FO: Prairie Boots

What took me so long to finish these oh so cosy slippers? It wasn’t the knitting, that’s for sure. Thanks to bulky yarn and garter stitch I was able to make quick work of turning yarn into slippers. Even sewing on the suede soles went reasonably fast. The hold up turned out to be the weather and buttons. Mostly, buttons. For a few weeks, the weather was warm and bright. I packed up my winter jackets and extra warm knits. Why bother finishing a pair of slippers during my limited knitting time just to immediately stash them in a closet? Then Spring turned temperamental with surprise snow, cold nights, and sudden temperature swings. Finishing up a pair of warm slippers went to the top of my to-do list.

Now, about those buttons. I needed 12 of them, in 2 different designs, and getting out to the store took longer then I liked. Then I couldn’t decide which set I wanted to see when the cuffs were folded vs unfolded. My decision process turned out to be ignoring the whole project for a few weeks in hopes that the answer would suddenly present itself. There was no late night epiphany about which side to put which buttons, but I was finally able to make up my mind.

Gathering up the motivation to sew on 12 buttons took some doing as well. My tried-and-true method of setting a 20 minute timer and just getting stuff done didn’t really work for me this time around. I didn’t want to come back to this process day after day. I just wanted it done. So, one night after the chores were done and the Mini was asleep, I got to work. An hour and a half later, I had slippers complete with buttons! You better believe that I wore them for the rest of night.

My hack for faster sewing was attaching on the front and back buttons at the same time. I cut a longer length of thread, tied the thread in place, and sewed on button #1. After making the first button shank, I pulled the thread to the other side of the fabric and sewed on button #2. Only having to thread a needle and prep it for sewing 6 times instead of 12 sped things up a lot.

The weather is still flip flopping between clear sunny skies, chilly rain and fog, and the occasional surprise snow. So I’ve been wearing these slippers a lot to keep my toes warm, especially during these last few cold and snowy days. They are definitely warm and cosy. My only real complaint was that I wish they had more structure. Maybe working at a tighter gauge would have helped or adding a stiffer one piece sole. Still, I love these slippers and the option to wear the cuffs up when I need the added warmth. Plus, it’s nice knowing they’ll be ready and waiting for me this Fall.

The Specs:

Pattern: Prairie Boots by Julie Weisenberger

Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Chunky - Sunset (Upper) and Pearl Ten (Sole)

Needles: US 9 (5.5 mm) and US 10 (6 mm)

Date: February 24 - April 4, 2019

More details on the Ravelry project page