DIY slippers: Knit felt shoes and felt in washing machine
- Knitting instructions for felt shoes
- The felt shoe gets a tip
- Decreasing the last round of needles
- Sew the felt shoe together
- The felting in the washing machine
Felt shoes are sturdy and keep the feet comfortably warm even in the cold. Knitting felt pads and felting in the washing machine is an easy way to make wonderful slippers from felt wool. For knitting beginners, felting in the washing machine is also a basic course in knitting, as small defects or bumps are simply matted and yet a wonderful result is presented.
Knit felt shoes and felt in the washing machine
For felting in the washing machine you do not have to be a professional. With little knitting experience, this type of felt gives you a masterful result on the first try. This means that you are knitting the felt shoes you want and the washing machine does the felt work for you. Even inexperienced knitters felt shoes can be completed in a few days.
Material for 1 pair of felt shoes in size 39:
- 200 g of felt wool with a length of 50 m on 50 g of wool
- 1 circular needles and 1 needles of needle size 8 mm
- 1 crochet hook 8 mm thick
- 1 stubby darning needle for sewing
Pure new wool guarantees a good felt result - for felting in the washing machine only 100% new wool without synthetic fiber should be used. Felt wool from the wool shop is best suited for this. The fluffy merino wool is particularly soft. Also mohair or alpaca wool can be felted well.
Caution: If the yarn banderole is labeled "superwash" or "guaranteed felt-free", then this yarn is not suitable for felting in the washing machine.
Tip: Before you start knitting, make a knit and matt it in the washing machine. So you see how your wool behaves when felting and how much your knitting has shrunk. Even if you shy away from this work, it's worth it. Because not every wool behaves the same when felting. As a rough guide, when knitting in the washing machine your knitting work will be about 1/3 smaller than you knit.
Knit a sample of 10 cm in width and 10 cm in height. Count the stitches in width and height and make a note of these stitches, because after the felting process, you will usually not be able to identify the individual stitches. But you can now calculate exactly how many stitches you need to apply to your work.
Knitting instructions for felt shoes
For felt shoes in size 39, 32 stitches are struck on the circular needle. The felt pads in the pattern are knit smooth right: This means that all rows are always knit with right stitches and the back rows always with left stitches.
For a clean edge that can still be crocheted when the felt shoes are finished, knit the edge stitches as follows: Knit the last stitch on the right side of the right stitch.
Turn the work over.
Lift off the first edge stitch, the thread is lying in front of the work.
Now knit the following row with left stitches.
At the end of the left-hand stitch, lift off the last left-hand stitch as if to knit left-hand, with the thread lying in front of the stitch on the left-hand needle.
Turn the work over.
Knit the first stitch as usual on the right.
Knit another 32 rows in the pattern on the right side.
Now the needle game is needed - in the 33rd row you knit the stitches with the following division on your double pointed needles:
1st needle - 9 stitches
2nd needle - 8 stitches
3. Needle - 9 stitches
4. Needle - 6 stitches
At the end of the 4th needle two loops are placed on this needle as new stitches. For this purpose, a loop is made at the end of the knitted needle from the working thread and placed crossed on the needle. These slings are knitted in the next row to the right.
So that after these two loops no hole in the knitting work, knit from the following needle just 2 stitches on this fourth needle to do so. After two or three rounds, put these two stitches back on this 1st needle so that the stitch count is correct on each needle, 9-8-9-8 stitches.
Continue knitting for 26 laps with the 34 stitches spread across four needles. Only knit right stitches.
The felt shoe gets a tip
All knitting stitches are distributed on four needles. For a better overview, the needles are given the number one to four, whereby the counting series begins directly in the center of the shaft at the slip opening. If one looks at the knitting work, there are on the left needle one and two, the needles three and four are thus right of the hatch opening.
To remove the toe, the 1st and 3rd needles are knitted the same way, as are the 2nd and 4th needles.
1. Knit needle - right stitches, knit the third last and next to last stitch together, knit the last stitch to the right.
2. Needle - Knit one right stitch, knit the two following stitches together. The first stitch is just lifted, the second stitch is knitted and the lifted stitch is lifted over the knitted stitch. Knit the needle further to the right.
3. Needle - knit like the 1st needle
4. Needle - knit like the 2nd needle
The stitches on the individual needles are chained so long after this pattern until only two or three stitches are on each knitting needle. There are three stitches on the first needle, two stitches on the second needle, three stitches on the third needle and two stitches on the fourth needle.
Now cut the working thread down to a length of about 20 centimeters. With this leftover thread the last stitches are chained off.
Decreasing the last round of needles
Knit one stitch on the right and pull the cut thread completely through the knitted stitch. Knit the next stitch on the right side and, like the previous stitch, pull the thread completely through this stitch. Bind off according to this pattern until all chained stitches are on the remaining work thread. Now, tighten this slightly so that the toe closes. The felt shoe slowly gets its shape.
Sew the felt shoe together
So that the knitting work becomes a shoe, sew together the row of attacks on the left side and then sew all work threads with a darning needle.
The felt shoe is now ready knitted. To make the loophole even more beautiful, it can be crocheted with two rounds of strong stitches. Crochet it loosely and do not pull the thread too tight, so that the loophole is not too tight when felting.
The felting in the washing machine
Now begins the actual felting of the still oversized felt shoe. This work completely takes over your washing machine.
Put the felt shoes in the washing machine along with large towels or jeans. Also tennis balls are ideal for this work. The knitting needs stress, so it can really felt good. With a little heavy duty detergent, wash the felt shoes with the cloths in the normal main wash at 40 degrees. If the knitted shoes are not properly matted after this wash, no knitting pattern should be recognizable, then repeat the whole thing again in the main wash at 60 degrees.
Tip: Please do not use fabric softener or mild detergent.
After washing, bring your felt shoes into shape. In addition, the felted work may be pulled and pressed, just as you need it. They give the felt shoes their final form. Put on the shoes once to see if they fit well.
To dry, fill the shoes with newspaper or stuffing wool to maintain the desired shape. Now let your felt shoes lie down until they are really dry.
It's so easy to knit a felted slipper that does not allow cold feet. Have fun reworking.
Quick start Guide:
1. Material: 200 g felt wool 50 m / 50 g wool.
2. Cast on 32 stitches
3. Knit 32 rows on the right side
4. Knit the stitches on a double pointed needles.
5. Mesh: 9-8-9-6 stitches
6. Put two loops on the 4th needle
7. Continue working with the right stitch
8. Knit up 26 laps
9. Toe: Knit 1st and 3rd right needle
10th 2nd and 4th Needle coated right remove.
11. Bind off the last 10 stitches
12. Sew together the stopper series
13. Sew all threads
14. Crochet the shaft
15. Felt in the washing machine at 40 degrees
