Dress my feet

I love the word "slipper"! It's one of the first words I usually look up in a dictionary when I'm learning a foreign language and, for some funny reason, that word always sounds adorably cute: babbuccia, babouche, pantofola, pantoffel, pantufla, terlik, туфля "tooflya", papuča "papoocha"...probably because slipper is a lovely thing. No wonder you need to lose a slipper to get a leading role in a fairytale (losing other pieces of clothes surely does open new opportunities as well...not in fairytales, 'tho!!).

The other day, while I was searching for some old sock patterns in one of my knitting baskets, I stumbled upon a few lovely traditionally knitted slippers my late grandma had made long time ago. WHY DON’T I KNIT SLIPPERS? Do other knitters make them? I don’t recall ever seeing a pair of slippers on Ravelry. If there were any, I guess I would have spotted them by now (what a mistake!)! But, again- with so many sock knitters out there….
So I typed the word “slippers” into the Ravelry Projects browser and…oh, my! The picture was breathtaking! Ravelers do make slippers! And boots! And clogs! Ballet flats, Cinderella slippers, shoes…They make miracles! In circle, flat, toe-up, upside-down, felted, knitted, crocheted…all kinds of miracles.
And that treasure chest has been in front of my nose all this time.

I had to share that beauty with you, of course, so I picked a “few” projects and made a gallery-like post (well, two posts to be more precise, there’s no reason to reveal all the beauty right away, is there?!) of what bare hands can make (to make bare feet feel warm). All that with help from their authors and designers, of course!
And, no, I won’t get paid for saying how beautiful their works are (recession!!!). :)))

I’ve picked some lovely pictures and I’ll put links to the original patterns wherever it is possible - you can drain the inspiration from them, CO some of the projects yourself, enjoy watching them, buy them or get them for free, faint or bow to the authors if you like…what ever you do, I promise you it’s going to be a jaw dropping set of pictures. (I’m allowed to say that- none of the projects from this post is mine. But, then again, it’s my blog and I’m allowed to say whatever I want, anyway! :)) ).

Only, bare in mind- this is not a top list of THE most beautiful projects; there’s still a sea of outstanding hand-made slippers out there. My main intention was to show you some of the most interesting shapes, designs and ideas. Oh, well, yes, I did add multiple examples of the same pattern here and there but I just liked them so much…Yah, I was a wee bit subjective too, I admit! ;-)

That said,

The story of the magic slipper from my imagination begins long time ago somewhere in Persia…

...and that is where this list begins as well...

Persian Slippers

by Gryphon Perkins . You can find them at Sanguine Gryphon portfolio page. Beautiful!

Traditional crocheted Turkish slipper pattern by Erika Knight

with a touch of Italy and lovely floral insole made by windspirit...

...or...

...with a touch of Persia again, Pixie slippers made by flexibleknits . You'll find more lovely pictures of her slippers on flexibleknits blog.

I just love this pixie look!

Plain or Flowery Slippers by Sarah M. Hughes from Ravelry Patterns Library

Three examples of how different colours and the right choice of small decorations can make all the difference

A warm and feminine version in pastel shades by Kristiinake

then

a Brazilian "white flower power" version named "Tathi" by OliviaClaudia (her blog in Portuguese is Pequenospontos )

and

AnnaPuh's Flowery slippers in beautiful cool colours. AnnaPuh's blog in Swedish is HERE!

You should check out this pattern sometime(the link is in the title)- it's great for non-sock knitters and for all those who are not familiar with short row techniques and working with DPNs or aren't keen on working in that manner as this pair of slippers is knit FLAT!

Let's continue,

beautiful Ballerina Slippers

made by another Ravelry member bongomama (here's her bongo-mama blog ) and by Bev Galeskas's Felted Ballerina Slippers pattern.

(These are REAL shoes!!!!!! :)))))

And, another example of the same pattern only in apple-green

Slippers for 2paw by Aussie (Tassie :))) ) Raveler ratherbeknitting (I agree with the nick-name, of course you would, who wouldn't. ;-) )

More lovely green

staceyb's version of Julie Weisenberger's "Pleated Ballet Flats" pattern called "Jen's Magic Ballet Flats".

Julie is the author of cocoknits.com and one of the most imaginative "footwear" knitters out there. I've included two of her designs in this list but I might have just as well added them all. I'll get back to cocoknits near the end of this post but, until then, you might also want to check out her cute knitted loafers on Cocoknits . Adorable!

A pair of vintage, toe-up slippers called "Amy March slippers"

made by Pamie and designed by tiny owl knits (even if you don't intend to knit these slippers- read the pattern, it's hilarious :) ).

A pair of "regular" open House slippers designed by Tracey Ullman and Mel Clark

and knit and felted by Smeelia (aka Cecilia knits )

Now, why would I ever want to buy a pair of open slippers again after seeing those?! :))

And, like I promised, cocoknits and Julia Weisenberger again

and their lovely Prairie boots .

And only one more for now- Ice Age Boots designed by Maggie Pace

and made by imlovinknit (agreed again! )

Didn't I tell you- knitters do make boots! :)))

Enjoy, and I'll be back with some more soon!

TO BE CONTINUED....