I purchased my first (and only) pair of duck boots while living in Boston during the 2015 snow storms because that’s what I noticed that everyone was wearing on their walk to work. It seemed like everyone had the same idea, actually, because they immediately went on back order and I wasn’t able to start wearing them until the following winter.

While I understand that leather boots take time to break in, I cannot express how uncomfortable I found these boots. It honestly seemed like the reason they received their name came down to the way that they force their wearer to walk like a duck. The other problem that I had was that my feet would sweat and then freeze, which meant that long walks were still uncomfortable when I finally broke the boots in.

Winters of grudgingly wearing these boots later, I found myself eyeing a leftover skein of Valley Yarns Amherst and remembering a gift that I made for my dad several holiday seasons ago. His knit insoles prevented his feet from sweating and getting cold, perhaps that’s all I needed!

Hikes and dog walks later, it’s safe to say that it worked. In the interest of helping others keep their feet warm, I’m sharing what I did:

Shoe Insoles Pattern

Materials Needed:

• 100-150 yards of 100% wool (or alpaca) worsted weight
• 6mm hook or needles
• Scissors

1. Place your boots on a piece of paper and draw a square around them that’s a 3-4 inches larger on all sides.
2. CO until your stitch count lines up end to end with your square.
3. Knit/Crochet until your square until it fills the square that you made around your boots. Note: It’s ok if the square ends up being a little bigger or smaller. Gauge is not critical because we will be cutting the square.
4. Gently felt the square. Note: It does not need to be perfectly felted, the square will continue to felt as you wear your boots.
5. Lay your boot’s insoles on top of the square and cut around them.
6. Slide them into your boots and enjoy!