So I did end up felting the French Press Felted Slippers this past Monday. Maybe waiting until 10:30pm to start the process wasn't necessarily the best idea but that's how we roll in the world of the Serial Hobbyist.
As per the instructions, I zipped the pieces into a pillowcase and threw it in my washing machine (top loader) along with a pair of jeans and some flip flops, a tip courtesy of an old LimenViolet podcast. I set the machine to the hottest temperature setting and added a little bit of detergent to the water and settled in with a pile of catalogs to watch and wait. Some additional thoughts on felting in general can be found here.
Overall the process went fairly smoothly. During the initial stages I checked the progress of the slippers every five minutes. As predicted there were some holey areas along the seams of the slippers which I was able to sew up with a darning needle and some scraps of the Patons yarn. Here's a tip: be sure to have plenty of extra yarn on hand during the felting process as you don't want to leave the slippers unattended for any length of time. Also, take the time to sew up the holes. You'll end up getting a little wet and soapy but it's worth it to get a better finished product.
So the straps felted in about ten minutes. The left slipper felted down to the correct size after approximately twenty minutes, but it seemed like it took forever to get the right slipper (marked with a stitch marker) to the point where I was happy with it. I even took the left slipper out at one point and let the right slipper go it alone. Throughout the process I was molding the slippers to my feet. Initially I was sliding my feet into plastic bags before trying on the slippers, but after you're wet enough this doesn't seem to matter any more. I did have a couple of towels down on the floor of the basement to sop up any excess water. I called it quits around midnight as I'd felted the slippers to the point where I was satisfied with them. The slippers were stuffed with plastic bags and left to dry. The drying process itself took about 3+ days. The end result? Well, see for yourself:



I love how these slippers turned out. They're nice and cushy and fit my feet perfectly. I think I will redo the straps, though. I had modified this portion of the pattern in hopes of achieving a narrower strap, but I don't think it really works with the slipper. I'll knit up and felt another pair of straps as written and see how those work out. Of course, the project can't be considered complete without the buttons. I love the vintage leather buttons that Melynda uses on the majority of her slippers. I was able to find similar buttons on the M & J Trimming site for a pretty reasonable price. I should get the buttons within the next few days and will sew them on as soon as I can. Although specific instructions on how to sew on the straps are not included in the pattern I did post a comment on her blog and she shared some insights with me. I'll be sure to link to that once the slippers are officially done.

Progress on the Little Pumpkins Socks has been slow this week and not for lack of trying on my part. Let me start off by saying that I know how to do cables. I just haven't done them in a while. I really don't know what I was thinking when I looked at the 14 stitch pattern repeat and did not notice that each cable was worked over 4 stitches -- I ended up counting the cable symbol as one stitch and then...I don't know. It just defies all logic, although it made sense to me at the time. After kicking myself in the head I was able to get back on track...sort of:



I love this pattern. I love the color of the yarn. I just don't love the yarn itself -- Beaches from Creatively Dyed. The yarn is just too springy and I think this has a lot to do with the twist. It just makes it very awkward to knit with as it keeps kinking up. I'd scrap it altogether, but the color is fabulous and it has great yardage -- 500 yards per skein! I guess I'll keep going, if only for the sake of getting the stuff out of my stash.

I had an interesting idea yesterday for something that could very well become the first ever Serial Hobbyist design! It was actually inspired by something my mother in law brought back from China (thankfully not the Mao Zedong t-shirt -- still have no words to describe that one). I'm still chewing over the details so be sure to check back periodically regarding updates on the mystery design project.