Yarn Line Celebrates the National Parks

I received word recently about an interesting project that I thought some of you might be interested in.

Knitting Our National Parks, a project at Indie Untangled, is bringing together indie dyers to create colorways inspired by photos of the national parks from the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Instagram feed, with 10 perecent of sales donated to the National Park Foundation.

A new color will launch every other month. The project kicked off with yarn dyed by Alice O’Reilly of Backyard Fiberworks inspired by a photo of North Cascades National Park in Washington State. Preorders for the first colorway run through June 30, with the next color by Pigeonroof Studios released at the beginning of August. Other dyers signed on include Jill Draper Makes Stuff, Duck Duck Wool and Canon Hand Dyes.

The yarn is a 100 percent Merino superwash sportweight yarn and runs 328 yards. It retails (this month, anyway) for $26.

It’s a beautiful project for a great cause, so check it out if you’re a nature-loving knitter!

[Photo: Indie Untangled.]

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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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