Franca Slipper Socks

These are my beloved, several-year-old, worn to death Oomingmacks. I think we can all agree that they look a little bedraggled. We had a clothes-moth problem in California, and unfortunately, my ox slippers were the #1 target before I got those devilish little wool-demons under control. There are some holes in the heels, and the faces got a little eaten, too. Looks like something dripped on the right ox at some point... hmm. Then in Delaware, my brain-damaged cat decided she liked to nom on the ox hair, and so now there's a lot missing, and what's left is cat slobbery and disheveled. I've been thinking for awhile that it's time for some new slippers (even though I don't know how often I'll need them here in Louisiana, but I like having them around, just in case.) So when I was contacted recently to see if I'd like a skein of Manos del Uruguay's new yarn Franca in exchange for a review on the blog, I thought, "Perfect! New slippers!"

Franca is a super bulky, superwash, super soft and cozy single ply merino- superwash being the key term here- and it's fantastic. The squish factor is through the roof. I may or may not have just cuddled the hank for a while before I wound it up (I did.)

How gorgeous is this yarn? This colorway is called Bebe and it's soo pretty. Like if cotton candy came in purple. I also really love the way it's hanked. "Here's a big pile of thick yarn, have at it."

I will admit that I debated tossing the slipper idea and making a hat or a cowl with the yarn, but then I remembered that a) I need new slippers, b) I have approximately eleventy billion hats and cowls, and c) I live in Louisiana, and am unlikely to ever need hats and cowls again. So I stuck with the original plan and made myself some simple slipper socks. I'm very cleverly calling them slipper socks because they're way too thick to wear with shoes, but they're shaped like socks. Genius. Does this count as another pair of socks for 2014? I can't decide. But if it does, I'm at 7 pairs for this year. Hold your applause.

Super bulky yarn means super quick slipper socks, that's for sure. Once I figured out what I was doing, I made each sock during one episode of Grimm. (I am such a sucker for fairy tale TV shows.) At first I tried doing short-row heels, but that wasn't working, probably because I hate short-row heels. I had an entire sock done before I decided to rip it out and do a heel flap and gusset, and I'm so glad I did. The fit is great, and no weird short-row holes!

I must have ripped back the first cuff five times, but you couldn't even tell- the yarn looked the same. And for being a single-ply it was barely splitty at all whilst knitting- I love that! Nothing worse that knitting with a super splitty yarn and constantly fighting with it. I can see making several pairs of these as quick, last-minute Christmas gifts. Not that I'm planning on needing to make last-minute gifts, but... you know. Always good to have ideas for when the inevitable happens.