I knit the viral Sailor Slippers - my honest experience

We wanted to try out making these sailor slippers and this pattern everyone is talking about. So, I want to know what all the hype is about. I love the colors pink and blue. So, that's what I chose for mine. So, I wanted these cute little stripes and my partner just wanted plain green ones. So, that's what he will be getting. And we're going to be matching which makes me very, very happy. So this is the story of our sailor slippers. [music] So, I want to try making the really, really popular and I guess you could call them a little bit viral uh Sailor Slippers by Annie So. Um I ordered my yarn about a week ago and it just arrived. So, I'm really really excited to keep going and I thought I would take you with me because I think it'll be a really fun project. Of course, I can't just make one pair of sailor slippers. I'm not sure many people can. I think what I've seen a lot of people make multiple pairs. So, I've chosen to make one for myself and one for my partner because actually he was the one who requested them. So, I thought, well, if you're going to get a pair, then I better make myself a pair, too. Um, so yeah, I should probably also introduce myself. My name is Era. I am a knitter based out of Austria and beautiful Austrian Alps. And our winters are pretty cold here, so these slippers I think would be a really good addition to like our wardrobe, I guess. Um, the main reason my uh partner wanted them was because he uh spends a lot of time like woodworking outside on our balcony and we have tiles outside so his feet are getting really cold. So, he just kind of came up with it. He was like, "Hey, can you like felt me a pair of slippers?" And then I thought, well, there is a pattern right now that's really, really popular, and I kind of want to find out why, and I want to make my own. So, I've ordered my yarn, and we're going to get going. Okay, before I get started though, I'm going to talk about the pattern really quickly. It was a little bit of a pricier pattern. I think I paid around €9. I mean, of course, it depends where you are in terms of taxes and how much of the rivalry price, like how much rivalry prices you for, cuz I think it's like dependent on the country. Um, so it was a little bit of a pricey pattern, but what was not pricey at all was the yarn. I had bought the pattern first to see what yarn was suggested. I'm sure it's also in rivalry, but I knew I was going to make them, so might as well buy the pattern. And the yarn suggested was the drops snow, and that's exactly the one I got. So, I ordered myself a lot of balls of drops. Now, actually, the color combination is essentially a sole color and then a striped color and then the I cord around the like top color. So, I guess you can use up to four colors. Um, for my one, I've chosen to use three colors. So, my stripe combination will be these two. It is color number 37, which is this baby blue, and color number 30, which is this like a little bit of a muted pink. In all honesty, I thought the blue was going to be a little bit more green. I thought it was going to be like a turquoise, but it is definitely more of a light blue. I would call it like a like a faded sky blue kind of. Um, but I'm not really bothered by it. I'm still going to use these as stripes. And then my base color is going to be this gray color, which is color number 46. Um, when you're making these, you have to be careful because you need yarn that obviously felts. Um, so the drop snow is a single ply yarn, but it's super super like thick. I think it's classified as bulky. Um, is 100% wool, which I think is important because of the felting process, which happens in the washing machine. And it suggested needle size is 9 mm needles. It runs 50 m for 50 g. So, it is a very bulky yarn. So, the those are the colors I chose for myself. I'm not too sure I remember right now, but I paid around I think it was €2 for one of these skes. I will put the actual price somewhere in here. I might be a little bit off. Um, so really affordable. I mean, these are going to go like crazy cuz 50 m in 50 g is really low. I think that's like the bulkiest I've ever actually knit with something. Um, but yeah, I hope I bought enough. So, I got like whatever the pattern told me and usually get like a little bit more. So, we'll see. My partner has chosen or he chose his own colors and he went with the same gray as the base. Again, that's color number 46. And then his top, he wanted this one, which is color number 97. Um, and it is this beautiful like dark green color. It is definitely like a cooler toned foresty green color. It's not a turquoise though, but it's also not like your super warm toned um dark green. And he doesn't want stripes. He just wants it plain with the uh gray as the base. And I think he also wants a gray eye cord. So, we'll see about that. Um so, yeah. I guess my entire color collection looks like this, which I'm really excited about. I think they'll be super cute. I have heard so many mixed reviews about these. People are finding them way too like long to knit because apparently obviously with the felting it decreases and you have to actually knit like way more than what they're going to like end up as. But I guess it's to be expected if you're felting something. Um most people love them. I'm also sure I'm going to love them. One thing is I did felt a pair of slippers before and there was definitely a lot of things that I wish I'd done differently. I wasn't freehanding them. I wasn't using a pattern. This must have been like over 5 years ago. Um, I'm not actually sure where they are at the moment. I guess they're at some family's house. I'm not sure. Um, and I also used felting yarn and then I also added like wooden uh I added like rubber dots at the bottom to prevent them from slipping. So, we'll see how slippery these are cuz then I might like need to go out and buy some of that as well. But enough ranting on about all of that. I'm going to get knitting. I'm really excited. I don't think I'm going to skate swatch because I don't know. I'm using the suggested yarn and the suggested needle size, which is an 8 mm needle by the way, and I'm usually okay at getting gauge and if it's a half stitch plus or minus, it's I don't think it'll matter that much for this pattern because you like pull it after felting anyways into the right shape. So, I'm just going to trust that. I don't recommend it if you're a new knitter or just for any knitter. Like, I always recommend gauge swatching. Heat. Heat. N. [music] >> [music] >> Hey, [music] hey, hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> So, I finished my first slipper, and I knew this was going to happen. I knew it was going to be big, but like I didn't expect it to be this big. >> [gasps] >> This is obviously the one for my partner uh just colorwise and we're making this in the size I think 45 or 46 or something. So it's like the third last size from like the all the sizes the pattern gives gives. But it's so big. I mean I kind of expected it to be big. I mean you see all the real you see all like the everywhere on the internet these are right now. But like I think until you actually make it, you don't realize like how big that is. And this is like a good I don't know half a meter. So yeah, but pattern wise I will say like it's a really well written pattern. Like it really goes into all the details which for me like I kind of prefer my patterns to be a little bit less like detailed because I mean I've been knitting a long time. I like know what I'm doing. Uh or at least for simple patterns like this, I know what I'm doing. So, it's really nice that this pattern goes into all that detail. Personally, like I don't think I prefer that. But I think if you're a beginner, this is an amazing pattern for you because it really talks you through everything. And this thing, I wish I had timed myself because I will time myself like for the next one I'm making. Actually, already started the second one. Um, so I'll probably time myself for the ones for me that I'm making, but it took me longer than expected. I mean, the gauge here, it is really big, but it's still definitely like a lot of knitting. It is knit in a way that you like knit it in one long piece essentially, which was I think over a meter long. Um, so it definitely took a while. There's also a lot more increasing and decreasing. I didn't know there was a left and right to this pattern. I just thought they were both going to be the same thing. But if you look here, especially like at the bottom, you can see it like there is definitely foot and toe shaping and that here there's more decreases than over here. So, that's a really nice surprise. Like that's a nice addition like that I wasn't expecting with this pattern. Um, and the eye cord. I read online that a lot of people like thought it was tricky to get through like the entrance of it, but like this is so wide. So, I'm not really concerned about that. I'll have to like make sure that I stretch that in the right way um when blocking. Yeah. So, this is number one out of four. I guess I'm not sure if I'll like felt them when the second one of this is done or if I just will make the four and then felt them all together in the washing machine. But just a quick check in. [laughter] This looks ridiculous. Like my foot probably could fit like until here. Maybe not, but almost. Um, yeah, I'm getting some questions and I'm I keep saying just trust the pattern. Just trust the pattern. It'll work out fine. And that's all I'm banking on right now. And I know it will shrink obviously, but I hope it shrinks enough. I mean, this is this is large. But anyways, uh, in terms of the yarn, I did have a break once when I was doing the sewing. The pattern tells you to like twist the yarn and I understand why. Um because it does tend to break when you like keep pulling on it with sewing. You put a lot of tension on your yarn with every stitch. Um so I think that tension repeated kind of caused the yarn to break. It didn't break while knitting, so that was totally fine. Um but you do do a lot of sewing. You sew the whole edge. It's a lot of sewing. I'm not the biggest sewing fan either. And I was actually thinking of ways that you could alter this pattern so that you didn't have to sew so much. But I honestly can't think of a way because of the color change. I mean, if you want to do like inia or like I don't know panel knitting, then it could work. But I just feel like that's a lot of work for something like as simple as the sweater. So, for now, I'll be sewing. And here's my first one. This is so funny. So, I finished both my slippers. Here they are. I think these look really, really funny. Um, yeah, it's one thing seeing it on like videos and just like shorts and rails of people, but like seeing them in front of you like this is a whole another thing. Like they are actually massive. I think they look smaller on camera than they are. It's probably I'm going to estimate like half a meter per slipper. So, I'm putting a lot of trust in my washing machine to hopefully have it all work out and them end up like at least like somewhere in the area or in the size that I need them to. So, I'm going to put these in and I don't think I'm going to push any deterg uh put any detergent or anything. I'm just going to um put them in, put a spin cycle. I think like around 1,000 on 40°, so it is a little bit warmer. And then I just hopefully like hope that they do their thing. Maybe I'll put like a little drop of wool wash. Um but not more than that for sure. So yeah, I mean right now they're very like kind of loose holy. Um I still have no idea if I met gauge or not cuz I haven't measured. Um, I did use the 8 millimeter needles that were suggested and the same yarn, so I don't think I'm far off if anything. So, here we go. Part of me is pretty nervous. So, I think I'm going to take some pictures and stuff before this starts. Okay, so I'm going to put like two drops of this. Um, it's the ukulin delicate unscented non or it's the ukulin delicate unscented will wash lan lenoline enriched laundry concentrate. So, it doesn't contain any of like the bleach or the other like purifiers that I don't really want to be messing with these. So, I'm literally just going to put a tiny little drop. I know you can put like a towel or something else to like help the felting, but I just kind of want to see what happens like this first and then if I feel like they need more felting, I can always do that in another cycle. I also like I will make a second pair. But because I I don't know, I trust the process, but like I want to really be able to trust the process. So, I'm going to do these first, let these felt first, and then I'll make my pair. Um, and see how everything goes. And yeah, also I am just a little bit impat impatient and I just want to see how these turn out. So I'll talk to you in about an hour and a half or so once this is done. And yeah, I'm a little bit nervous. We'll see how it goes. [music] So while my other slippers are in the washer, I'm going to start on my own pair. So, I have my yarn here. I'm going to go back to the living room and start on this. I'm also going to time myself um how long I need for one slipper. Now, of course, I'm making this in a smaller size. I'm a European 4142, which is still large for women's, but smaller than like the 45 that I made for him. Um, and I'm excited for stripes. I felt like the other one was very monochromatic. Um, so yeah, this one should be really fun. So, I'm going to go over and start on my third sailor slipper. Um, I guess there's four in total, two pairs. So, let's get going. [music] >> [music] >> So, the sailor slippers are finally finished. [laughter] It was a little bit of a process with the washing. Um, as you can probably tell, it is a new day. It is now uh the next day. Yesterday I did two cycles of an hour long at 1,000 spin [snorts] whatever thousand at the washing machine setting. I don't know what it is like spins per minute I think. I'm not sure. And one at 1,200 and they were still kind of like this big. And then we kind of just went to bed last night and then I was like you know what this is a problem for tomorrow. So this morning I put in another one with uh 1,400 and then I threw in a towel which I think was necessary and I stopped that cycle halfway through. So I stopped it after about an hour and then they were almost too felted. So then we had to pull them quite a bit and this is what they look like now. So we pulled them like it was it took a lot of force. It was definitely not easy. There was two of us literally like one yanking on the side, one on this side making sure that the opening was going to be uh large enough. But this is them now. They're obviously like still damp. We have been drying them the whole day. I did like blowd dry them a little bit to just like help them cuz they're super heavy and super like like firm. They're almost like I don't know if you can hear that. There's like a solidness to them. So, the first pair is done, [laughter] which I'm really excited about. He's also really excited about them. I think he was not like seeing where the process was going at all. So having them like turn out like this now is really really nice. Um I just checked and I still have two SK and maybe and this much left of the green. And I ordered five because we thought we were going to do the I cord in green as well which would have required uh what is this 190 + 25 so 215 m. So, I only used ended up using like less than 150 m. So, I guess the estimates here are just like over like um or meters and grams is the same thing in this case cuz I mean 1 m is 1 g. Um but I ended up using much less yarn. So, now I have two skes left over. Um so, we'll see how that goes. The fun thing is that I have started on my second pair as these were in the washing machine. So, let me show you those. Here's my version. So, I just finished the knitting part. And I mean, I understand now why people say it's like the length of a pants leg because this is clearly like a very long tube that you knit. It's kind of like a scarf you could probably wear it as or something. But, um, I was timing myself with this. And I will show you my timer. This has taken me a minute and 59 seconds. So, exactly 2 hours to knit. I am making the fifth size for myself, which is size 41 European. Um, I'm usually like 41 42, but I just went for the 41. I know you can kind of stretch them a little bit. I'm sure that one size is not going to make a big difference. And this is where I am with the first one. This is the first one I'm making. I haven't started the second one yet, but yeah, I guess I'll be sewing this together, making my next one. And I'm not really sure yet how I'm going to go about the washing process. I don't think I've really like figure that part out yet, how to do it like in one go. I am still a little bit worried with just putting a towel with this because I mean it is like relatively wide like gauge wise, and I really don't want anything to tear or get caught up in a towel or anything. So maybe I'll just do the same cycle as I did this morning, but like only throw the towel in halfway through or something. I'm sure that would work. But yeah, I love these colors. I think they're super super cute. Like the baby blue and baby pink I think are adorable. Um yeah, this one definitely like I need to look at the pattern less. Um, so it's going like maybe a little bit faster, but I still think that knitting this for two hours is still like a relatively it's still like a chunk of time, you know? I think people are kind of saying that they're super quick. And I mean, I will still need at least an hour to finish this sewing them up and adding the eye cords. I think like 3 hours for one, so 6 hours for two, that's still like essentially a whole day of knitting. Um, so yeah, don't underestimate the sailor slippers. They do take some time and I'm definitely not the slowest knitter. Um, I knit continental, so I'm probably on the faster side. By no means am I a speed knitter or anything, but I am on the faster side. So, people are still spending a good amount of time on these. I mean, go figure. But yeah, I will make my next one now and probably check in once they're done to be honest because yeah, these are definitely keeping me engaged more because of the stripes. I think it's really cute and really fun. And yeah, just kind of some knitting in front of the TV. So, my Sailor slippers two pairs are finished. So, let me talk to you about how it all went. This is the second pair. the one I was showing you just now. Um, the felting with this one actually was a lot easier because I kind of figured out my washing machine and I like put the towel right from the beginning and they turned out like this. And these ones came out and I didn't need to stretch them at all. But I think I will felt them a little bit more because they are just very like balloon poofy at the top. And also the back is like you can kind of see like it doesn't go up at the sole. It kind of like goes extends if you know what I mean. They fit me fine. They're a little bit big, so maybe I'm going to put them in for another just like half an hour to give them a little bit more of a like sturdiness uh when they're felted, but otherwise they turned out so so beautifully. I really love the eye cord. I think the eye cord is what ties the whole pattern together. Um it just gives it like a sturdiness, like it feels like you're slipping into something. Um because the first sailor not sailor slippers but the first felt slippers I made I didn't have the I didn't put the eye cord. I just like I didn't think to do that back then. So I'm really appreciative of that with these. And I also just think visually it just ties the whole slippery together. But these ones, the ones I had shown you like a while ago because they were the first pair I made. Um, I want to talk about a little bit how they wear with time because these have been worn for I guess a week straight now, maybe even a little bit longer. And the first thing is that they definitely start peeling and they have some sawdust on them. Um, they definitely like catch dirt. They pill. I think you can kind of like see it here. Um, and this is us already like kind of picking it off a little bit. I haven't shaved them yet, but these definitely are like they will experience some wear and tear. So, what I've actually done is I've ordered some leather scraps um to hopefully be able to sew it onto the sole just so they like last a little bit longer because I think that if they're worn every single day, they will eventually wear through just because of course it is wool and it is felted and with wear and tear that just kind of like comes apart. And if they already look like this after a week, and mind you, he wears them probably like all day long cuz he does work from home. Um, but I think if they look like this after a week, they can definitely do with some reinforcement at the bottom at the sole. My ones I haven't worn as much cuz I don't work from home, so I've been wearing them when I'm home. But similarly, they definitely like are starting to peel a little bit. I am hoping to felt these more, like I said, so they hopefully have a little bit more like integrity to them. But just something like to note that these aren't like forever slippers. If you do wear them a bunch, I still love them. Like I think they're so so cute. Um but yeah, I'm hoping that with the leather I can stitch it onto the bottom. And the next thing with the leather that I'm hoping that it'll like mitigate is the issue that these are super slippery. Um now obviously there are wool slippers and we have hardwood floors, so these are really really slippery. Um, but I mean to be expected. I guess it's kind of more similar to a sock than to an actual slipper in that sense. But I'm thinking that the leather will also mitigate that issue. In terms of the amount of yarn I used, I used 2 and 1/2 uh or two and 3/4 balls of the dark green for these ones. And I used about actually don't know how much of the gray I used here. So I think it was also around about two balls for the gray here. maybe just a little bit over. These are in European size 45. And for these ones, I used just over one ball of maybe one and a half balls of like the pink and the blue each. And then I think around about two yarn balls for the gray soles. Um yeah, so these are in size 41 European and size 45, but they're almost the same size just cuz I need to felt these a little bit more. And these I almost felted a little bit too much. So, yeah. In terms of my washing machine settings, I don't know if this is going to help anyone, but I have an AEG washing machine, and I put it on 1,200 like spin rotations with a towel at 40°, and I definitely needed to felt it a little bit longer than what the pattern uh like states, but I think that's really washing machine dependent, [laughter] so I'm not really like sure. My recommendation definitely is to like stop your washing machine, check on them, and then like decide how much longer you need because we yanked these into the correct size for a really long time. And it was really hard. It took two people. We were standing on opposite sides and we were really trying to stretch them whereas these ones, we didn't have to do that at all and they fit with room. So, there's definitely like differences in the felting and like what the end product will be. The difference is though that these ones are pretty like hard. I mean, I showed you last time like they're there is some like structure to these and these ones are pretty like soft. So, these are pretty Yeah, less felted. I mean, it comes back to the same point. But that is my sailor slippers, my first two pairs. I heard now that the yarn is really hard to get, so I'm not really sure when I'll be making more. I have had some requests for pe from people to make them some as well, which of course I'm happy to do, but if I can't get the yarn, that's going to be a little bit difficult. I have also seen that you can actually make them with different woolen yarns. As long as it's an untreated wool, you should be able to do them with that wool. I've seen people use drops and paw with them. But yeah, I like the drops snow. I think it's a yarn made for felting. And if you are in Austria or Germany, then I saw that Hoffa here or in Germany it's Aldi, they sell felting wool. So that could be interesting. Um, but I got these off of the uh, yeah, drops company. So, I got this order drop snow, but of course there is different uh, options to it as well. I think I'm going to leave it here for today. I'm really happy with these. The warmth these give is like unmatched. I think there's something so nice to like a woolenfeld sliver that is really hard to get with any other shoe, with anything else. So, I'll be wearing these. my now husband, I guess we got married yesterday, [laughter] um will be wearing these and we are both really really happy with them. The warmth is beautiful and in the winter seasons like what more can you want than a nice warm pair of feet? Um but yeah, I will see you in the next one and until then I hope you take care. Bye-bye.