A year of Simple House Slippers

I just realised that this month it has been a year since I published the Simple House Slippers pattern, and what a year! Writing the pattern was a pretty isolated experience of researching, test knitting and generally just being submerged in the thing. Which was then magnificently contrasted when I gave it over to this great community of people who has picked it up, recreated, build and shaped it a million different ways making it their own in the process. During the year the slippers have been used by several LYS’s to teach people how to knit, it has been translated into Korean and German, and on Ravelry and Instagram an ever expanding treasure trove has been build with images of Simple House Slippers. It also made it’s way around the knitting blogs, podcasts and videocasts at a rate where I must admit to kind of loosing track a little bit. The whole thing has warmed and inspired me beyond what I can actually formulate.

I started working on this pattern because I fell in love with a similar pair of slippers a good friend of mine had bought in a second hand shop. They were obviously old, handknit and felt sooo familiar and classic. I searched for a pattern and even though I found many almosts and not quites I couldn’t find this to me kind of mythical folk basic. So I decided to make my own, and while I definitely added a lot things to it (the toe for example) I don’t think I will ever feel like it came 100% from me. It is a classic, folksy pattern with an actual history and that to me makes it even better. Many of you have commented that your mom, grandma or neighbor used to have and love a similar pair which makes me think that at some point it might have been the kind of model that was spread by oral tradition, from a family elder or maybe even in primary school householding classes etc. as a simple wardrobe basic. Of course I don’t know that for sure but never the less it is now in my, and many of yours, knitting repertoire as a pattern to be revisited whenever there are cold feet to warm or extra TLC to be shown. It is absolutely all the things I love about knitting rolled into one.

Many of you have made the coolest modifications and amongst my favorites are Vanessa/Killtocraft‘s brown pair with added fluffy lining and Dawn/ladybythebay’s purple slippers with the cutest added leather soles that she made after completely wearing out her first pair. The yarn picked for hard wearing items like slippers is super important and both of these illustrate that splendidly. Now I am off to knit myself some new slippers to warm my bare summer feet at night, as I have somehow managed to misplace the “left foot” of all the 3 pairs I knit for myself *face palm*.