Now that it's fall, some knitted slippers..

Aren't they cuter than a speckled pup? IF you're not from the south, you might have a guizzled look, an arched brow, and going 'huh' right about now. :D

*******PATTERN FOR SLIPPERS IS DOWN BELOW********

Who are they for, you might wonder? Well, they are for:
Isn't she a sweetie? She's my 70+ year old 'house girl'.. or maybe I should say my 'house-grandma?'

I met Ms. Shin almost two years ago, after I had already been on crutches for over a month and it was clear that my foot/ankle injury wasn't going to be well anytime soon. I asked someone at work if they knew of a 'house girl' that could come in to help clean my apartment. I couldn't sweep, vacuum, or do much of anything else. I was in a lot of pain- since, I had multiple injuries and it wasn't just a broken leg or foot.

And, soon after Ms. Shin showed up to 'meet me.' I think it was to decide if I met her approval or not. I must have- because even after I finally got well about 5 months later- I just didn't have the heart to tell her that I could take care of the cleaning on my own now. So, Ms. Shin comes to my apartment two times a month.

She often takes me out to eat, brings me food, and cares a great deal about me. She came to see me last spring when I was in the hospital for pneumonia. She is an absolute delight to know. I make her brownies, give her cookies for her grandchildren, and bestow other simple little tokens of my appreciation to her.

I have previously knitted her a scarf, a matching warm wool scarf, and just recently my 'thumb injury' was well enough to finish the last two inches of the knitted slippers. She's going through a rough patch right now and I think some warm slippers will be just the thing to lift her spirits.

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Now for the pattern: *You can make it fit almost anyone with some tweaks.

Easy to make SLIPPERS..
THIS IS AN OLD slipper pattern from the 60/70's that I found somewhere. There are many versions and here is mine.

You can use acrylic yarn (for easy care) or a mixture of acrylic w/ a strand of warm mohair.. or even some left-over wool that you have. It won't take an entire skein of yarn. If making it for someone else- you need to get a length measurement, a shoe size, or be sneaky and measure around their shoe like I did. Or you could even stand beside them, look down and see how long their foot is compared to your foot. :D

Gauge? Doesn't really matter- not too much anyway. **IF you use thicker yarn than your basic acrylic cheap-0 yarn, cast on less stitches. WIDTH of the slipper (your arch area) for adult females is 8".. length? Depends on the person.. but, make them 1-2 inches shorter than foot measurement.

Cast on: 29 stitches (29 stitches =8 inches in gauge- but, it's ok if it's a little more or a little less) *leave a tail of about 8" of yarn to sew up heel later. *YOU just need to cast on an 'odd' number.
YOU can SLIP THE FIRST STITCH of each row- if you want, for a neater edge.
ROW 1: SLIP first stitch, knit to end
ROW 2: SLIP first stitch, knit to end
CONTINUE until this part is 5-6 inches long.. or about 1/2 inch before the bump on the big toe.

TOE PART:
P1, K1, repeat to end *knit/purl stitches as they face you- (knit the knit stitches, purl the purl stitches)

Keep repeating until it's about an inch shorter than the foot or the toe part is 2 1/2-3 inches long.

(This is for an adult female size- I wear a size 8 med, and my slipper is 9" long. The garter stitch area is 6" long and toe part is 3" long. My foot is 10" long.)
I could have worn them if they'd been shorter too.

THE LAST ROW:
Knit 2 stitches together, repeat to end. You can do another row of this if you want to. Leave a 8-10 inch tail. Weave through the stitches left on your needle and pull tight. Sew up the toe- from this end to about an inch into the garter stitch area.

SEW UP THE heel area.

Crochet a trim of fuzzy yarn or a contrast color, add a pom-pom, or a crocheted flower, or some other form of decoration. Or leave plain. If you have wooden floors or are giving the slippers to someone elderly- you might want to put a non-skid substance on the bottom of the slipper. They can be slippery on wooden floors.

Ms. Shin's slippers are only 7" long.

The cranberry ones are 4 years old and have been washed/dried many times. They are made w/ cheap-o grey acrylic with some cheap-o fuzzy mohair yarn held together.