Tuesday, January 29, 2008

The Solution to the Sock Knitter's Dilemma... Magic Slippers!



My biggest problem as a sock knitter, is what to do with my left over yarn, in particular with these no bigger than a walnut darling balls of yarn.
Yesterday, as I was packing all this week's colorways to be shipped from Hawaii to Brussels, and occasionally staring at the little yarn walnuts on the table, I found what I wanted to do.
For every pair of socks, I would knit a pair of baby slippers. So I took a little break from packing, grabbed my trusted Addis, and a little yarn walnut, and got to work. Here is the result. These slippers are magic to work. NO SEAMS at all, no origami construction, all garter stitch, mostly knit in the round, and about one pair per hour! My promise to myself is that I will knit a pair of slippers for every pair of socks I knit, and that I will donate the slippers to my local community health center.





Without further delay here is the pattern for the Magic Slippers.


Magic Slippers


These slippers are newborn size, but can easily be made bigger by knitting the even section of the sole longer, and picking up more stitches along the sides of the sole.

Materials:

Yarn: any walnut size left over ball of SW sock yarn. I used left over SockPixie SW Merino Sock yarn.
Gauge: 7 1/2 sts/inch in garter stitch
Needle: 2 16" US 1 circulars, or a set of DPTS in same size (Note that I wrote the pattern for 2 circulars, but it would be as easy t knit on dpts)


Sole:

Note that the sole is knit in garter stitch, knitting back and forth.
Cast on 7 stitches.
Knit 2 rows.
Repeat the following 2 rows until you have 15 stitches.
R1: K1, K1f&B, knit till 3 stitches are left, K1f&B, K2
R2: Knit

Knit even in garter stitch until the whole sole, from the cast on edge measures 2 1/2 inches.

Repeat the next 2 rows until you have 5 stitches left.
R1: K1, K2TOG, knit till 3 stitches are left, K2TOG, K1
R2: Knit

Do not BO. Keep these 5 stitches on your needle, and with that same needle pick up and knit 28 stitches to the center of the toe. Take you second needle, and with it pick up and knit 29 stitches from the center of the toe to right before the 5 original stitches, and knit 2 stitches from the first needle to the second. You will now have 31 stitches on each needle. The beginning of the round will be at the heel. Attach marker to show location of heel.

The rest of the slipper is knit in the round, in garter stitch (Purl one round, knit 1 round)


Round 1 and all odd rounds: Purl
Round 2: K25, K2TOG, K8, SSK, K25
Round 4: K24, K2TOG, K8, SSK, K24
Round 6: K23, K2TOG, K8, SSK, K23
Round 8: K22, K2TOG, K8, SSK, K22
Round 10: K21, [K2TOG] 3 times, [SSK] 3 times, K21
Round 12: K18, [K2TOG] 3 times, [SSK] 3 times, K18
Round 14: K15, [K2TOG] 3 times, [SSK] 3 times, K15

Purl Round 15.
BO loosely knitwise.
Weave in ends, make a second identical slipper, and find a lucky baby to give the slippers to!


This pattern is for personal use only. It may not be reproduced for commercial purposes.
Copyright 2007, caroline Dlugy-Hegwer.

86 comments:

inukshuk71 said...

Trop mignon, j'adore! J'en commence une paire tout de suite :) Merci de partager toutes tes bonnes idées!

Jennie said...

Great solution for leftover sock yarn. Those are just darling. :)

jennifraser said...

Hi from New Zealand. These slippers are just so beatuful. Will be making a pair tonight as soon as I get home from work. The first of many I hope.

Carol said...

What a fabulous idea and so adorable too! Thank you :)

kaykatrn said...

I loooove the little slipper, but I can't print from your blog unless you have made a PDF. Probably my old computer, but I don't know what to do. Any Ideas? I have made mittens with your superwash merino/bamboo--wonderfully soft!!

Tracy Batchelder said...

I'm really excited by this pattern and will give it a try...maybe later today.

melissa said...

this is exactly the kind of pattern i need right now! thank you!

Jamie said...

Oh wow - those are SO cute! I was looking for a pattern for some baby booties AND I have so much extra yarn! My remnants drawer is over flowing, so this will help with both problems! Thank you!

kelly said...

Terrific! A simple, lovely baby slipper pattern! Thank you so much for sharing this!

(Found you via the CRAFT blog.)

Anonymous said...

wanted to let you know that i'm featuring this pattern at 11am tomorrow over at craft and found!

Ruth said...

These are darling!

drmimi said...

we are talkin' major cuteness here! many babies in my life... I think of it as job security:)

Romi said...

So cute! :)

Anonymous said...

These are wonderful! thank you for sharing the pattern! :)

Oiyi said...

These are so cute! I will have to make a pair.

Anonymous said...

omg! i'm going to a baby shower this weekend and just finished knitting a blanket! this would be SOOO CUTE TO ADD!

Anonymous said...

Love them. I'm always looking for something to do with yarn walnuts :).

Anonymous said...

Very cute! I bet they'd be easy to make in a bigger size by using worsted-weight or bulky yarn, too.

Oh, BTW, it should be "find a lucky baby to give the slippers TO" (not TOO). ;)

Thanks for sharing -- gonna go cast on now.

Amanda said...

These are so cute and what a fantastic idea!

Jill L said...

adorable - how about a pattern for Mom?

Bells said...

Lovely! Perfect even! I am itching to make some from my many walnuts!

Anonymous said...

You have made some very beautiful items. The baby set and the little slippers are some of the cutest I have ever seen.

Very,very nice work. Thank you for sharing it with the rest of the world!

Rachael Hutchings said...

SO CUTE! I've made all kinds of baby booties before, but I love the simplicity of these. they would be cute with a little button flower on the toe!

Lucy Barber said...

Also very appreciative. Baby presents are on the list!

jillian said...

Thank you for sharing this cute and wonderful pattern!

Anonymous said...

Hi !! Thank you so much for your pattern ! I used it (I had to modify it a little for my 7 yo daughter) and she love the slippers soooo much. She told me it was the most beautiful thing I ever knit for her hee hee !!!

Your blog is beautiful, thanks alot !

LogosKnitter said...

I love this pattern. Thanks so much for posting.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed the first set of these I knit up in Opal yarn. I then used slightly larger needles and Dale Baby Ull for a larger pair, I also did not bind off at the ens of the decreases but did 10 rounds of K2,P2 ribbing then bound off. This pair is really cute too - next time I might do a turn round then another 10 rounds of ribbing for a turned down cuff. Pat

So many Ideas not enough Time said...

this pattern is great, i've been trying to find a quick bootie type pattern to knit for the babies at our military hospital and finally I found one. I have already knitted 5 pairs. With one small skein I knit a hat and a pair of slippers so they always have a matching set. Thank you for sharing.

Chris:) said...

These are so excellent! Quick, stylie and funcional. Thanks for posting!:)

Holly said...

Just found your blog and these slippers. They are adorable!! Thanks for sharing the pattern!

greetingarts said...

I just posted my take on your pattern, thanks so much for sharing. I love how they can look so different with just a few changes!

Anonymous said...

This pattern is great! I used wool worsted weight, one strand and size 9 needles for a slipper to felt. Turned out perfect 'baby' size, larger than newborn. I also added a swirl flower on the toe before I felted. Darling!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for this pattern. My best friend, who is pregnant, has been begging me to make her socks for years - but she wears a US 11 shoe. So when she found out she was preggers, she asked if I could at least make the baby some socks. I think I'll compromise with these :)

Anonymous said...

Wonderful. Thank you for the pattern.

Jodie said...

Thanks for sharing this pattern.. It was such a dream to knit up and took this novice knitted less than 24 hours. I used a lovely bamboo yarn and double pointed needles and am so happy with the end result. I can't wait to whip up another pair. I hope you don't mind but I've linked to your blog/pattern on my blog today.

Jodie :)

Anonymous said...

hi, I really these slippers but i am kind of confused about one part. The part where the 5 stitches are still on the needle, and with the same needle pick up and knit 28 stitches to the center of the toe. Is there anyway for you to to take pictures of that step and post it up?? thank you!!

Anonymous said...

hi, I really these slippers but i am kind of confused about one part. The part where the 5 stitches are still on the needle, and with the same needle pick up and knit 28 stitches to the center of the toe. Is there anyway for you to to take pictures of that step and post it up?? thank you!!

Anonymous said...

dude. can you invent a teen/adult version of these? i love them that much.

wandersocke66 said...

Your idea is great! The little shoes are wonderful and they solve my problem :-).
Thanks for sharing this pattern.
Jana

Romi said...

These are wonderful. :)

trin4914 said...

What a great little pattern! Can't wait to try it out!

Anonymous said...

Hi from New Zealand! I love this pattern, it looks so clean and they look so cozy! I made a pair for a preggy friend and posted them to my blog with a link to you. Thanks again!

barb said...

I really like this pattern but am a fairly new knitter and was wondering if anyone can help me to figure out how to make them into a bigger size. thanks!

Suzi said...

I'm with Barb. I'd LOVE to have this pattern in an adult size!

Anonymous said...

nice post

The Willow Fairy said...

A wonderful pattern that I've done so many times now that I know it by heart. I've followed your lead and knit these little wonders for charity. With slight alterations you can use thicker yarn and I try to knit one pair after every FO using the leftover yarn.

Website Hosting said...

Thanks for the nice post.

Diane said...

Just exactly what I have been looking for! I like short socks so there is always yarn left over & now I can knit them up into booties for friends and to give to shelters. Thank you so much. I have an adult pattern like this that is very comfortable so I am sure babies will love them too.

justine said...

Hi,

I love the pattern but am stuck on one part and hoped you could help. The part were you start picking stiches up. I am unsure where you mean from and wondered if you could help me further.

Thanks

Cheryl said...

Hi, I have a terribly silly question, but what specifically is SW sock yarn?

Thanks a bunch!

diane said...

hello.

I love these slippers and would like to try and knit them. However, I do not understand how to pick up 28 stitches from 5 stitches.
Also, how many double pointed needles would I use if I went that route?

Kristel said...

Hay

I also have problems to pick up the 28 stitches... It would be nice if someone could help and explane it further.

hope to hear something soon
Thanks

Btw I also think they are addorable

Kristel (Belgium)

Bluewhiskey said...

Great, i will knit theese right away :)

mahesh said...

nice work mate......




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Anonymous said...

It is certainly interesting for me to read the post. Thanks for it. I like such themes and anything that is connected to this matter. I would like to read a bit more on that blog soon.

Ratcha said...

Hi,
Thanks for sharing the pattern. I think, by far your slippers are the cutest one on the net.
Ratcha

sandy said...

These. Are. So. COOL!!! What a wonderful solution to all the leftover bits! Thanks from Canada.

iPad Developer said...

Nice post. Keep updating. I will share this post in my tweet.

anonymous said...

wish u had a video. this wld be my first sock attempt and this
"knitting in the round" thing scares me :(

website developments said...

Its really intresting and very nice blog !
Thanks for sharing with us !

Kat-librophiliac said...

I was hoping to post a picture, I've got one done! They are every bit as adorable as I'd hoped when I first saw them. Thanks for the great idea! You're a good sharer! :)

ux design said...

I like to read posts om Knitting...Keep updating...

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its nice ...good info

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very nice post

Logo Design said...

I just posted my take on your pattern, thanks so much for sharing.

Breia said...

Hello, I cannot knit in the round, so would i be able to knit on straight needles? and could i use ordinary wool, because i don't knit socks and don't have sock wool

********** said...

Also not sure to do when it says to pick up the stitches from 5. Almost there...wish there was pictures! Cant wait to finish!

Indiamommy said...

Love these cute baby booties. I shared it on my blog. I'm planning to make a set myself. Thanks for the pattern!

exporters directory said...

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SITL said...

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pauline said...

is there a way to translate the patterns?

Jess B said...

Hi,

I love these pixie socks, do you have a pattern for an adult version?

Thanks!
Jess

I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS - HAVE NO CHOICE said...

Yup, need PDF for iPads & iPods....

Unknown said...

Hi there,
I just love these slippers and would like to make them but I've never knitted in the round nor do I have double ended needles you have by any chance done the pattern so it can be knitted flat as I don't understand how to convert in the round to flat
Thank you
Teresa

Anonymous said...

hello, I am french, and I'd like to have the translation of this pattern because I have no idea about what everything mean =( I understand correctly English, but I am not habituated about knitting words. Help please. Thanks in advance, so much !

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

im sorry i dont understand from sole onwards? where do i 'pick up' these 27 and 28 stitches from?

Website Designers in Kerala said...

Nice Work...great

Attempt This at Home said...

Wow, awesome! I will def be trying this as son as I have found a bigger plat tern for myself… is there a way to make adult size (large) If so, that would be great! Also, is it alright if i repost this on my blog with copyright to you (link) Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

This is for: KAYKATRN

kaykatrn said... I loooove the little slipper, but I can't print from your blog ..

Just copy and paste into a document. Then you can print.

Can't wait to make some baby slippers. But the flowerbeds are calling, so they come first.

Liz

Unknown said...

Thank you for being so generous in giving us this free pattern.

Unknown said...

Really Beautiful sock and I think it a cuties sock in the world...

KAREN said...

Perfect bootee to knit for my many grandchildren, but how easy would it be to translate into a 2 needle pattern as I don't 'do' knitting in the round? Hope you can help. Karen