Modular Crochet

After I'd finished a huge knitted scarf for a friend, I didn't have an interesting UFO lying around. I played around a little with leftover yarn, but nothing seemed to interest me. Eventually, I started a crochet version of the Little Rectangles Scarf I published about a year ago. Even though, at first I didn't like it much, it seems to grow on me and it's actually fun to crochet :)

Undecided Slippers

A pair of slippers is always useful to warm your feet. This design is mostly in garter stitch, but with an unusual construction that shows up nicely when you use selfstriping yarn.

This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Materials

• 3mm circular needles (even though everything is knitted back and forth)
• about 45 grams of fingering weight yarn
• tapestry needle for grafting and to weave in ends
• 3 stitch markers - at least one of them should be removable (e.g. a safety pin)

Techniques

• Judy's Magic Cast-On is a technique that gives you live stitches on both sides of your needle - it is generally used for toe-up socks (e.g. in this pattern), but it can be used for other purposes as well. Here's a written description (from Knitty) and here's a YouTube-video by Cat Bordhi and another YouTube-video by Very Pink Knits.
• Garter stitch grafting: Here's a video by Knittinghelp.com that shows garter stitch grafting.
• Picking up stitches from the side: Without your working yarn, insert the needle into the front leg of the edge stitch from back to front. A photo how this looks like, is shown in a post regarding the short wave mitts. Here’s a Knitty-article that explains picking up stitches in detail (also the difference between "picking up" and "picking up and knit"): http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/FEATwin04TT.html

Size, Gauge and What You Need to Measure

The pattern is written in a way that you can adapt it to the width and length of your feet. Before you start, measure around the widest point of your feet.

I had a gauge of 5 cm to 12 sts, and 5cm to 13 ridges in garter stitch (i.e. 26 rows in garter stitch) and 2 cm to 8 rows of stockinette stitch. With this gauge and with a CO of 2x18 sts, the tip bit is 12 cm long. You can adjust the length of this part by casting on more or less stitches.

Instructions

Part 1:

Magic CO 2x18 sts (i.e. 18 sts on each needles).

Now turn your needles around in a way that you're looking at the garter stitch bumps.
All rows of part 1 will be knitted in a U-shape, i.e. you knit the stitches on the first needle turn the piece upside down (this point will be called turning-point ("TP") and knit the stitches on the other needle. Then you turn your knitting to the WS and knit back.

Setup Row: k18 to TP, turn ktbl 18
Rows 1 to 9: sl1, k to 1 st before TP, kfb, turn, kfb, k to end (after a few rows your piece should look similar to photo no. 1)
Row 10: sl1, k to end
Row 11 = Row 1
Row 12 = Row 10
Row 13 = Row 1
Row 14, 15 = Row 10
Row 16 = Row 1
Row 17 and following: continue knitting rows without increases (i.e. Row 10) until the piece is wide enough to fit halfway around your feet (i.e. its half the width of the widest point of your feet) - and remember how many rows without increases you have knitted. Your piece should now look like photo no. 2. For me to reach a width of 11 cm, I had to knit 9 rows without decreases. Place a removable stitch marker in the first stitch of the next row. (This is where you will start to pick up the stitches for part 2.)

Knit the same number of rows without increases again.

Basically now rows 1 to 16 are knitted backwards with decreases instead of increases. i.e.

Row 35: sl , k to 2 sts before TP, ssk, turn, k2tog, k to end
Row 36, 37: sl1, k to end
Row 38 = Row 35
Row 39 = Row 36
Rows 40 to 50 = Row 35
Row 51: sl1, k18 (i.e. to the middle of the row) 

Break yarn leaving a tail of about 40 cm and start grafting in garter stitch. (See photo no. 3)
Graft both sides together in garter stitch. 

Part 2:

Starting at the point where you put the removable stitch marker, pick up and knit stitches around the rim of the tip (one stitch per garter stitch ridge) - see photo no. 4. 

Part 2 is knitted back and forth (not in rounds), so one row is knitted from the inside of the slipper and the next row from the outside.

Count the stitches and devide the number by 4 (this number will be called X). In row 1, you will place two markers, one X stitches away from the beginning of the row and another X stitches away from the end of the row.

Row 1 (inside) : sl1, k X-1 sts, place marker, p to last X sts, place marker, k to end

Row 2 (outside): sl1, k to end

Row 3 (inside): sl1 k to marker, p to marker, k to end

Row 4 (outside) = Row 2

Row 5 (inside) = Row 3

Row 6 (outside) = Row 2

Row 7 (inside) = Row 3

Row 8 (outside): sl1, kfb, k to last 2 sts, kfb, k1
Row 9 (inside) = Row 3

Repeat rows 2 to 9 once more

Then repeat rows 2 and 3 until the length of the slippers are  4 cm short of the total length of your feet.

Now the heel decreases are started:

Row 1 (outside): sl1, k to marker, ssk, k to 2 sts before marker, k2tog, k to end

Row 2 (inside): sl1, k to marker, p to marker, k to end

Repeat these 2 rows 3 more times.

Now, between the two markers there should be as many stitches left, as there were garter stitch ridges without increases or decreases in part 1.

From now on only one of the upper parts (in garter stitch) are worked, the stitches between the markers will be decreased row-by-row and the second garter stitch bit will not be worked until the kitchener stitch in the end.

Row 1: sl1, k to marker, ssk, turn, sl1, k to end

Repeat row 1 until there are only two stitches between the two markers

Then knit the following (last) row: sl1, k to 1 sts before marker, do a double central decrease

Now there should be the same number of stitches on both needles.

Graft in garter stitch.

Weave in ends.

Make two. 

This blogpost was featured at the Really Crafty Link Party #34, at the Linky Ladies Community Link Party No. 99 and at the New Tuesday Pin-spiration Link Party {36}. Thank you!