Ideal for chilly winter evenings.

I used GarnStudio Eskimo wool, but any thick, soft, feltable wool should work, (make sure it has not been treated to be washable or the felting will not work). I used 2.5 balls of the purple wool and 1 ball of the red (but I have small feet).

and the Fuzzy Feet pattern from Knitty.com. Size 7 needles, either double ended or circular (although you will need double-ended needles for the last bit of the toe as the stitches decrease), and thick wool means results very quickly. If you have already followed Sally-in-Wale's article on how to knit a sock this will have given you all the steps you will need. If you find you have holes where you join the sock to the heel you can darn these before felting. This is an ideal first sock project as you can practise all the sock techniques and the felting process will cover up any minor imperfections.

Start knitting:-

until you have a giant sock:-

In my case it was about twice the size of my foot:-

Make sure you finish the toe using the same wool as you knitted with to ensure that the wool felts at the same rate. Now knit your second sock.

Put both socks in the machine together at 40 °C. Mine went in with the normal wash as the friction from other items helps the felting process. I do not have a machine that you can open mid-cycle so I have to wait until the end to see the results. When the socks come out they look pretty scrumpled but you can easily pull them into shape. I put my feet into a couple of very thin plastic bags, like the ones you get for fruit and veg at the supermarket and put the damp slippers on to shape them to my feet. Leave them to dry slowly trying them on from time to time.

Depending on your floor surface they can be quite slippy; you can either sew on a leather sole or attach stickies to the sole to help stop slipping.

Voilà - cosy felted slippers