Monday, December 3, 2018

The Ugly Slippers

My great-grandmother taught me to knit when I was 16. (This was my mother's mother's mother.) The reasons why are a story for another day. She started me off learning the knit and purl stitch. Then she gave me my first project, a pair of slippers.

I knew the slippers. GramMavis made them for everyone in the family.

I no longer possess my first project. Those slippers wore out a long time ago.

But, over the years, I have made other pairs of slippers for me and for others in the family. (GramMavis passed in the early '90s.) Not for a few years, however.

Christmas is coming. Upon discussions with the family (where I threatened various things if they did not give me an idea of what to make them), the idea of slippers came up. I can knit slippers. I don't even need to go out and buy more yarn. I don't even really need to look up a pattern. I know this one by heart.

But, they are rather ugly...


Once they get washed and worn, they stretch and mold to the feet.

The only concern was that the soles are yarn, and they have non-carpeted floors. I looked online for a solution, and I'm going to attempt to add a bit of a nonslip sole to them, but that's a project for another time...


I'll do the soles all at once. I'm making four pairs of these.


If you've noticed, these have two colors. Red and purple. And yes, I did that deliberately. I mean, they are ugly slippers. So, I double down and look for the most glaring color combination I can find. I'm particularly fond of purple and orange, but I make the combo for me.

Perhaps I should offer these in my Etsy shop. Do you think anyone would want a pair?

22 comments:

  1. My mom made similar slippers and all who got them liked them and wore them, LOL. I do agree with the non slip thingy though to keep people safe on hardware floors. I might consider buying a pair if you did put them in your eTSY shop. If you want to share it, I'd love to hear how the story came about that you learned to knit from her. I think its neat that you had a great grandmother alive when you were 16. I didn't have that opportunity (not even a grandmother alive at that age)

    betty

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  2. That is so nice that your grandmother showed you how to knit and that you have this memory and carry on this craft. I think you should post these because you may think they are ugly but another person will think they are the best! I don't think they are ugly at all

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    1. The aesthetic has changed over the years. They may have come back into fashion. But when I made my first pair, they were decidedly not in fashion.

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  3. Love it! I bet you would have buyers. Not me, though, because my feet are sweating in sandals today. ??? I hope you'll share the story of your tutelage. Did it have something to do with busying an energetic child? ~grin~ Be well!

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    1. Energetic child?!? LOL. No. It took years for various health care practioners to figure out how to make sure I wasn't tired all the time. I could barely function until I was in my mid 30s.

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  4. I've never worn slippers, but I'm sure there's someone who'd want them. Especially with you leaning into the aesthetic like that :)

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  5. I love slippers, but I find it's not often cold enough in Florida for me to wear them. My great-grandmother always made mittens for the entire family every year, and now my mom makes them. I have quite a few pairs, but they only are worn now when I get to make a trip home in winter.

    I think if you could work out the non-slip thing that people would be interested in the slippers.

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  6. Its worth a try. Your ugly slippers might turn out to be a smash hit and yield run away sales with shoppers

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  7. Your great grandmother - how fortunate you were! One of my grandmothers died years before I was born and the other passed when I was 10 (and was in a nursing home for her last three years). I haven't been able to walk in slippers without nonslip soles for several years. It's amazing what happens when you turn 60 or so. But yes, I think you would have a market for them.

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    1. That seems to be the consensus. I'll have to look into how to list them.

      As for having a living great-grandmother... Her daughter had been dead for about a decade prior to this. Her grandson had passed a few years before that. She was the only living elder relative on that side of the family for a while.

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  8. I think it's great that you learned how to knit from someone in your family. It's a great skill to have.

    Go ahead and try selling them. You never know how many people might want a pair.

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    1. That seems to be the consensus. I'll look into it. Probably not until the new year.

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  9. I think people would like them, especially if you let them choose what color they wanted.

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  10. They are so ugly, they are darn cute! They remind me of 1960s desert shoes, I think that's what they're called. I'm with others—offer the slippers for sale.

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  11. YES! Knitted slippers - with the booty style, especially - are the BEST for curling your feet up under you as you watch TV or read on cold days or nights.

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  12. As long as they keep feet warm, who cares if they're ugly slippers?

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    1. Well, there are plenty of patterns for cute slippers...

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  13. I am sure someone would want it. Looks nice, and I am sure it serves the purpose.

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  14. They don't have to be ugly...I mean you could use two strands of black, or whatever. There used to be a spray I got at the hardware store that you could spray on slippers to make them less slippery. I don't know if that's still exists, or what it was called. I recognize that slipper pattern from my childhood as well, lol My first pair were pink as I recall. Not the ones I made, but the ones I first remember wearing. I've not actually made them. Perhaps I should. Going to leave you a different link with this comment to my personal blog...just thought you might like a change of pace. There are yarny things there.

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    1. I could, but when there are all sorts of cuter patterns out there, why mess with the aesthetic of these? I rather like going full ugly with them.

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