Ameda's Favorite Slippers

by Ameda Holmes

These have been my own version of Mary-Jane slippers for some time. They are fast and easy to make, accommodate a wide variety of feet, and are practically guaranteed to to turn the recipient into a jelly of gratitude when given as a gift.

These are a great project to use up the small bits of yarn that accumulate in any knitter's stash. I will use whatever I have, be it acrylic, superwash wool, or even my own handspun, but not mixing types. Making these large in non-superwash wool and then felting them to fit makes for a sturdy slipper.

Size is dependent on the yarn used, and you'll be making these often enough that you'll work out for yourself the appropriate needed needle size for the yarn for your most comfortable knitting. As a general guide, bulky yarn and size 9 needles will make a men's, Worsted weight and size 6 needles will make a woman's size, and fingering yarn and size 2 needles will make a child's size.

This project is a good beginner project, as the very basics of knitting - Cast On, Knit, Purl, Increase, Decrease, and Bind Off - are used.

Here is a link to my YouTube video "The Basics of Knitting" https://youtu.be/yEOh5F-Wna8
It covers Cast On, Knit Stitch, Purl Stitch, Yarn Over Increase from both Knit and Purl stitches, Knit 2 together decrease, Purl 2 together decrease, and Cast Off

CAST ON

CO 6

STARTING TAB

Knit 6 rows in garter st (knit every row)
Continuing in garter stitch, Inc 1 stitch at the beginning of each row until you have 19 stitches on your needles.

INCREASE ROW

K1, YO to last stitch, K1 (you should have 36 stitches)

BODY

Knit 40 rows in Stockinette stitch (knit 1 row, purl 1 row

DECREASE ROW

Knit 2 together across row - 18 stitches

ENDING TAB

In garter stitch, Dec 1 stitch each edge until you are back to 6 stitches
Knit 6 rows

BIND OFF

Bind off the 6 stitches

FINISHING

Fold your rather funky-looking piece of knitting right sides together and the beginning and ending tabs together. Using the tails from your cast on & bind off, sew the beginning 6 stitches to the last 6 stitches. Match the ends of the increase and decrease rows, and sew up the sides of the body.

A SHORT DISCUSSION OF GAUGE

Since I'm not making a specific yarn recommendation and these slippers stretch to fit a wide variety of feet, I'm not being very specific on gauge for this project.
Gauge can be defined as the number of stitches and rows per inch for the specific combination of knitter, needle size, stitch used, and yarn. It can vary quite a bit.