed pattern exactly!
6 comments:
I definitely have some yarns that I'm clueless about what to do with (I'm thinking specifically of a bamboo/cotton blend), however, I don't think I've ever heard of someone having that issue with Manos. Super cute project!
those slippers are gorgeous!
They are exactly what I've been looking for! Thank you for posting and showing such a wonderful simple but lovely version!
What a lovely use of that yarn. Manos is one of my favorite yarn to work with, but I understand not wanting it next to your face skin. This is a perfect pattern for the yarn. Great gift idea, it would be an honor to receive your slippers.
She Knits in Pearls
Love them! I have some of that colorway myself in two weights.
Thanks for the link, I've been looking for something like this for ages and I think this might just be the pattern I'm after.
They look lovely and comfortable.
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