Comfy Sock Slippers Pattern Designed by Urszula Szwabowicz

These warm thick sock slippers are perfect for cold winter days. Felt soft soles provide good isolation. Inside of the slippers there is just as much space as you need to fit your feet even if you already have your normal socks on.

The slippers are worked in the round cuff-down and are available in two sizes: small (for shoe sizes from 36 to 40) and large (for shoe sizes above 40). Instruction for size large are written in parentheses. Materials:

• approximately one skein of worsted yarn (taken two strands at a time) or chunky yarn of your choice,

• a set of US 10 size double pointed needles (6 mm),

• two felt soles in the desired shoe size, • a tapestry needle for weaving in ends, • a thick sewing needle for sewing the soles.

Techniques used:

• circular knitting on DPN’s,

• Stockinette Stitch, • 1x1 rib,

• decreases: k2tog, ssk,

• picking up stitches along the edge, • working short rows,

• grafting the toes (video tutorial linked).

Cuff: Cast on 32 (36) stitches and place them on three needles in the following way: 12,10,10 (12,12,12). Join the stitches to work in the round. Work 6 cm (2,4 iches) or desired length in 1x1 rib. Then work another 6 rows in plain Stockinette. In the picture you can the version with longer cuffs and without soles.

Heel: Prepare for making the heel of the slippers. Rearrange the number of stitches on particular needles so that on the following needle (the one you’re going to work next) there are 16 (18) stitches, and on each remaining needle there are 8 (9) stitches.

From now on you’ll be working only the 16 (18) stitches from the following needle back and forth. Forget about the other needles for a while.

Row 1(RS): *(sl1 knitwise, k1), repeat from * to the end of the row, turn Row 2(WS): sl1 purlwise, purl to end of the row, turn

Repeat rows 1 and 2 so that you have a total of 13 (15) rows knitted in this manner (you will end with an RS row). Turn your work. Now you need to make a couple of decrease rows.

Dec 1 row: sl1 purlwise, p8 (9) , p2tog, p1, turn. Dec 2 row: sl1 knitwise, k3 (3), k2tog, k1, turn. Dec 3 row: sl1 purlwise, p4 (4), p2tog, p1, turn. Dec 4 row: sl1 knitwise, k5 (5), k2tog, k1, turn. Dec 5 row: sl1 purlwise, p6 (6), p2tog, p1, turn. Dec 6 row: sl1 knitwise, k7 (7), k2tog, k1.

Dec 7 row (large size only): sl1 purlwise, p8, p2tog, turn. Dec 8 row (large size only): sl1 knitwise, k8, k2tog.

At this point you have 10 (10) stitches on the needle and the heel starts to take a 3-dimensional shape. Setting up for the sole: Now you will get back to circular knitting. Hold the slipper as shown in the picture below, with the cuff on the left, the decrease rows you’ve just made on the right and the heel RS down. Pick up 8 (9) sts along the edge of the heel (the red line in the picture) onto separate needle (we will call it needle A).

Now, knit the 16 (18) stitches from the two following needles (the ones that are still holding the cuff stitches) onto one needle (needle B). Then pick up onto separate needle (needle C) another 8 (9) stitches along the opposite edge of the heel (the cuff will be on the right and the decrease rows will be on the left).

Knit another 5 (5) sts from the next needle onto needle C. Slip the remaining 5 (5) sts onto needle A.

Number of stitches on each needle should be as follows:

• needle A: 13 (14) sts,

• needle B: 16 (18) sts,

• needle C: 13 (14) sts.

Now that you’ve divided the stitches, the most confusing work is done. Starting the sole and knitting the rest of the foot: As you probably noticed, the total of sts now equals 42 (46) sts. What you’re going to do is to get back to the number of sts you cast on – 32 (36). That means you’ve got to decrease sts on the needles A and C up to the moment when there will be 8 (9) sts on each of these needles.

Here are the decrease instructions (letters A, B and C mean the particular needles, of course):

Row 1: A: k to the last 3 sts, k2tog, k1, B: k across, C: k1, ssk, knit to end Row 2: knit across all needles

Repeat these two rows until there are 8 (9) sts on needles A and C.

From now on up to the toe decrease you only work for length, so continue in Stockinette Stitch until 17-18 cm (about 7 inches) or desired length depending on the required shoe size (just so you know, the toe decrease is about 6 cm (2,4 inches) long, so take that into account when planning the length of the slipper). Toe decrease: Row 1: A: k to the last 3 sts, k2tog, k1, B: k1, ssk, k to the last 3 sts, k2tog, k1, C: k1, ssk, knit to the end Row 2: knit across

Continue in this manner until you have 3 + 6 + 3 sts left. Knit sts from needle A onto needle C (there will be only 2 needles left and there will be 6 sts on each of them). Break yarn leaving a long tail which will be used in grafting the toes. Grafting the toes (Kitchener Stitch): Grafting is an awesome technique for finishing the socks’ toes. However, it’s quite hard to learn grafting without any visual material, so if you don’t know how to do it, just watch this video tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7i5JwEReW0

After you finish grafting, weave in loose ends and make the second slipper.

Sewing the soles: If you’re happy with your work, you can leave it at this point, but if you want something more, now it’s time to sew the felt soles to your slippers.

Firstly, prepare the soles by making a number of holes near their edges in regular pattern. Leave an about 7-milimetre space between each two holes. Then, make a decorating seam on the edge of each sole which will also prevent it from stratifying as shown in the picture:

Using the same holes, sew the soles to the bottom of the socks. Draw the loose ends into the

inside of the slipper and weave them into the fabric and you’re done ☺

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If you use this pattern, please, let me see your work. My e-mail: urszula_szwabowicz@wp.pl