Sometime back, I offered to knit some slippers for my mother but I hadn't a clue as to sizing. Never one to make life simple and just give me measurements, one day the post included a lone slipper and a note saying that these fit and had been knit for her by Helen Shaffer.
Well, Helen Shaffer was a friend of my mother's and a remarkable knitter. There was no pattern for the slipper, just the slipper. So I deconstructed it and offer the list Helen Shafffer's slippers.
The interesting things about these slippers are:
1) The knit and purl stitches form a cuff at the top and a ridge around the garter based sole
2) The ribbing makes the toe box snug and eliminates/reduces the need for toe shaping
3) The whole of the pattern is easily adapted to fit any size foot - using smaller needles & yarn with the same number of needles or adjusting the number of stitches according to your gauge. I made these for a relatively wide foot (2-1/2 inches wide without any stretch).
The slippers are made in three steps. The first step begins at the heel.
It creates the cuff, the rise and establishes the sole. The second step
completes the cuff. The third step continues the garter
sole but adds the top ribbing.
Materials:
Bulky yarn
Needles = 8 US / 5 mm
Gauge:
4 stitches per inch
Pattern:
Cast on 50 stitches
Instructions for step 1:
Row 1: K6, P1, K36, P1, K6
Row 2: K19, P1, K10, P1, K19
Repeat these two rows until piece clears the ankle and/or
reaches the instep end with an odd row.
Instructions for step 2:
Row 1: cast off 7, K11, P1, K10, P1, K19
Row 2: cast off 7, K35 (36 stitches on needle)
Instructions for step 3:
Row 1: (P1, K1) 6 times, P1, K10, P1, (K1, P1) 6 times
Row 2: (K1, P1) 6 times, K12, (P1, K1) 6 times
Repeat these two rows until length of foot is reached.
To make up:
Cut yarn, leaving enough yarn to sew top seam. Thread yarn through stitches and pull up. Sew ribbing sections together.
Using left over yarn from cast on, sew up back seam, matching purl stitches that define the cuff and purl stitches that define the sole.
The last I'd heard, Helen was still alive but not well; confined to a nursing home and unable to knit. Some years back when she discovered that I had joined the ranks of knitters, she was thrilled so I'm pretty confident she'd approve of my sharing this with other knitters.