March Means Crochet!

Since March is National Crochet Month (designated by the Crochet Guild of America) I thought I'd make my first post in March crochet related. And it really is perfect timing. My mother-in-law's birthday falls in March and last year I let Adam be in charge of choosing a gift for her. Needless to say, he waited until the last minute then asked if I could make her something. So this year I thought we'd just avoid all the commotion and I just went ahead and said, "I'm making your mom slippers for her birthday."  I did have him help pick the yarn out of my stash so he could at least be somewhat participatory. 

The pattern I decided to use is the Felted Crochet Slippers. These seem to be a crochet version of the French Press Felted Slippers and while I almost chose that pattern, I figured I could probably work up the crochet version much faster. And I did. 

These took a total of about two and a half hours to crochet. I did the first slipper last Monday, crocheting a row at random moments throughout the day, and the second slipper and straps last night in a little over an hour. Not bad. One of my main concerns with the crocheted version of the slippers was how well they would felt. I saw a few versions on Ravelry where there was still a lot of stitch definition and they didn't look very felted. 

My other concern was the sizing. My mother-in-law wears a size 7 and the pattern comes in small (size 5/6), medium (size 7/8), and large (9/10). I went with the small because I know that the felting will ultimately stretch some. 

 

I tried these on, all damp and steamy, post-felting and they are just a smidge big on me (I wear a 6 1/2) so I think they'll be fine for her. 

I'm also pretty pleased with how well they felted! I used Fisherman's Wool (Adam wanted "something neutral" and liked the color) and felted the slippers for about 17 minutes, and the straps for 5 minutes more.

While you can still see through some of the stitches, it's pretty dense. Now just to find some buttons while I'm waiting for the slippers to dry. Then a wee bit of assembly and they'll be done. I can't wait!