and moonbeams by Kate Davies Designs

and moonbeams

Knitting
February 2025
DK (11 wpi) ?
26 stitches and 32 rows = 4 inches
in small-circumference colourwork in the round
US 3 - 3.25 mm
480 yards (439 m)
To fit adult foot with 19-21.5cm / 7½-8½in circumference and total length in the range of 21.5-25.5cm / 8½ -10in. Slipper length is fully adjustable within the pattern
English

And Moonbeams

Polka Dots and Moonbeams is a jazz standard, popular in the 1940s and 50s, when dotty dresses were in fashion. Listen to the lyrical 1949 recording by Lester Young while you whip yourself up a pair of cosy slippers!

Yarn
Kate Davies Designs Ooskit (100% British wool; 220m / 240yds per 100g skein). 1 skein of each of the following shades:
A Choffer
B Riach

Needles and notions
Two gauge-size needle(s) (for cast on)
Gauge-size needle(s) of your preferred type for working small circumferences (if different)
Stitch markers
Tapestry needle
Smooth waste yarn / sock yarn (for holding afterthought stitches)
 
Gauge
26 sts and 32 rounds to 10cm / 4in over stranded colourwork in the round using gauge-size needle(s). Use 3.25mm needle as a starting point for swatching.
Stranded colourwork over small circumferences has a natural tendency to draw in. Pay attention to your floats, and if you have problems maintaining an even tension, you might find that working the slippers inside out is helpful.
 
Size
To fit adult foot with 19-21.5cm / 7½-8½in circumference and total length in the range of 21.5-25.5cm / 8½ -10in.

Pattern notes
Knitted toe-up, these slippers begin with a winding cast on. The toe is shaped with increases, and the foot is worked from a simple chart in stranded colourwork. Waste yarn is inserted to create an “afterthought” ankle opening, the heel is shaped with decreases, and the back of the heel is grafted closed. The waste yarn is removed for the ankle opening, and a two-tone braid and ribbed edging complete the cuff of the slipper.