KNITTED BUNNY SLIPPERS

I’ve been obsessing over knitting a bit lately. It all started with the mini hats I knitted for the Innocent Big Knit, and somewhat escalated from there. I first knitted Graeme a pair of slippers as he was complaining about his feet being cold. Then I decided I should probably knit myself a pair as well, only I wanted them to be bunny slippers as I’ve pretty much always wanted a pair. Then I got my copy of Pompom magazine in the post and the list of things I need to knit has now grown rather huge. I don’t even know how I’ll find the time to knit half of all the things I want to knit. I’ve been pretty busy lately, and to top it off I also managed to slice my index finger which mad me unfit for knitting for about two weeks (don’t worry—I’m ok. Though there was definitely a moment of panic amidst the bloodshed as I was bandaging myself up and being dramatic and googling how deep a cut can be before you need stitches).

But this weekend, finally, I managed to complete my bunny slippers. I’ve pretty much living in them ever since! They make me so happy and keep my feet nice and warm as the days are getting colder. They’re so easy to knit as well, as you knit the whole slipper in one piece in a stocking stitch using double pointed needles starting at the heel and finishing at the toe, and then you just attach the ears and pompom tail. I knitted them for my own feet which are about a UK size 5/European size 38  (so the cm measurements below are accordingly), but they can easily be adapted to fit any size by trying them on as you knit. I knitted these in grey and white wool, and used scraps of dark grey and pink yarn for the bunny faces. As you can probably tell, I’m no expert at making knitting patterns but here’s how I made these:

For the slipper: Cast on 40 stitches on two size 3.5 double pointed knitting needles. Knit the first row, and then continue to purl and knit every other row. Once you have reached 15 cm or until it reaches the middle of the top of your foot, attach the ends of the piece together so that you’re knitting in the round using five double pointed needles and have 10 stitches on each needle. Continue knitting for about 5 cm, or reaches the widest part of your foot. Now for the decreasing to make the toe part: knit 10 so that you are on the side of the slipper. Knit 1, knit 2 together, and knit 7 (to the end of the needle). Then knit 7, knit 2 together, knit 1. Repeat this decreasing pattern until you have 5 stitches on each needle. You should have a pretty neat decreasing edge on each side of the foot. Stitch the heel together.

For the ears: Cast on 12 stitches of grey wool. Knit the first row, then continue to purl and knit every other row until your piece reaches about 8.5 cm. Decrease by knitting 9, knitting 2 together and knitting one, then purling 8, purling 2 together and purling 1, until you have 3 stitches left. Cast off. Cast on 10 stitches of white wool. Knit the first row, then continue to purl and knit every other row until your piece reaches about 8 cm. Decrease by knitting 7, knitting 2 together and knitting one, then purling 6, purling 2 together and purling 1, until you have 3 stitches left. Cast off. Assemble by placing the white piece inside the grey piece. It should curl up so that the grey piece will surround the white piece. Stitch it together so it stays in place.

To assemble the whole slipper, stitch the ears onto the slipper, and embroider a bunny face on the toe. Make a small pompom for the tail (I used the fork method) and attach it to the back of the heel. Put them on and enjoy! Perfect to enjoy on a duvet day, or maybe as a present for someone?