Having a pair of warm slippers during the winter can make all the difference to your poor tired feet. How about knitting slippers for that special someone or for the whole family? Although I grew up in a poor family, every Christmas the soft small packages were passionately sought after first. Everyone loved his or her slippers.
We would run down the living room linoleum floor and “skate” down the hallway. The slippers lasted about a month doing this because it was so much fun. Even though I made mine out of the leftovers from all the others and they were ugly, I had to hide them or they would quickly be worn out too.
This article assumes the reader knows how to knit. You can find a great number of websites to learn from, or a basic beginners knitting book can teach you. A friend who knows how to knit can also teach you.
Measure the recipient’s foot from the heel to the ball and from the ball to the big toe. Record these on a piece of paper. You will need a yarn needle, scissors, a pair of size 10.5 knitting needles, and two skeins of worsted weight yarn. Two strands of yarn will be used at once making these slippers very warm and heavy duty. Knit from strands either pulled from the center of the skeins or wind them into a ball.
Cast on 32 stitches using your favorite method. Leave a long tail of about 12-14 inches. This will become important later. The butterfly method makes a more flexible and stretchy first row. This is going to become the heel of the slipper.
Row 1: Knit 10, Pearl 1, Knit 10, Pearl 1, Knit 10. These instructions will be written in the future simply as K or P. All knitting patterns are written this way.
Row 2: K across. This is from the beginning of the row to the end.
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 to measure: This means to knit rows 1 and 2 until the piece reaches the first measurement- from the heel to the ball of the foot. The knitted rows in between the pearl stitches are called the garter stitch.
You’ll notice the pearl stitches form two lines, dividing the piece into 3 parts. The middle part will be the bottom of the foot while the two outside parts are the side of the slipper.
Now begins the next step- shape the top of the slipper.
Row 1: *K1, P1, K1, P1* repeat from * across. This means to K1 and P1 all across the row. When you see asterisks, repeat everything within them as many times as the pattern states.
Row 2: *P1, K1, P1, K1* repeat from * across. You’ll be doing the opposite you did in row 1.
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 to measure: This time, you’ll knit the measurement you took from the ball of the foot to the toe. Do not cast off.
Cut off the yarn 12-14 inches from your work. Do not take the work off the needle. Thread both yarns through the needle and pass the stitches onto the yarn. Pull tight. Using the same yarn, sew the ribbing sides together with the pearl stitches on the bottom foot facing each other. Stop and tie off when you get to the garter stitch rows.
Thread the tail onto the needle and keeping the pearl lines together sew up the heel. Turn the slipper inside out and put it on. Congratulations! You made a slipper!
You can top the slipper with pom poms, thread a tie around the open space or crochet on top of the knitted rows.
I teach children and adults to knit with this simple pattern. These slippers will fit either a child or adult. For a toddler, cut the number of stitches in half and only use one strand of yarn. For a baby, use fingering yarn and much smaller needles, say size 3 or 4. Use four stitches each for the bottom and sides or use ribbing (P1,K1, etc.) across.
While there are many variations on knitted slippers these are the easiest to make. You can also make slippers entirely out of ribbing stitch.
