MY HOOKY TREASURE
Tuula Kyrölä uses social media as a design popularity gauge – but even she was surprised at the love these slippers inspired
About three years ago I crocheted a pair of colourful slippers. After posting a few photos to Facebook groups I was amazed at the volume of likes and enthusiastic comments they received – people seemed to really love the design! Realising there was a real demand for cheerful slippers like these, I decided to recreate the pattern – similar but with even more colour and texture! That’s how I came to create this bright, fun – and most importantly, cosy – pair, pictured above.
To this day I love both the stitches and the beautiful colours in them, and find the slippers very comfortable to wear. This was a pattern where I managed to put together colour and texture in a way that shows who I am as a designer. Colour is the most important thing for me, although I also love using a variety of textures and stitches. Even though I live in Finland, my style couldn’t be further from the Scandinavian minimalist look – I love bold and bright designs.
Little by little I have learned that it is always worth showing a finished, or even half-finished, new design off on social media. I used to be afraid that someone would copy my design if I revealed it too soon. But it is much more beneficial for people to see it, as that way you find out very quickly if the design is likely to become popular. If it only gets a few likes here and there on Instagram or in crochet Facebook groups, you can think about whether it’s worth putting in all the time and effort that creating a pattern or video takes.
I mainly create tutorial videos but there is always a high demand for written patterns and charts. That’s why I decided to make a pattern for the slippers, even though it’s not something I find particularly easy. I prefer to improvise, but for a pattern you need to write down every stitch and be very exact.
For slippers to be both warm and long-lasting, I always use yarn that is mostly superwash wool but has about 20% polyester for added strength.
Apart from basic stitches, there are some V-stitches in these slippers. V-stitch is my favourite stitch of all and I always try to add it somewhere in my designs! There is also some overlay crochet, clusters and two-colour picot rounds – I love how all the different textures complement one another.
Tuula’s slipper pattern is available on both Ravelry and Etsy in two sizes, M and L for women. See www.ravelry.com/designers/tuula-maaria or StitchBrightStudio.etsy.com. For more inspiration, follow Tuula’s blog at www.knit-crochet-blog.com.