Check Out Judith Durant’s Sweaters for Carousel

The worlds of knitting and Broadway might not mix often, but when they do, the result is pretty cool.

I love this story from the New York Times about the sweaters knit from the musical Carousel by Judith Durant, whose name you might know because she was an editor for Interweave. She was tasked with knitting 13 sweaters for the cast, but she ended up enlisting the aid of other knitters to help her meet the deadline.

The sweaters are made of acrylic so they can be washed daily, and they’re meant to look like the men knit the garments themselves so there are intentional mistakes. They are tight fitting and most feature horizontal stripes.

Durant said she gained 10 pounds and binge watched a lot of TV while working on the sweaters, sometimes working from 6 am until 2 am the next day.

From the results — and the Tony nomination for show’s costume designer — the effort was well worth it.

[Photo: Cody O’Loughlin of the New York Times.]

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The felted slipper craze that began last year doesn’t seem like it’s fading away. The Sailor Slippers, often striped knit and felted slippers made with super bulky yarn, because the project of the moment late last year (check out more knit slipper options in this post all about sailor slippers) and they’re still consistently popular with knitters.

Which makes sense because they are fun and fast to knit, and seeing them go from this giant thing to something that actually fits a foot feels a little magical.

I have always loved felting (in fact my first book was about felting knitting) and it’s always fun for me to see people rediscover this technique.

If you’ve knit enough plain slippers to fit all the feet you know, maybe it’s time to stitch up some tabi style slippers instead.

Maymade Knits has designed these cute tabi ballerina slippers, made with bulky yarn and felted. They’re worked flat at first and then in rounds, and are available in 10 EU sizes (the Internet tells me add 31 to your American shoe size to get your EU size). The designer says the slippers are meant to have a close fit and you should choose a size a little smaller than your foot for the ideal fit.

The pattern includes a video tutorial along with the written pattern.

You can grab this pattern on Ravelry. The same designer has her own version of the striped felted slipper as well, called Sarah’s Striped Slippers. These are worked in super bulky yarn and have a contrasting foot and a striped body. These are knit flat and seamed and there are 7 size options available. Check that pattern out here if you’re looking for a more traditional slipper shape. They also look roomier so you can wear them with socks if you like.

[Photo: Maymade Knits]

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