Easy knitted slippers pattern [straight needles, chunky yarn] (2024)

A super simple pattern for knitted slippers using chunky yarn and straight needles – felted for extra warmth and durability

Do you always have cold feet? Or do you often get guests at your house? Well, then I’m sure you will love this simple pattern for knitted slippers. I developed a simple pattern that works on straight needles – perfect for beginners! After some super simple seaming, you toss them into the washing machine to felt them.

Felting adds a lot of durability and strength to the fabric. Plus, it’s also a lot warmer and allows you to knit with much chunkier yarn. After all, you won’t be able to see any stitches later on. And if you made a little mistake here and there, don’t worry, they won’t be visible after the felting process either.

(or download it on Ravelry)

The pattern pdf comes with 12 illustrated pages and detailed line-by-line instructions for beginners. There is even a video tutorial available so you can knit along. Of course, it has been thoroughly tech-edited and test-knitted for your convenience.

While there are size recommendations included (S, M, L, and small kids), the focus lies rather on showing you how to calculate the size yourself. Why? Felting is very difficult to predict. Depending on your yarn, your knitting tension, and your washing machine, your fabric might shrink between 20 and 40 percent.

Since even the most sophisticated pattern won’t be able to factor in these variables, a recipe is the only way to knit slippers that really fit. And don’t be scared, I guide you through this process step-by-step and you only have to do it once! You’ll be rewarded with one-of-a-kind slippers in the size and color of your choice. How cool is that?

Materials you need for this slipper pattern

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The pattern includes step-by-step instructions to calculate the cast-on for your size – no matter which yarn you intend to use. As a result, you can basically use any non-superwash pure sheep wool yarn that hasn’t been spun too much (so rather a single yarn than a 6-ply).

• 160 grams of chunky felting yarn will be enough for anything below US shoe size 10 (42 EU). I used the Gründl Filzwolle Funky (50g = 50m) for this tutorial. If you want to knit in two colors, you probably will have to buy two 50g skeins each.
• Circular or single-pointed needles to match the yarn weight. I used the Knitter’s Pride Mindful Collection circulars in size 6 mm.
• A blunt tapestry needle and scissors
• Measuring tape
• (optional) Stitch markers
• (optional) dryer balls or tennis balls

Knitting techniques

Difficulty: Adventurous beginner
Time: ~6 hours for a pair

With this slipper pattern, I tried to find a balance between easy access for beginners and a smart design that will still satisfy more advanced knitters. Everything is knitted flat and seamed later on. However, it’s impossible to shape the instep and the heel attractively without more complex increases and decreases. That being said, there are slow-motion tutorials available for all of these techniques.

• K =knit
• P =Purl
• SSK = Slip slip knit
• K2tog = knit two together
• P2tog = purl two together
• SSP = Slip slip purl
• KLL = Knit left loop (optional, only used once)
• KRL = Knit right loop (optional, only used once)
• German short rows (optional, only used twice)
• A standard longtail cast on.
• …and a standard bind-off

Again, there is a video tutorial you can use to knit along. The video is one hour long and guides you through all the important steps of knitting these slippers.

Personally, I need around 2.5 hours to finish one slipper using this chunky yarn. So, it’s a rather fast project I can easily finish on a weekend. Felting does take some additional time, and of course, the finished project needs to dry for around a day but those tasks barely need your attention.

Knitted slippers can be a great gift – especially if you use some embroidery to add the name of the recipient or their favorite motif. While developing this pattern, I knitted quite some spares for guests to enjoy during their stay. I do feel it adds such a personal touch and makes people not only instantly at home but also valued.

Errata:

• (Fixed with v1.5) There was a possibly confusing mistake on page 10. Row 35 should read:
  “Row 35: knit across to marker, sm, k12, sm, SSK (59 stitches)”

Please comment below if you have any questions regarding this knitted slipper pattern.