Have You Met Sam Barsky? If Not, You Should

I was introduced to Sam Barsky, in the virtual sense, through a knitting group on Facebook.

Like many of us, Sam has a knitting-related obsession. His is sweater knitting.

In particular, knitting pictoral sweaters of landmarks or with a particular theme, which he often coordinates with visits to the landmarks or places depicted on his garments.

An imgur gallery posted by somebody called DesmondthePotato is making the rounds, which collects some of Sam’s pictures of himself in sweaters related to the places he is visiting. There’s Sam in a New York City sweater at Times Square, wearing a polar bear sweater at the zoo, and a Stonehenge-inspired number in front of that monument.

Sam is amazingly creative and his sweaters are amazing wearable postcards full of memories. He’s been featured in art shows and recently knit a commemorative sweater featuring tiny versions of his sweaters in commemoration of his 100th sweater. Unbelievable! Check him out on Facebook to see a lot more of his fantastic designs.

[Photo via Facebook.]

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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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