This chapter is part of our Felted Slippers Video Class. Click here to learn more.
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.
