This pattern is not my original design. I have see it in countless books, such as Workbasket, McCall's, Bernat, etc. I think of it as a classic, like the watch cap, the basic sock, the garter stitch dish cloth.What I have done is made some changes that eliminate some sewing up, and give hints for changing the size, etc, so this is my interpretation of the classic pattern.These slippers look like what we used to call "footies".
Why I like these slippers:
1. I have knit dozens of pairs of this pattern, and kept about half of them for myself. I wear them all winter long. They need to be tossed in the wash more often to revive the bottom of the foot, which gets squashed flat, but that's why having extra pairs is handy.
2. I can use up leftovers. Here's what I do: I take one ball of worsted weight yarn (wool or acrylic). Then I add a fingering weight yarn in a complimentary shade. Then I add another strand of fingering yarn, maybe a novelty yarn of some type - a shiny yarn, or a mohair, or a boucle. These are all leftovers or from coned yarn that's too fine to hand knit with, etc. If the main yarn is acrylic, I try to use wool or mohair in the added yarn to give it some life. However, I have combined a worsted weight acrylic with a fuzzy acrylic, and that works well too. What this does is fancy up a plain yarn that may look dull and lifeless all on its own. It can also tone down a loud yarn. In the picture I will send, I started with an acrylic yarn in navy blue, added medium blue mohair, and a viscose type boucle novelty yarn. The combination was a successful mix of blues that give a richer look to the fabric.
3. The pattern is easy. I can knit it without thinking. I do usually keep track of my rows and rounds, just so slipper 2 will turn out the same length as slipper 1, but it's not crucial and it's easy to count rows if I've lost track. And the pattern can be adjusted easily for many sizes.
So here goes. This is the basic pattern, based on the last pair that I made. After the pattern I will tell how to modify it for size, etc. The example fits a medium ladies foot. These are stretchy slippers, so size doesn't have to vary that much.
Materials:
Worsted weight to bulky weight yarn.
Needles: at least #7 or 8 (US), both straight and double pointed
Pattern:
Use double pointed needles.
Cast on 3 sts.
Row 1: Slip 1, K 2
Row 2: Slip 1, M1 (make one), K 2 (4 sts.)
Rows 3-5: Slip 1, knit across
Row 6: Slip 1, M1, knit to last st, M1, K1 (6 sts.)
Rows 7-9: Slip 1, knit across
Row 10: Repeat Row 6 (8 sts.)
Rows 11-13: Slip 1, knit across
Row 14: Repeat Row 6 (10 sts.)
Rows 15-17: Slip 1, knit across
Row 18: Repeat Row 6 (12 sts.)
Rows 19-20: Slip 1, knit across
With another dpn, pick up and knit across 10 sts along edge. Turn.
Slip 1, K 21 sts (10 sts on one dpn, 12 sts on the next).
Pick up and knit 10 sts along other edge. (32 sts)
Row 1: Knit 10, Purl 1, Knit 10, Purl 1, Knit 10.
Row 2: Knit across.
Repeat these two rows until 43 rows have been completed. As you knit Row 44 transfer stitches to double pointed needles, knitting 10 stitches on needle 1, 12 on needle 2, and 10 on needle three.
Now join the knitting to form a circle (the two vertical ridges of knit stitches will be on the outside), and work knit 1, purl 1 ribbing for 16 rounds.
Decrease round: knit 2 together around.
Next 2 rounds: knit
Last round: Knit 2 together around.
Cut yarn leaving a 12" tail. Thread a yarn needle, and run this through the stitches left on the needles. Pull together and sew through again. Run the yarn to the inside and work the tail in; trim excess.
Thread the cast on tail onto the needle, and holding heel edge together, sew the back seam. You can do this from the right side or the wrong side, whichever works best for you. I sew a more invisible seam from the right side.
Make another slipper to match. Simple, right?
To change sizes:
Width can changed by adding or decreasing the number of stitches in
each third. Length can be changed by adding rows to the garter stitch section,
although I usually add more length to the ribbing section.
The ribbing is usually one third the length of the garter stitch section.
In this example, 45 rows of garter and 16 rounds of rib. If you only
knit 30 rows of garter, the ribbing should only have to be 10 or 12 rounds.
Size can also be changed by using a finer yarn and smaller needles. For
kids slippers, I may combine only sport and fingering weight yarns.
Extras:
Energetic knitters can make pompoms for the top of the slippers. A
round of attached I-cord can be added around the opening of the slipper;
doing this in a contrasting color looks nice.
Fulling:
This pattern works well for fulled or felted slippers. I knit a few
pair out of lopi and machine washed and dried them about three or four
times, and the stitches disappeared!
Wearing:
I don't like to wear these on bare feet. Unless they are fulled they
don't keep my feet completely warm. However, wearing them over a pair of
socks, even a light pair, keeps my feet toasty all day or evening. And
they grab onto the sock fabric and stay on better. Sometimes on bare feet
they can slide off.
I know of one friend who makes everyone take their shoes off in her house. She keeps a basket of these by the door, and offers them to guests when they arrive. When they leave, they are tossed in a basket for the laundry. (A few pairs have snuck off with visitors!)
The bottoms eventually wear out, but they are so quick to make it is easy to replace worn out pairs. I have thought about knitting new bottoms and sewing them on, but haven't tried it yet. It's more fun to knit a whole new pair.
Hope you like the pattern. If you have any questions, please e-mail me, and I will try to help.