Knitting Patterns for Slippers

The main slipper constructions

Knitted slippers come in a handful of shapes, none of which are terribly difficult. The simplest is a flat rectangle or a folded garter square, seamed up at the heel and gathered at the toe: no shaping at all, and genuinely achievable by a first-time knitter. Then come sock-style slippers, worked in the round with a heel flap or short-row heel, which are the most comfortable to wear. Slipper boots add a cuff up the ankle. Felted clogs are knitted to enormous dimensions in pure wool and then shrunk deliberately in the washing machine into a dense, hard-wearing shoe, which is the most satisfying trick in the collection.

Pick by how much time you have

• An evening: garter stitch fold-and-seam slippers in chunky yarn on 6mm needles.
• A weekend: a pair of aran slipper boots with a ribbed cuff.
• Longer, but worth it: felted clogs, knitted double-thick on the sole and felted in one machine cycle.
• For a gift set: bed socks in 4 ply with a picot edge, wrapped with a pair for the children.

Yarn choice matters more than usual

Slippers take punishment from the floor, so hard-wearing yarn earns its place. Wool with a little nylon lasts far longer at the heel than pure soft merino. Aran and chunky wool make the fastest and warmest slippers. If you intend to felt, you must use non-superwash pure wool: superwash yarn is treated precisely so it will not felt, and it will simply come out of the machine wet and the same size. Acrylic will not felt either. Most pairs need one to two balls, so slippers are the classic way to use up single skeins.

Fitting a foot

Measure the foot from heel to toe and knit the sole to roughly that length, or a centimetre less for a snug fit that will relax. Slippers should be closer-fitting than shoes; a loose slipper slides off at the heel. For felted designs, follow the pattern's pre-felting measurements exactly and check the fit partway through the machine cycle if you can, because felting is one-way and different machines shrink at different rates.

Non-slip soles and reinforcement

Bare knitted soles are slippery on wooden floors. The usual fixes are dots or lines of fabric puff paint applied to a dry sole and left overnight, stick-on suede or leather soles stitched around the edge, or a doubled sole knitted in with a strand of held yarn. Reinforce the heel and ball of the foot by carrying a fine strand of sock reinforcement thread alongside the main yarn in those sections; it doubles the life of the pair.

Care

Hand wash slippers in cool water and dry flat, reshaping the sole. Felted slippers can be brushed clean and only need occasional washing, and they will mould to the wearer's foot within a week or two. Darn worn spots early, before the hole reaches the sole, and keep a few metres of the original yarn back specifically for that repair; a matching darn is invisible and an approximate one never is.

Knitted slippers questions

Are there free knitted slippers patterns? Yes, several designs in this collection are free PDF downloads, including simple seamed slippers and slipper boots.

Can beginners knit slippers? Absolutely. A folded garter stitch slipper needs only knit stitch and a seam, and finishes in a few hours.

How much yarn does a pair take? Commonly one or two balls, depending on size and weight. Follow the quantity in your chosen pattern.

How do I stop knitted slippers slipping? Puff paint on the sole or stitched-on suede sole patches both work well.

Which yarn felts? Untreated pure wool. Superwash and acrylic yarns will not felt at all.