Knitted cosy mukluks

This story was originally titled "Make Your Own Mukluks" in the February 2009 issue. Subscribe to Canadian Living today and never miss an issue!

Mukluks are worked in the round. The pattern is written for women's shoe size 5; larger sizes follow in brackets. If there is only one figure, it applies to all sizes. Standard abbreviations are used. Recommended for experienced knitters.

Sizes 23 (23.5, 24, 25, 25.5, 26)cm/9 (9-1/4, 9-1/2, 9-3/4, 10, 10-1/4)ins foot length, corresponding to women's shoe sizes 5 (6, 7, 8, 9, 10).

You need:
3 skeins (113 g) Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worsted-weight 85 per cent wool/15 per cent mohair yarn, Main Colour (MC) No. M06 Deep Charcoal

1 ball (50 g) each Brown Sheep Nature Spun sport-weight pure wool yarn, Contrast Colour 1 (CC1) No. 110 Blueberry; Contrast Colour 2 (CC2) No. 207 Alpine Violet; Contrast Colour 3 (CC3) No. N65 Sapphire; and Contrast Colour 4 (CC4) No. 205 Regal Purple (find a list of retailers at brownsheep.com)

Set of five 5 mm double-pointed needles (DPN) or whichever needles you require to produce the tension given below

One long 10 mm (or larger) needle

9 cm/3-1/2 ins square of sturdy corrugated cardboard

Stitch markers

Stitch holder

Tapestry needle

Darning or embroidery needle 1 pair of slipper soles (available online from fibertrends.com; click on Other Products) sized to fit (optional)

Sewing needle and sturdy thread to match soles (optional)

Tension:
18 sts and 24 rows = 10 cm/4 ins before felting in stocking stitch worked in round using MC and DPN; 18 sts and 28 rows = 10 cm/4 ins after felting. Work to exact tension with specified yarn to obtain satisfactory results. To save time, take time to check tension.

To make:
With MC and DPN, cast on 70 sts. Place marker and, being careful not to twist sts, join in rnd, dividing sts as evenly as possible between 3 DPN.

To shape leg:
Moving marker up as you complete each rnd, [purl 1 rnd, knit 1 rnd] 6 times.
Next rnd: Purl.
Next 2 rnds: Knit. Work from beg measures 4.5 cm/1-3/4 ins.
Eyelet rnd: K2, [yo, k2tog, k4] to last 2 sts, yo, k2tog.
Next 4 rnds: Knit.
*Dec rnd: Ssk, knit to last 2 sts, k2tog.
Next 7 rnds: Knit.
Rep from * 6 times more, then rep dec rnd once more. 54 sts now on needles.
Next rnd: Knit to last 14 sts, slip last 14 sts onto new DPN, move marker, slip first 14 sts of next rnd onto same DPN for heel (28 sts now on needle), leaving rem 26 sts on separate DPN for instep.

Page 1 of 3 -- On page 2, learn how to make the heel and foot of the mukluk boot