Lucia's Ugly Cute Slippers.

This page has a pattern generator (aka program) to create a pattern to knit slippers in your size with your yarn. These can also be felted. I discuss felting the slippers at my blog.

HOME, my blog

Slipper I knit these slippers in two colors to illustrate the construction. I expected them to be ugly, but they turned out pretty cute. This comfy, double thick, slipper is very easy to knit on any single bed knitting machine. You could knit them by hand too, but if I were hand knitting, I'd knit these.

Choose your own colors and make them as ugly as you like! No matter how ugly your colors, you'll knit the slipper in one long, strangely shaped piece, tidy up any threads left from the color changes, fold the slipper into shape and sew between 0 and 3 seams. While you are knitting, it will be hard to believe this strange thing will turn into a slipper. It's miraculous!

Here's how the miracle evolves. The picture shows the outside of a slipper knit in two colors. The knitting direction for the outside of the slipper is illustrated with the blue arrows.

I cast on with waste yarn and ravel cord. Then, I knit section 1 with red yarn. When I finished section 1, I saw a "pouch" hanging on my machine; the fold of this pouch formed the top of the heel flap which is labeled 1.

Section 2 is another short row region! I changed to green yarn. This formed a heel pouch; you can see the diagonal like created by the short rows in the picture. I knit section 3 in red; this is knit back and forth over all needles. Voila, sock bottom!

I changed back to green for section 4, which is a short row region. Looks like a toe! Section 5, I changed back to red and knit back and forth. To eliminate seaming, I used the "sew as you go" method to sew portion 5 to 3. (Frankly, I find sew as you go is slow. I have gotten into the habit of hanging a yarn marker when I am 1/2 way through section 3. This helps me keep on track when sewing as I am going!)

I changed to green for section 6 and knit short rows as instructed. A top flap!

I did manage to figure out that steps 7-10 were the lining before I finished. The lining doesn't show; so, I knit the inside in solid red. I reduced 2 stitches from the width to make the inside of the slipper smaller than the outside of the slipper. Other than that, the lining is knit just like the outside of the slipper.

When I finished section 10, I took the slipper off on waste yarn. I tied off all the loose ends and anchored them. (You can probably do this on the machine.) I took off all stitches on waste yarn. I then folded the lining toe into the slipper toe and pushed the lining heel into the heel. Then I grafted the seam. Grafting makes a completely invisible seam which mystifies the recipients!

I also think grafting can be a pain in the neck. So, when I feel lazy, which is most of the time, I rehang first row of the cast on stitches and bound off.

Once you have seamed the slipper shut, you just push the lining toe into the slipper, then push the lining heel into the heel and shape the flaps. If you feel like it, tack the lining to the inside neatly so the slipper stays folded when your kids pull them on and off. Naw. Don't bother. They'll stay folded.

Good Luck,
Lucia

Create your custom slipper pattern.

You must enable JavaScript to create your pattern! To create your slipper pattern, you must specify the length and width of the slipper and the stitch and row gauge for the yarn. Because slippers are stretchy, you don't need to be extremely precise. Any slipper will probably fit at least 3 different shoe sizes!

Fill out the form. The number of stitches and rows for your pattern will be calculated automatically.

**Enter your shoe size**
Enter a shoe size and this portion of the form will fill in the wearer's foot length. If you don't know the shoe size, don't worry. Guess a shoe size and continue on with the form. (For those unfamiliar with US shoe sizes: stores carry size Women's size 5-12 and Men's size 7-13.) Please use US sizes.
US Shoe Size:	Estimated foot length:inches.

**Enter length and width of knitted slipper.**
The values you enter in this form will be the final length and width of the slipper! If you want the this program to recommend a size based on your shoe size, click "standard". The slipper length will be 90% your foot length This makes the slipper snug. If you want to customize, click "custom", then enter length and width boxes to the size you want. (Metric users, you may ignore the "inch" information and just do everything in cm. It will work out ok. )
Custom Standard	Slipper Length: inches. Slipper Width. inches.

**Enter Gauge Information here**
You can customize the pattern for your exact yarn gauge or you can just guess the gauge based on the yarn type. It's up to you to pick the yarn, and tension. I have no idea what you are going to pick, so I can't recommend a tension. Do write it down for future reference though! (Frankly, I make slippers from left over sweater yarn. So, I always know the gauge very precisely. I would probably never knit a gauge swatch for slippers; I'd just guess. The slippers will fit someone! )
Bulky Worsted Sport Fingering Probable gauge: st/inch row/inch	This column shows the gauges that will actually be used to design the slipper pattern. Click "custom" if you want to use your own gauge. Click standard and the form will copy the numbers in the boxes to the left. Custom Standard Actual Gauge st/inch row/inch

Knitting Directions

Your knitting directions should appear in the small blue window that loaded when you opened this window. As long as you left it open, the values in the blue window should update whenever you edit the data in this window.

If you closed the blue window:

Click this button to open the window:
After the window opens, click this button once or twice to refresh the numbers in the blue window:
Pull on the corner of the small blue window to make it bigger.

The number stitches and rows in each step of the directions should match these:

0	1	2	3	4	5	6	9	11

If the numbers in the blue window don't, match these then click the "refresh" button above.

Good Luck,
Lucia