Tøfler

Have you ever heard of Arne and Carlos? You haven't? Well, let me tell you that they are two Swedish guys who love knitting and write books with lots of great patterns, for lots of different things like dolls or tøfler. And that is Norwegian for slippers. 

Before I started with Mice for Mama, I had bought the doll book (I tried, too fiddly) and the slipper book. Mainly inspired by the sister of a colleague (who I actually never met, but the colleague spoke highly of her and her experiences in 'toving' or felting), I thought I might give the slippers a go. I even bought some wool to give it a try. I never got around to do it though. 

Until I started Mice for Mama that is. After weeks and weeks of working on other things (ie the books) and knitting mice (did you know you can even place an order for favourite colours?), I thought that I might try and diversify and knit something else as well. But fit for Mice for Mama!

Before they were washed and with the heads unfilled

So, one afternoon I got out the book (remember it's in Norwegian), the wool and then started hunting for my sock needles. I found lots of them, but not in the size in wanted. Of course! But, in the end I managed to locate the right quintet and off I went. The first thing I noticed was how hard it actually was on my hands. I am a loose knitter and that caused me to use the smallest size possible for the wool's thickness, so as not to make something that doesn't work. 

After a while though, I got the hang of it and tried to follow the instructions. Which were simple and easy and totally understandable. Before I knew it, I had the heel done (the trickiest part) and then the rest of the slipper. It looked good as well, albeit a bit big (it's the smallest size slipper). I then went on to make the second slipper, which was even easier, since I now knew what to do. 

But I wasn't done there yet! Because the slippers have to be fit for Mice for Mama and that means that mice have to be included. So, off I went to find my thin felting wool and some knitting needles. Which proved tricky, since I have every size under the sun, expect the one I needed. In the end I found one that was nearly there (only a quarter off) and they turned out to be perfect. 

The slippers weren't ready then. They needed to be washed and so do the mousies' heads. They are washed at a higher temperature than should be used for wool (40 instead of 30 degrees) and that means shrinkage! Which is exactly what is supposed to happen. After they had dried out, I stuffed the heads and sewed them to the slippers. But, to me it doesn't look good. Well, not good enough anyway. I will have to come up with another solution!