twinkletoes ballet slippers

i apologise for yet another set of creatively modelled 'object laid flat on fugly carpet' pictures. i would have modeled these cute little twinkletoes, but, uh, they were for a swap and i think Meshell would've preferred that I didn't stuff my own feet inside her shoelettes (they're not quite a shoe, not quite a sock). oh, and thel heel is neatly folded down in these photos, which is why the shoelettes look a little short.


these were nice to knit up. i substituted the cotton/ acrylic recommended for pure merino, because it was the colour that was asked for. I think the merino will hold shape better anyway. I also did the ribbing round the foothole with 3.5mm needles. the pattern doesn't call for any change of needle, but i found that resulted in unsightly gaping (imagine i said that in a disapproving, plummy dishwashing detergent ad voice).

i also felt the finished slipper was a little bland looking. i tried threading a ribbon round the ribbing, but it just looked blah. so i settled on little crocheted flowers, with centres made of buttons covered with red tartan. i'm quite proud of the flowers. i can't really crochet and i certainly can't read a crochet pattern to save my life*, so i found an illustrated pattern online, and sort of winged it based on that.

and i was kindly gifted some dark reddish leather to do the soles. i traced the toe and heel part from a pair of ballet slipper-style shoes i own, and then made it look a little smoother.

the left heel in the picture is not terribly discoloured. it's actually wet all through. i started to block the slippers, then realised i wasn't sure that soaking leather was the best idea, so i stopped. but that heel had got wet. as it was, it turns out you can block leather! that heel went nice and smooth and tight, compared to the others. it just takes a few days to dry.

* in my head i've named the stitches. there's 'the ordinary one', and 'the stabby-stabby one', and 'the one that fixes the stabby-stabby one'.