These small vintage slippers use alternating dark and light rows in a dense crochet fabric that the original editor compared to double knitting. A knitted looped frill is added around the opening.
Materials & Size
- Dark four-ply wool
- Light contrasting wool
- Short crochet hook suitable for the yarn
- Knitting needles for the optional frill
The original sample is described as a small size 4.
Vintage Instructions
With the darkest shade, chain 14. Work 1 row of single crochet. Chain 1 and turn.
Row 2: Work 1 double crochet in the first stitch, taking up both edges of the loop. Chain 1, miss 1 stitch, double crochet in the next; repeat across. Chain 1 at the end of every row. Increase 1 stitch at the beginning of each row.
Row 3: Work 1 double crochet at the edge, chain 1, then work a double crochet into the single crochet below the chain-1 space of the first row, inserting through both sides of that stitch. Chain 1 and continue in the same way across.
Row 4: Change to the lightest shade and work in the same manner, taking up the double-crochet stitches of Row 2.
Rows 5–7: Use the darkest shade. Continue so that dark stitches work into light and light into dark, while keeping 3 rows of dark between light rows.
When the work measures 21 stitches from the first row, divide for the sides. Increase on the outside edge in the first and third rows only and decrease in the same rows on the inside. Work 10 double crochet on each side and 21 double rows. Add or omit a row as required for fit.
Optional Knitted Frill
Cast on 6 stitches. For a looped row, insert the needle into the stitch, wind the wool twice around the left needle and over the first finger of that hand, then knit the stitch. Knit the return row plain. Work 2 looped rows in the dark shade and 1 looped row in the light shade alternately until the strip is long enough to sew around the slipper opening.
Crochet Board Editorial Note
This is a historical slipper construction rather than a standardized modern shoe size. Measure against the intended foot as you work the side sections. The original scan’s exact wool quantities are damaged, so they are not reconstructed here.
Vintage Source
Publication: Priscilla Wool Crochet Book
Editor: edited by Lola Burks Hettich
Publisher: The Priscilla Publishing Company, Boston
Year: 1912
Original printed page: 12 (scan page 15)
Rights: Public-domain historical work; Library of Congress states that books in this collection are public domain and free to use and reuse.