Ditch those annoying felt pads on the bottom of your chair legs, and upgrade to these adorable knit DIY chair socks. They’ll protect your floors, silence your chairs, and the best part– they’re easy to clean!
Make a set for each holiday or special occasion and bring instant festivity to your dining room. This fun knitting pattern is super easy and only uses a small amount of yarn, so it’s perfect for using up your existing stash.
These DIY chair socks are a new knitting pattern here on the blog. Read about my inspiration and the simple construction, or scroll down for the free pattern.
No time right now? Pin this cute chair socks knitting pattern for later!
*This post contains affiliate links (only for products I love, use and spend my own money on obviously). This means I earn some yarn money if you make a purchase through one of these links (of course at no extra cost for you!), which I promise to use to create more awesome patterns like this one. All opinions are my own. See my full disclosure here.
Scroll down for the free version but I recommend you purchase the ad-free PDF Pattern to get all the instructions and pictures in a nice PDF you can print and take notes on without relying on your phone or an internet connection, I’ve got you covered!
The Chair Socks pattern is now available in my Etsy and Ravelry shop. Pick your favorite shop and grab your copy before you forget!
Why Do Your Chairs Need Socks, Anyway?
When you’re a pattern designer, you have to be prepared for inspiration to strike at any moment. I might be walking down the street and see someone wearing something that I just have to turn into a knitting pattern! Other times, it’s as simple as my friend showing me a photo of something she thinks is cute and saying, “wouldn’t this make a cool pattern?” And that’s how chair socks were born.
Everyone knows that moment when you pull your chair out from the table and it makes a horrible screeching sound. You can use those felt pads to silence your chairs and protect your floors, but they eventually get disgusting and fall off.
These DIY chair socks do the job of felt pads, but much better (and they’re easy to clean)!
And on top of that, chairs socks are obviously amazing for decorating. You can make a pair (well a quadruple I should say) for every holiday or special occasion! Red, green, white for Christmas, black; yellow and red to support the Belgian football team for the next world cup, etc. Since they’re super easy to make and use only a small amount of yarn, you can make as many as you can think of.
They’re knitted with double-pointed needles which can be a bit burdensome for such a small pattern but will give you the best results. It’s a great pattern to get more familiar with DPN. The pattern works up fast so you’ll get them done in no time.
The Yarn
These DIY chair socks are great to use up small scraps of yarn as you only need a few meters of each color.
However, make sure you stick to cotton yarns. Other fibers will wear down quickly with the repeated movement of the chairs. I’ve had mine for over a year now and they’re still not showing any signs of wear.
If they loosen up or get dirty, just throw them in the wash and squeeze them back on as good as new.
Crochet Chair Socks
You might have seen my crochet chair socks pattern and be thinking “I want to make these, but I don’t crochet”. Although I strongly believe both crocheting and knitting are completely worth learning (check out this post to learn why you should do both), I understand some of you just want to knit. This is why I have made this knit version of my chair socks pattern. And if you crochet but don’t knit, the free crochet version can be found here.
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Before you Start your Knit DIY Chair Socks
Materials
- 3mm / US 2 double-pointed needles. If you are new to double pointed needles or don’t have the right size, I use and recommend this very cheap set. Although they are not the prettiest, I prefer using stainless steel needles as the yarn slides better on them, and with this set, you have all sizes so you are set for any project.
- Cotton sport weight yarn. I used Catania Originals cotton yarn but you can use any similar weight scrap yarn you have.
- Tapestry needle to weave in the ends – Tapestry needle to weave in the ends. I love this set as it has different eye sizes for different yarn thicknesses and it comes in a small tube which is very convenient so I don’t lose them.
Abbreviations
- st = stitch
- k = knit stitch
- p = purl stitch
- k2tog = knit 2 stitches together
Repeat instructions between ** the indicated number of times or until the end of the round.
Dimensions
The base of my chair feet is a 2.5 by 2.5 cm / 1″ by 1″ square and the socks are 5.5 cm /2.25″ height. You can adjust the base by adding or removing stitches and the height by adding or removing rounds to fit your chairs.
Tips and Tricks
- Use sturdy cotton to avoid wear
- If they loosen up after a few months and start falling off, throw them in the wash and they’ll get their original tension back.
- When you weave in the ends of the different contrasting colors, you can use this opportunity to tighten up any remaining gaps at the round junctions.
- Don’t hesitate to play around with different colors. You could make different combinations (one for each chair) or you can mix them all.
The Actual DIY Chair Socks Pattern
With your main color yarn (green for me), cast on 24 st on 4 3mm / US 2 double-pointed needles (6 st on each needle).
Round 1: k around
Round 2: p around
Round 3 – 4: Repeat * rows 1 and 2 *
Switch to your 1st contrasting color yarn (pink for me). Don’t cut off the main color yarn as you will get back to it in a few rounds. You can cut the contrasting color yarns once you are done with them to avoid a big tangled mess.
Round 5 – 8: Repeat * rows 2 and 3 * twice
Switch to you 2nd contrasting color yarn (light green for me).
Round 9 – 12: Repeat * rows 2 and 3 * twice
Switch to your last contrasting color yarn (white for me).
Round 13 – 16: Repeat * rows 2 and 3 * twice
Switch back to your main color yarn (green).
Round 17 – 25 : Repeat * rows 2 and 3 * 4 times
Round 26: k around
Round 27: *k2tog, k2, k2tog* repeat 4 times
Round 28: k around
Round 29: *k1, k2tog, k1* repeat 4 times
With a tapestry needle, pull through all remaining stitches and weave in the ends.
Make as many knitted chair socks as you need.
If you’ve enjoyed this cute chair socks knitting pattern, share it with your yarnie friends!
