Malabrigo Loafers

Every now and then I can get overly excited about something and today it is my Malabrigo Loafers-so allow me to have a Roxy moment about my Malabrigo Loafers.

Junko (Roxy referred to herself in the third person) bought a skein of Malabrigo yarn a couple of years ago at a yarn shop in Pittsburgh. Junko just had to have this skein of Malabrigo and justified the guilt of a non-Knitwits purchase by thinking of it as a research project. Junko brought it to the shop to show Janet and the gang its loveliness. Since then, this skein of "outsider" yarn has been sitting in top of Junko's stash, just waiting for the right project. It was going have to be used for something really special to prove that it was Knitwits-worthy! Junko would pick it up every time Junko found something that it may work for, then Junko would put it back down-not special enough. This lonely skein of Malabrigo remained on top of Junko's stash as if it were sitting on a throne just waiting for it's call of duty.

After years of living with the guilty pleasure of owning this lonely skein of "outsider" yarn, we finally ordered Malabrigo for the shop. What a wonderful day! I tracked the order from order confirmation, to delivery notification, from mentally rearranging the shop to showcase our new Superstar yarn, to anxiously waiting for the rumble of Phil's UPS truck and finally the clang of Phil's accordion doors slamming shut. While our mother load of Malabrigo turned out to be three boxes, it was worth the wait. Three boxes of the most fabulous, intense shades of buttery soft puffs of merino wool had arrived.

Junko grabbed a skein of Malabrigo to test drive and knit an Amanda Hat (Free Ravelry Pattern) that evening. One skein would make two Amanda Hats. The yarn was everything that Junko had hoped for. Each stitch glided from one needle to the other and it was silky soft and luscious.

Before deciding on the Amanda Hat, Junko Ravelry-ed Malabrigo Worsted Merino yarn projects and found thousands of lovely ideas. The Amanda Hat was something Junko could do immediately, but the real deal was the Malabrigo Loafer. The Malabrigo Loafer pattern was not a freebie and would have to be ordered. More research and more waiting.....

The Malabrigo Loafer pattern arrived while Junko was on her last trip. As soon as she returned, Junko grabbed the pattern and two skeins of Malabrigo (loafers are knit with 2 strands together). That evening, Junko finished the first slipper. It was a Cinderella moment. It fit like a dream and felt even better on her foot. This was a HOME RUN! This is what Junko was dreaming about for years. This was the perfect match of pattern and yarn-a perfect match like peanut butter and jelly, Fred and Wilma, Oreos and milk.

The pattern was straight forward, easy, quick to knit and produced the most unbelievably comfortable, cutie pie slipper. No second slipper syndrome for Junko-Junko will be knitting a dozen of these things. Junko is not usually a slipper person. Junko loves to piddle around in her bare feet, but she's having a tough time taking off her new Malabrigo Loafer, dreading the thought of hard shoes. Junko actually knit the second slipper while wearing the first one. If Junko can part with her Lettuce green Malabrigo slippers, they will be on display at the shop.

Malabrigo Loafers are definitely going to be a Class at Knitwits! There are some stitches to pick up, some short row work and you will be working on 2 circular needles--but they are too fun to work on alone!

The heck with glass slippers, if Cinderella had known about these things she would have asked Prince Charming for a pair of Malabrigo Loafers. Even better, perhaps my Malabrigo Loafers will bring me my Prince Charming!