Scandinavian Slippers

This book (1) caught my eye in the library and I thought I would have my first attempt at twined knitting. 

Rather than just jump in I thought I would knit the sample pair as suggested but do them in ‘my colours’ rather than the different ones recommended. (The different colours are so you can see the different stages, which was a great idea.) 

I used my own Norfolk Horn hand spun yarn from a local farm which measured 11 wpi. I teamed this with some Hebridean  Double Knit (14wpi) yarn which I bought from Denise Bridges (2) when we were last in South Uist. I used this Hebridean yarn double and the pair of slippers took the whole of a 50g ball.

I used my knitting belt and 3 dpns size 3.5mm. The cast on was a 2 strand circular cast on, something I had not done before. 

I found twined knitting slow, you need to keep stopping to untwist the yarns but the effect is great. The fabric this combination of yarns gave was super firm and just what is needed for slippers. 

The construction was interesting, you knit a sealed envelope that looks like this.

Stitches are then picked up either side of a waste yarn, which is then removed. Short row knitting gives a triangular insert either side and then a cuff is knitted which could be as long as you wanted. I made mine following the instructions, as this is a trial knit and topped the cuff with Estonian Braid following instructions from my workshop with Hadewych van der Werf in Shetland Wool Week, last year (3)

 

Completed slippers, showing sole and top side and you can see the twined knitting inside.(4)

I was very pleased with the result and the slippers fit well. I will use them as an alternative pair of ‘handbag’ slippers, ie the ones I take with me when visiting friends. 

I am looking forward to knitting another pair inspired by the book, which I have now bought for Kindle at a reasonable price. 

1. The book is Knitting Scandinavian Slippers and Socks. The explanations are very thorough. I really like Laura Farson’s  style. 
2. Denise runs the Hebridean Woolshed (www.hebrideanwoolshed.scot). There is a campsite next door which includes a great cafe. A wonderful  part of the world. 
3. ‘Knitting across Borders’ workshop described on blog post of 23 Jan 2020
4. The pattern gave a ribbed sole but I did it differently !