The Knitting Fiend

While shopping, I stopped at Zorra’s yarn.¹ I saw the cutest, easiest to knit felted slippers. A beginning students knit them out of wool and then felted them. These were her first project.

The age of the student? Nine.

These are knit back on straight needles using garter stitch. To imitate them you’d cast on some number of stitches using “color A” , knit even for “some length”. Then, decrease “some number of stitches” at the beginning of the next two rows. Change to “color B” yarn. Then, knit even until they slippers are almost long enough. Then, reduce stitches severely across the row. Knit a row. Reduce severely again. Then break yarn, run through the stitches and draw tight to close the toe. Then fold, sew the “color B” edges together to form the top of the slipper, then sew “color A” –cast on edge –to form a back seam. Then throw in the washing machine to felt. Maybe shape them as they dry? Sew on those little fringes. Fold down the orange flaps.

Talk about cute!

Now, the interesting thing (to me at least) is I have seen loads of slippers patterns knit following this basic construction method (for example these machine knit ones have the same “geometry” but without the flap added– like these machine knit ones. There are other similar ones with and without flaps on the web.)

But, you know what? I never saw the honest to goodness slippers. Not seeing the slippers themselves, I’d always assumed the pattern was flawed. I would have thought you’d need some sort of extra little piece along the back to make the heel fit. But, when I saw the felted slippers in the store, they look liked they’d fit feet ok.

Shows what I know!

Anyway, since this is a classic shape, I’ll eventually write the generator pattern generator. But first, I have to finish my toe up sock. . .

If you want to knit this before I can get around to writing a generator, you’ll need some advice for how to knit the proper dimensions for later felting. So, either consult the machine knitting page, or ask your LYS to find “Sandnes JuleHefte 0115 Idehefte”. (The cover shows a little girl and her doll dressed as elves. )

I, for one, will be making slippers like that before Christmas. Who will I give them too…?

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1. Zorra’s is on the north side of Chicago Ave. just east of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Look for a white house behind a picket fence.