Easy Norwegian Felted Slippers
Welcome to your Easy Norwegian Felted Slippers class! I hope you enjoy learning a few new tricks on this easy basic beginner project.
These felted slippers were a favorite project of mine when I learned to knit them at the Avalon Eating Disorder Clinic in Utah.
I was inspired to knit them again recently because, even in Mexico, floors get cold in the winter and I wanted something to warm my and my baby’s feet. Having never forgotten this fun and fast project, I knew it was time to revisit these slippers.
Ch. 1 Pattern and Materials
Pattern
These basic slippers are like a little puzzle – you knit a strip of garter-stitch fabric, pick up and knit a few flaps on the sides, and then seam everything up in an origami-like fashion that magically results in two elfish-looking slippers.
Throw them in the washer and they felt up like magic, forming warm, cozy, and fun slippers.
The techniques involved are simple but ones that even intermediate knitters will enjoy, for example counting your rows with absolute certainty on garter stitch, picking up and knitting stitches, and seaming garter edges two ways.
You’ll improve your knitting technique AND have a great pair of slippers to show for it.
This pattern is a Midnattsol blog pattern, I have just added yardage info and included a few tips learned on Ravelry from other knitters, in particular this Knitting Up a Storm post.
Felted Slipper Pattern
To begin, download and save or print out your Felted Slippers pattern.
Paper Schematic
Here is the paper slipper you will print and cut out (this is missing from version 1.2 of your pattern – current versions of the pattern above contain this schematic):
Paper Slipper Schematic – Print and Cut Out
Sizes
This slipper pattern comes in 5 very forgiving sizes: Baby (Toddler, Child, Adult Small, Adult Large)
The baby size is good for babies up to 1 year old. The toddler size is good for 1-5 years (see photo above). The child size is for 6+ years. Adult small and adult large can be used for adult woman and adult man if you wish.
Finished Measurements: 4.5 (5.5,7, 9, 10.5) in. from toe to heel.
To Fit a Foot: 4 (5, 6.5, 8.5, 10) in. from toe to heel (since the slippers have a pointy toe).
You can easily customize the finished size by stopping the felting process when slipper reaches desired size.
Options
You can knit these slippers two-at-a-time if you like! You’ll still be knitting flat, keep in mind. You’ll just knit across one slipper row with one yarn, and then across the same row on the other slipper with the other yarn.
Materials Needed
Yarn
You’ll need one ball of DK-weight, 100% non-superwash wool yarn in each of one, two, three or up to eight colors (exact yardage specified in pattern). “Superwash” means “machine-washable = will not felt!
DK yarn is a bit thinner than worsted-weight yarn. You’ll need to use 100% wool so that the slippers felt correctly.
I would be cautious of using different brand wools in the same project as they may felt differently.
Recommended Yarns and Coupon Code
Here are some suggestions you will love for yarn for these slippers.
Yarn shown in the slippers in this project is Walkabout.
Needles
You'll need one pair of US size 10 (6.0 mm) straight or circular needles. This is much larger than what you would use normally for knitting with such thin yarn, but it's correct. For felting, we want the stitches to be relatively large and loose so that the fabric can then felt up nicely.
If You Would Like to Use Worsted Yarn
You can use worsted yarn without a problem. If you have size 11 needles you can use size 11s. You may end up felting the slippers a bit longer so that they shrink down to size. There’s so much variation that happens when felting that you really have a lot of leeway as to what yarn and needles you use.
Test Your Wool At Home
If you would like to use yarn you already have and it’s not 100% wool, you can test to see if it will felt anyway.
Students have had luck with 70% wool/30%-something-else blends, so your yarn may work, too!
Just knit a swatch, measure its size, and then follow your class’s felting-by-hand directions to felt your swatch in hot water in the sink. You can also try using the washer. See if it shrinks. If the stitches disappear and the swatch shrinks to about 60-70% of its original size, you can use that yarn.
Notions
- Scissors and a tapestry needle for seaming edges and weaving in ends.
- A sheet or two of paper, scotch tape, and a pen OR A PRINTER to draw, cut out, and tape up the slipper schematic to familiarize yourself with the sewing sequence and to plan your color blocks. You’ll be glad you did.
- It will help if you also have scrap yarn in 7 different colors for marking the seams, but there are other creative ways to mark the seams, so we’ll use what works.
- Washing machine with hot water OR A BASIN where you can agitate the slippers in hot water by hand, and some soap.
- Optional: Puffy paint for painting non-slip squiggles on bottoms of slippers OR suede 2-piece slipper bottoms for adding durability and traction
- Optional: Needle-felting needles and pad for needle-felting decorations onto your slippers.
Prerequisite Skills
Skills Required
You don’t need to have many knitting skills in order to knit this pattern. You will need to be comfortable with a beginner cast on, the knit stitch, and a basic bind off.
If you don’t know how to do those yet you can use the videos in our Video Knitting Dictionary (links above) to review those two skills.
Skills You’ll Learn
In this class, you’ll learn how to:
- Count your garter stitch rows with complete confidence,
- Pick up and knit stitches,
- Seam garter stitch edges along the side edge and along the bind-off/cast-on edge,
- Felt projects in the washer or by hand, and
- Needle-felt decorations onto your felted slippers.
You’ll Get
- An adorable pair of felted slippers to wear or gift,
- A fun, fast project that can help you use up leftover skeins of yarn,
- The joy of working along with me and other KnitFreedom knitters on a really darling project.
