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September 01, 2009
Little baby toes go inside this little square baby booty...
Making baby booties is so much fun! They're small and funny looking and there are a bazillion and one patterns to pick. This first set of little tiny hand-knit booties are meant to match the Five Hour Baby Sweater I made in Patons Decor yarn, color "First Spring Ombre." (Ombre is not a word I use. Ever. I have never actually said Ombre, unless you count the Spanish hombre, which I say often in traffic but usually only followed by the words pinche and cabron. I love cussing in traffic in Spanish!)
This pattern is from the book Knitting for Baby: 30 Heirloom Projects with Complete How-to-Knit Instructions
Each pattern is written in a narrative style so this book is easy to understand for ultra-beginners and it really explains the ins and outs of techniques so well. The patterns are very cute, too. For more advanced knitters it may be annoying to have to read the narrative to get to the instructions but I think it depends on the knitter. Personally, I like narrative patterns but I'm also averse to acronyms and abbreviations in general (hey, you work in the finance industry long enough and you begin to loathe and despise acronyms. Seriously.)
Finished set. Shoes perhaps bigger than sweater, ah well.
Got this cute giftbox at Target.
These are the "Stay On Baby Booties" pattern knit on size 7 double-pointed needles (normal tension knitters would use a size 5 or 6 needle, I'm guessing) and I made only one minor modification to the pattern. I don't know if it was the yarn gauge or just me, but I thought 20 rows was too much for knitting the body -- it was coming out too tall for a baby foot! So I only knit 17 rows (ending on a purl row) and they turned out great. They are very square which makes me laugh every time I look at them. They required no blocking since the garter stitch knits up will on its own and each shoelet has an i-cord tie threaded through the top. They do seem that they'd stay put as the pattern says ... even on fat little baby toes.
This was the first time I had ever made i-cord! It's not hard or anything but I'd just never had a need to make it before. I love learning new little tricks and techniques in knitting. I especially love learning them on small little items like baby clothes or scarves or hats. These were easy to knit and took me about an hour and a half each, but I am a fairly slow knitter, your mileage may vary.
- - -
Here is the skyline today, smoky and ashy on the drive into work. It looks like nighttime but it was actually around 7:30 in the morning! There's a hurricane brewing down in Baja so maybe it will bring us some much-needed humidity. I have lived here for almost 15 years and I don't think I remember it ever raining in August or September but it sure would be nice right about now.
Also, hello September!
Posted by laurie at September 1, 2009 01:17 PM
Comments
Those are darling little booties. To go with a lovely little sweater. I am so impressed that you have not only knit, sewed together and completed a bottom up sweater, you have done a top down sweater as well! I have started three (3) adult sweaters and none (0) of them are complete.
Gonna try me some baby sweaters.
Posted by: Leah at September 1, 2009 02:07 PM
Very cute! Please stay safe out there Laurie, every time I see the news about L.A. I start to get worried about you and the cats. I really hope the fires will be out soon.
Posted by: Rachael at September 1, 2009 02:21 PM
Cute booties and sweater! I am an ultra beginner so I may have to pick this book up. Knitting patterns intimidate me so much. I used the same exact box when I gifted my bff with a crochet blanket I made for her new baby. I love that you can find the same things in Target all the way across the country.
Posted by: Tami R. at September 1, 2009 02:25 PM
I love that bootie pattern. What a lovely set!
Posted by: Renee at September 1, 2009 02:33 PM
That sweater and booties are too much for me to handle. Seriously sweet.
Posted by: Jennifer M. at September 1, 2009 02:35 PM
Thank you for providing the great review. I'm a beginner so anytime someone assures me I can do a pattern it's a wonderful thing.
Posted by: Christine at September 1, 2009 02:46 PM
Beautiful finished work, thank you for sharing. I'm also a fan of Melanie Falick (Love Weekend Knitting) and I have/love "Knitting for Baby" too! Super cute and such a good learn-to-knit book, love all the cute garter stitch projects (garter stitch is so nice and smooshy and bebe-friendly, and also friendly to my brain!)
Posted by: Valerie at September 1, 2009 03:07 PM
I'd never done garter stitch in the round before either, which is so simple but I guess I only think of knitting in the round for stockinette. I am also a big fan of garter stitch!
There's a cute rolled-neck sweater pattern in that book (it has an intarsia heart on the front) and she has the same pattern adjusted to fit an adult. I may try to make it one of these days!
Posted by: laurie at September 1, 2009 03:15 PM
Very cute little set. I'm going to take a look at that book you recommended. Thanks!
Posted by: Bonnie at September 1, 2009 03:23 PM
I like the book because it builds on your skills as you go through each pattern. There are a lot of books with better illustrations at the beginning (in the techniques section) but the patterns are some of the best I've seen for beginners. I think if I had found this book five years ago I would have been knitting sweaters back then. Or maybe not... I do love my hats and scarves....
Posted by: Laurie at September 1, 2009 03:40 PM
All so adorable! I am impressed as I always need help with anything new.
BTW, when I walked my dog on the westside this morning it was "raining?"
Posted by: Jo Anne at September 1, 2009 04:00 PM
Nicely done! (Baby feet are about 3" long.)
Posted by: Lilly at September 1, 2009 04:18 PM
what kind of crazy sweetness is this sweater/booties combo?!!? How adorable and great for you, you super knitter, you!!
I'm gonna go knit something right now!!
Posted by: robinv at September 1, 2009 04:43 PM
I just love Kristin Nicholas and think you would love some of her patterns too -- please look around the used book stores for some. Kristin really loves color, just like you!
I love the booties :)
Please be safe and keep us posted.
Posted by: Leslie at September 1, 2009 04:56 PM
Oh my gosh, the ensemble is gorgeous. You are so talented!
Please tell me what "pinche" and "cabron" mean - I get the "hombre" part - so next time I'm in California I'll do it right. :D
Posted by: Shelia at September 1, 2009 05:44 PM
Hi Laurie, these booties are so so gorgeous, you should be very proud of yourself. I have only recently discovered crazy aunt pearl and I am so hooked on it. I can't wait to read it each day, I am going to go back and read everything you have written. You seem like such a wonderful person and I wish you every happiness. God Bless.
Posted by: pinkviolets at September 1, 2009 06:24 PM
Gorgeous set, Love the yarn, love the pattern!
Posted by: DawnL at September 1, 2009 06:24 PM
What a beautiful, thoughtful gift. It's so lovely that you took all that time to make something like this. I still have a quilt that my aunt made for me as a baby; I hope one day the baby that wears this will put it on her own baby.
Posted by: Caroline at September 1, 2009 06:32 PM
That is the cutest baby set!! What a wonderful gift that will make some sweet baby. Love the yarn you used too. Will have to check out the book myself.
Posted by: Kim at September 1, 2009 06:34 PM
Adorable! And what everybody else said--stay safe!
Posted by: Susan at September 1, 2009 06:47 PM
Haha! I used to be a CLO and worked with BDC's and RM's doing C&I LOC's! Yes, I worked at WF and they had a dictionary of acronyms. When two employees got together it could sound like the CIA.
Posted by: Shawn at September 1, 2009 07:19 PM
oooh, cute. Maybe I will try that.
Posted by: Sue-Ellen at September 1, 2009 07:31 PM
What a beautiful set! Lucky baby.
Posted by: Anna at September 1, 2009 07:37 PM
LOVE it! I have the inability to finish my projects, though. also, desert living means too hot for knitting most of time.
We're getting alot of the smoke from your fires over the mountains. I can not even imagine being closer. Thank good ness you live in the hot dry, dead valley where there's nothing to burn, right? Right? Please?
Keep us posted, chica. We worry about our Purl.
Posted by: Suzi in Las Vegas at September 1, 2009 07:46 PM
Those are so darling!
Wish me luck: I'm starting a baby sweater (13 rows in as I type...)
Posted by: azteclady at September 1, 2009 08:11 PM
Where I work at the moment every one who is not male or over 40 seems to be pregnant - so am having to be choosy with who I knit for!
I have added the fires to my worry list for next year - son is walking the Pacific crest trail - with the bears, and the raging mountain torrents - and now fire!
Love to you Laurie!
Posted by: Liz at September 1, 2009 10:45 PM
I have the pattern for the booties and I take it out and look at it periodically... and this post just pushed me over the edge. Now I just have to cast on for them. Excellent job! A mommy will be very proud...and a baby will have warm toeses.
Posted by: Elizabeth at September 2, 2009 03:42 AM
what a beautiful gift it turned out to be!!! Love the packaging of it too... I'm sure its going to be treasured forever... the booties are just adorable! A great add in with that gorgeous sweater!
Posted by: Rebecca Jo at September 2, 2009 04:22 AM
Was thinking of you this morning. Hope you and your furbabies are safe from the fires!
Posted by: Alicia at September 2, 2009 05:13 AM
Love the booties! Must add that book to my Amazon wish list!
Posted by: Jo F. at September 2, 2009 06:02 AM
I don't know if I should be ushering in this period of my life or cursing your name, but looking at that sweater MAKES ME WANT TO HAVE A BABY. I smaller part of me wants to take up knitting when I look at stuff like this, but at this point I think a baby might be easier.
Posted by: LeahW. at September 2, 2009 06:14 AM
Lovely booties. I was hoping to knit a pair after I finished the same sweater, but I am having a devil of a time with this 5 hour sweater. I seem to get to the same point each time and make some hideous error that I can't fix, then end up frogging and then end up dropping a stitch and then end up not being able to pick it up so I start over - completely. Whew. I hear the fire battle may be turning in the favour of the fire fighters. I sure hope so.
Posted by: Colleen at September 2, 2009 07:43 AM
That is going to be one very well-dressed baby! You and the cats be safe out there - I keep thinking of you when I see the news!
Posted by: Sarah at September 2, 2009 09:21 AM
Those are really cute booties. It's funny with the baby things I've made that I haven't done a pair of booties yet. It would be nice to fix that.
Posted by: Seanna Lea at September 2, 2009 09:51 AM
um, no, I don't think the booties are big. have you really looked at baby feet recently? The little buggers are square. Cute little socks simply don't fit (or they fit for about 1/2 hour until the bambino grows out of them).
Beautiful set and beautiful work! You should be very proud and happy with your self.
:)
Phyllis
Posted by: Phyllis at September 2, 2009 10:01 AM
if you want another fun, simple baby project, I can recommend this Lion Brand baby poncho pattern. (You will need to create a log-on to access the free pattern). http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/60549A.html?noImages=
The mamas of the babies I've made this for swear by it. It's super cute and just pops over their little noggins.
I've been doing a lot of extra knitting the last week as the fires and smoke are keeping us & the dogs inside. Enjoy!
Posted by: Julie at September 2, 2009 10:58 AM
Those may be the cutest darn things I have ever seen! What a nice present...you are a fantastic friend/coworker!!
Posted by: aileen at September 2, 2009 12:44 PM
Adorable! Lucky baby.
Posted by: Norma at September 2, 2009 07:52 PM
