Reworking a slipper
Last year around this time I had just released the new version of the Simple House Slippers pattern. I have been wanting to write a bit about what my thoughts were going into that. The original pattern has been like my umbelical cord to the knitting community. Especially in the couple of years that I took away from knitting. Since its original release many years ago people have told me of knitting them as christmas slippers for their entire family or to keep their work buddies feet warm or for all the kindergardeners they teach. A woman wrote to tell me she made slippers as a thank you to the doctors and nurses who took care of her as she was battling cancer. Recently Espace Tricot asked if people could knit slippers for a womens shelter in Montreal, Canada and recommended this pattern. The traffic to the pattern more than tripled which was amazing to see.
Being a witness to the love, care and effort all of you show the people in your life through these slippers is overwhelming in the most warm and fuzzy way. It sounds cheesy but it really is such an honor to me.
All these stories are also why the first version of the pattern will always be available for free on this site. So you can keep yourself and your people warm even if you have no money to spare. But they are also why I decided to do a complete rework of the pattern. I think most people have had no issue knitting from it, but I have also gotten pretty consistent email and comments from people asking for more sizes or struggling with a few of my kind of vague formulations. The original pattern was written during the blog era (its a thing right?) and was just a way of saying; I have experimented with slippers like an obsessed woman and have found my fave way of knitting them, loook! :) As I just shared my process there was no tech editing or testing which is generally a good idea haha. I had also written my knitting experiments down exactly 1 time before (when I made the Simple Lines Scarf). In other words I was NOT prepared for the attention they got and really did not think of myself as a pattern writer at the time.
Working on new patterns
I have learned A LOT since then. So releasing a hopefully well-written, edited and tested update to the pattern felt like the best way to give some love back to it and the people knitting it. In the process of reworking the slippers, I fell back in love with knitting, designing and writing patterns in a big way. The knitting “world” has changed a lot and I mostly find it overwhelming to be honest. At the same time I can’t think of anything better than working with these fiber and construction puzzles. So that is what I am doing now :). I have a handful of patterns in different stages of readiness and hope to be able to roll them out and show you soon. Argh I am nervous you guys!
Happy New (and safe) Year to all of you <3
You can find the Simple House Slippers pattern below.
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Simple House Slippers30.00 SEK
Related Patterns
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Gatan Neck40.00 SEK -
Gatan Balaclava – Kids40.00 SEK -
Gatan Balaclava40.00 SEK
Reworking a slipper and new stuff
I think I have read just about everything you have online. Like so many, many others, I love your “Simple House Slippers.” I have one crazy question and it’s likely you don’t have the answer after all these years, but is there any chance you can give me the name of the yarn used in the knitted slippers that are grey marled on the garter stitch portion, extending down into the stockinette foot and ending in white. I’ve looked at each of the suggested yarns on your Ravelry page as well as this blog. Thank you so much for any help you might be able to give me.
Hey Dianne!
Thank you for the kind words :) Those where the very first pair I made! It might be hard to find because they are actually made with two yarrns held together! It is Blackhill highland wool chunky (the cream color) and the lighter Blackhill highland wool (grey). I held them together for a while and then just mimmicked a fade by first dropping the grey yarn randomly in increased intervals. Then breaking it with a long tail that I then did random duplicate sts where it looked good to increase the fade look. It is a lot easier (and more fun) than it sounds!
The yarn I used is a Danish classic wool yarn that might be hard to source and honestly it was a bit too fragile for slippers (they are darned many times over). The good news is since the fade is not in the yarn I used you can just pick a heavier yarn and a lighter yarn you like and hold them together. Silk mohair as the lighter yarn would even reinforce the heel!
Hope that helps!
– Simone
I’m confused about sizing. Is there someone I can talk to?
This is Robin Elvord again, to be more specific. I understand determining length in inches (this is a gift) using shoe size. I stop knitting in the round without decreases until 1″ from end of toe. What instructions should I use to make the decreases and knit the toe? I’ve used the smallest size for circumference. Should I Skip Size 2 and Size 3 for the toes and only use “All sizes”?
Sorry I love the slippers and want to make several pairs, so I really want to understand if I’m thinking about this right.
Thanks
Hey Robin,
Thank you for elaborating :) Yes, you simply jump straight to the “All sizes” section! So glad to hear that you love the slippers. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Happy knitting!
Simone
Thank you for your help.
I thought there was a free version. I on my limited income I can’t afford paid patterns so I often revert to my same old patterns. I wanted to try something new.
There is! You can find it on the blog :)