The Fulled Slippers

I've been trying something new the past few days.

You see, while I was on holiday, I knit two giant socks, very loosely, from the untreated yarn I won an eternity ago. It was last month? Oh, okay. Anyway, I made big, unwearable socks. I could hide my entire arm in them and still have room to spare.

Then I bought myself some washing machine bags. The kind to protect clothing from other things in the laundry while it's in the machine. It was recommended so as not to kill the filter in the machine.

Then I threw the socks, safely zippered away in the bags, into their very own laundry. Sixty degrees, high agitation, cold rinse.

They got smaller and fuzzier, but they were still big.

I repeated the process over and over until I was satisfied. In total, it took five hours and a half runs. Inbetween, I got hopeful three times that they'd fit, but all they did was make my feet wet and leave puddles all over the apartment.

Today, I think I reached the moment I was waiting for. My socks have shrunk to fit my feet, in a thick, felted, knitted fabric. The process I used is called fulling, technically, but everyone calls it felted knitting, since that's what it basically is.

It's amazing. The fabric is thicker, and the holes inbetween my stitches have felted shut, but the fabric still breathes a bit. Also, as scratchy as my yarn is, it's wondrously soft after its long rage against the machine. The fuzz is wrapped around my feet like a golden cloud of warmth. And still they're not too hot to wear with this weather. I'm in love. Wool is a magical resource.

Of course, these slippers don't have the arch support my Birkenstocks have, but my Birkenstocks, both pairs, need replacing. They're smelly, and they don't fit as well when my feet are swollen. So while I shop around for a new pair, I'll wear these puppies around the house.

In the mean while, I'm eyeing the yarn I have left over. It's three skeins and some change. I could make more slippers, but I wanna experiment with smaller projects first. Will a higher temperature felt faster? Should I get some tennis balls to throw in there?

And, most important question of all, should I start saving to buy some more untreated wool of rare breeds in their gloriously natural colors?