Felted ballet flats

One of my favorite knitting projects so far has been these felted ballet flats that I knit for my mom's Christmas present.

I found the pattern, French Press Slippers, one night when I was browsing Ravelry and instantly wanted to try it. A neat feature of Ravelry is that you can download patterns - some are free and some you buy. It has become a very popular pattern and I can see why - it is fast and so cute!

I knit the majority of the slipper pieces during the car ride home from Minnesota after Thanksgiving. They are created on size 15 needles with a double strand of yarn (tripple for the soles), so they go fast. I used Pattons Classic wool in cognac heather.

I laid out all the pieces and began sewing them together when we got home. Greg and I laughed at them the rest of the night. Sure, mom would love these giant, foot shaped yarn boats. I'm always a little nervous about throwing things in the washing machine to felt, but this time it really seemed that there was no where to go but up.

Could I have possible followed the directions correctly if they looked like this?
Sasquatch slippers!


But, after only about 15 minutes in the hot water of the washing machine...
To shape the slippers you put them on your feet after every 5 to 10 minutes of felting. My mom's feet are about a half size smaller than mine, so I figured if they were a sung fit barefoot for me then she'd be good to wear them with thin socks if she wanted. One thing I really like about this pattern is that the heel is gathered a bit before felting, so in the finished slipper it cups the foot.

After sewing on the tabs and buttons they were finished! I also followed the suggestion to use puff paint on the bottoms to make them non-slip.
I plan to knit some for myself too!