Welcome to the 3rd Geek-A-Long (GAL) pattern of 2023, the Cult of the Lamb Slippers. Forget hot-girl-summer, in this two thousand and twenty third year of the Old Faith we are celebrating riot-witch-summer instead. How better to curse the heat of the relentless Day Star than by dreaming of fall, warm slippers, steaming beverages, and the downfall of anyone who dares to defy our leader - The Lamb - than by whipping up a pair of absolutely ridiculous slippers?

If you missed our earlier 2023 installments of the GAL, check out the Burn It Down socks and the Untitled Goose Socks, both of which are free forever on Ravelry and our blog, Lattes & Llamas. Still crave more chaos while you wait on the next piece of the pattern to drop? Check out Jac’s Riot Witch Summer e-book (paid). Honestly, I hope to be as talented as her someday <3.

And now, back to the cult at hand!
The Cult of the Lamb Slippers will be released in 3 installments:
8/14/23 - Project Sheet and Functional Swatch
8/20/23 - Slipper 1: The Kind Cultist
9/03/23 - Slipper 2: WRATH

The slippers are worked top down and though they do utilize knitting in the round for some sections, they are primarily worked flat. They both make indulgent use of bobbles, and feature beads and little jingle bells. Both the beads and the bells are optional, but they really add a lot and I strongly urge you to consider if you would want to deny your wooly leader the gentle tinkle of a jingly bell every time you take a step? No, I don’t think you would.

I’ve broken from my usual coffee cozy trend for the functional swatch, this time you will be making a yarn-cake sweater to keep those balls neat, clean, and toasty while you work! The swatch itself is really a whole project and would make a great gift for a knitter.

Yarn
Worsted weight yarn in three sharply contrasting colorways. Kits are available in extremely limited quantities, and purchasing the kit is NOT required or expected to join this free knit-a-long.

Color A (dark gray): 110(125, 140, 155) yds / 100(114, 128, 142)m - 50(56, 62, 68) g
Color B (red): 85(100, 115, 130) yds / 78(92, 105, 119)m - 38(45, 52, 59) g
Color C (cream/white): 110(125, 140, 155) yds / 100(114, 128, 142)m - 50(56, 62, 68) g

Note that yardage is estimated, includes the yardage required for knitting the swatch, and may vary depending on yarn used, gauge variations, or modifications.

When choosing your yarn, make sure all 3 colors contrast sharply. We recommend taking a photograph of the yarns together and then changing it to black and white to ensure they contrast strongly enough.

Needles
US 4 / 3.5 mm and US 5 / 3.75 mm 40” circular needles or size needed to obtain gauge.

We prefer the Magic Loop method when knitting socks and these are no exception. You can substitute DPNs if desired. Due to construction, 9”-12” circular needles are not recommended.

Notions
2 Stitch Markers; Tapestry Needle; Waste Yarn or Stitch Holder; Crochet hook (optional); 6/0 beads: 8 black and 18 red (optional); 2 8mm sew on jingle bells (optional-but really take the slippers to the next level so strongly recommended)

Gauge
28 sts and 50 rows = 4” / 10cm, garter rows (knit both right and wrong sides) worked flat with larger sized needles and blocked. See gauge swatch directions on page 4.

Sizing
Size 1 (2, 3, 4) has a 7.5(8.5, 9.5, 10.5)” / 18 (22, 24, 27) cm foot circumference.

As with many colorwork socks, these were designed with little to no ease. Choose the size closest to your actual foot measurement. Stitch counts are written for size 1 with (2, 3, 4) size stitch counts in brackets.