This pattern is a Patreon exclusive for the next few months. Rampant Nonsense and Notable Nonsense members get it for free, Utter Nonsense and free members can buy it. It won't be more generally available until the fall.

To see if I could. No really, that’s the whole reason I made these! Just to see if I could.

For you see, every single time I put out a slipper pattern, a whole lot of folks say some version of ‘oh they look just like shoes!’ And I think ‘yup, they soooooort of do. But they cooooould look a whole lot more like shoes if you wanted them to. All you’d need to do is…’ And then my mind wanders off to get distracted by something else before I actually make the shoe-iest slippers of all time.

But not this time! This time I figured fine, I’d actually see what would happen if I decided to make slippers that grew up to be shoes. These are the result, and I have rarely been so tickled by a knitting project.

The grommets and laces absolutely tip them over from slipper vibes into shoe vibes. But don’t worry, you don’t have to do either if you don’t want to! There are eyelets worked into the fabric all down the sides for you to run laces through. You can add grommets if you want, or you can just lace them right through the fabric, or you can wear them unlaced (and they’ll still fit just fine).

Really though…I suspect you are now filled with a deep longing to lace up your slippers. All I can say is you are not alone. And now you can absolutely make this long held (cough, or newly discovered, cough) dream come true!

General information

This delightfully thorough pattern is tremendously detailed and holds your hand every step of the way. There are pages and pages of step-by-step photos to show you exactly what to expect as you work. It walks you through everything from casting on to checking your fit to adding grommets to knitting your own shoelaces!

The pattern is almost absurdly detailed, but it really does mean you can totally make these, even if they look a bit like magic!

Skills & scope

These are surprisingly quick, especially if you use a thick, cozy yarn. You’ll start out working flat, then transition to working in the round. And much of the process will feel familiar if you’ve ever worked top down socks.

The pattern uses charts, so you will need to know how to follow a knitting chart.

Yarn, gauge & sizing

The slippers come in four sizes (44 to 56 stitches around the ball of your foot) and is written for five gauges (from 4.5 to 6.5 stitches per inch in half stitch increments).

That means you can use any weight of yarn from worsted up through bulky, and there will be a size to fit pretty much anyone’s foot. The thicker the yarn, the sturdier and more slipper-like they’ll feel, the thinner the yarn, the more sock-like they’ll feel.

The slippers in the picture used about 200 yards of an aran weight yarn held alongside the same amount of a fuzzy, laceweight yarn. I recommend having about 225 yards of bulky weight yarn or 250 yards of aran or worsted weight yarn, just to be safe.

Tools & supplies

You’ll need needles that let you work in the round (circulars or DPNs) in whatever size lets you get a fabric you like with your chosen yarn plus the general knitting tools you need for most projects (scissors to cut your yarn, a darning needle to weave in ends, the occasional stitch marker or bit of scrap yarn to hold stitches). You’ll work part of your fabric flat, and part in the round. Some people get a different gauge working flat versus in the round, so if that’s you, be sure you change needles as needed to keep the same gauge throughout.

If you want to add grommets, you’ll need grommets and a grommet setting tool. And if you want your knitted shoelaces to look like traditional laces, you’ll need aglets (those are the little things on the end of shoelaces).