6 posts tagged “booties”

Blanket

Since I fnished Mum's jersey in early May, I've completed quite a few projects. And not new projects, either (though there certainly some of those), but some that had been sitting around, neglected, for quite a while!

To the left here you'll see my mitred-square blanket, finished just one week shy of the one year anniversary of its cast-on! After much prevarication (and sitting half-completed for many months), this blanket (that I first mentioned here) is done. It is cosy and warm, and a big hit with Maddy. It (rather like the cat) graces the bed at night, and the sofa during the day. I'm really very pleased with it - and pleased to have the stash of yarn set aside for it gone!

Two pairs of socks were also completed, putting an end to the second-sock syndrome. One pair of brown socks in Naturally Sensation (a merino/angora blend), which I'm loving as bed socks. The other pair, in Naturally Vero Tweed, were sent off to my Mum! I did manage to get both of these completed before a year was up, but for the second pair (which I wrote about when finishing the first sock) it was a pretty close call!

Finishing these items, and unravelling a couple of things I absolutely knew I would never finish (because I no longer wanted them), meant that for probably the first time since I was a teenager, I did not have somthing half-finished somehwere! I've always had lots of things on the go, so it was not something I expected to revel in, but it gave me a great sense of control!

So, those new projects that I've finished recently and not blogged about, well, if you're on Ravelry, you can check out my Handspun Garter Mitts, Aspire Garter Mitts, Handpun Scarf, Vero Tweed Calorimetry, Hottie Cover, Mum's Felted Bag, the Brown & Turquoise Bag for my bag swap recipient, two simple beanies for KidsCan, and the Handspun Mittens I mentioned in the last post, and twelve pairs of preemie baby booties for charity.

Booties

Is it any wonder I haven't had much time to spin (or blog)?! Right now I'm working on some preemie mittens, and a jersey for myself (I got a bunch of this done on WWKIP day - check out Catherynne's nice recap of our day knitting in public on Waiheke)!. I have bought some new yarn, too, so another jumper or cardigan for myself should be coming along fairly soon, along with long queued socks and a beret! I wonder, however, how long this finishing thing will last...

50 Baby Bootees to Knit

When I want to make booties, I seem to go straight to this book, 50 Baby Bootees to Knit. While I haven't made anywhere near fifty pairs, I do find the patterns in this book very quick and simple, and easy to adapt.

So, in addition to the booties I made for my niece(s) offspring, and the two pairs for baby Penelope, this book has now been the source for two more pairs!

These green and brown slip-on style booties are for Helen, a friend who is due late February, early March. She's having a boy, so I figured I used up some of the green wool I ordered from Bendigo Woollen Mills last year for no apparent reason (or at least a reason that I can recall). Of course, two little slippers don't make much of a dent in a 200 gram ball of yarn, so I might have to make some adult-sized slippers for me! The undyed brown yarn is an NZ merino, from Naturally Yarns.

If you want more nerdy knitter details (and are one of the almost 76,000 registered members), you can check out the Starry Slippers and Harmonly Slip-Ons in my Ravelry projects!

I haven't really done a lot of knitting lately; I've been quite tired and tending to spend any spare time working or reading. Still, I have made some progress, clearing out a few old projects that were hanging around.

A pair of mohair socks that were three-quarters complete (that's one and a half socks) -and far too small for anyone I'd gift them to - has become one Christmas stocking trimmed with rick-rack, and a whiteboard duster (the leg of the second sock was folded, sewn, and randomly decorated). No way was I going to unravel the mohair knit on 3.25 mm needles, so it was either let them languish for many more months, toss them out, or torture myself by knitting an unneeded item. I'm happy to have found a somewhat practical solution!

A quick project was a pair of Saartje's booties, finished wish some neat "wooden" buttons decorated with leaves. I used a DK/sport yarn (Treliske Organic Merino) in a dark brown, on smallish needles; they're quite sturdy and pretty small. They're not for anyone in particular (though I've just found out that another niece is expecting...

Raglan Shaping

Otherwise, I'm plodding along on a jersey for Mum, the Cozy V-Neck Pullover with Deep Ribbing from Fitted Knits. I've had to do some math, a I'm using an 8ply yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills instead of the suggested heavier weight yarn. Lots of stitches, and lots of rows, but I think it will work out! Mum's not in a hurry, anyway. :-)

I'm also working on a hat (with cables) for a friend, and am probably just about halfway done on that; just need to focus! And this weekend I actually did some work on my mitred square blanket - I'm not officially further than halfway.

I still haven't made any real start on Christmas gifts. My table has been covered with supplies for who knows how long, but I've not jumped in yet. I will! And most likely before I finish the two pairs of socks I have half finished!

I've added a couple of crochet items to my queue, too - a tissue box cover and toilet roll holder! I'm not sure my crochet pattern reading abilities, and actual crochet skills, are up to it, but when I came across the patterns in a book when looking for tea-cosies (which I found), I couldn't resist. I'm sure I'll have fun with it, when I get around to starting...

Turns out that time flies whether you're having fun or not! The absence of posts here does reflect quite well the absence of any serious knitting or other interesting life highlights in the last few weeks. There has been more swatching, a decision to unravel and restart (with a completely different pattern and yarn) my Ravelry Scarf Exchange scarf, and a half-hearted attempt to make (garter rib) socks to match Dad's vest for Father's Day.

I am pleased to report, however, that not all of my labours (limited though they may have been) were fruitless. A couple of meetings ago, a fellow Knit Ranger, Kristie mentioned that a friend had delivered a tiny baby boy before he was expected, and that any little knitted things would be appreciated. Having a fair amount of baby wool left after knitting my nieces' kiddies, I cast on a pair of little booties.

That took very little time and effort (they definitely qualify as easy), so I then started on a bootie and mitten pattern from Sheperd Yarns. A week later, I'd finished one bootie, and barely cast on for the second. So, this morning I woke up determined to get them finished. And I did!

In the after-glow of satisfaction that follows from completing something (particularly something that has been languishing), I picked up the will-it-be-a-jersey-or-will-it-be-a-vest project, and yep, now that's completed, too. And it's a vest.

So, that's three completed projects for my Ravelry projects page. Now I still have my blanket, some socks "in progress", so I'm not quite on top of things, but I'm getting there! I've pruned my queue a little, and reordered, and I'm feeling "on top" of things, rather than feeling like I'm playing catch up.

Now, back to Dad's socks! And the bright tweed socks, and the brown ribbed socks for me. Oh, and that blanket...

Baby Yarn

In amongst the socks I've been working on, I've also pulled out the Cleckheaton Baby Cocoon for some more booties. This time the intended recipient is a great-niece, due later in the year. I'm still going to have plenty of the 4-ply yarn to whip myself up some stripey socks once my self-imposed embargo on stripes is over!

So far I've done one purple herringbone bootie, and one pink daisy lace bootie, both from 50 Baby Booties To Knit. They're so quick (and cute)!

I'm about to become a grand-aunt. Or is that great-aunt? One of my nieces is expecting to pop out her first baby in a few days, and so I've been busy doing aunty things - like knitting booties. Ha! My brother will be a grand-father!

She'll probably get a bunch of them, as I know my Mother has knitted a few, and I believe my eldest siste was going to as well. Still, winter is almost upon us, so she should get some use out of them.

She had the foresight to let us all know she's having a boy, so we could make suitably coloured things. I decided to go with only one blue pair, and green and a natural brown colour for the others. The yarn is Cleckheaton Baby Cocoon, a 4ply 70% merino, 30% nylon blend that is machine washable, and lovely and soft.

The booties themselves all follow the same basic pattern, each slightly bigger than the other. They all have a different cuff, and the brown ones have a raised diamond on the top of the foot. I'd never knitted booties before, and was surprised how quickly I churned them out.

50 Baby Bootees to Knit

Zoe Mellor

The patterns are from this book by Zoe Mellor that I borrowed from the library. It has, as the title suggests, 50 patterns, and most of them are quite cute. These aren't all unique patterns, though, many are simple variations on others, but the bonus with that is that you can easily see how to adapt the patterns to suit you yarn and needs.

It was quite funny, when I went to visit my parents a wee while back, my mother had been working with a pattern ripped from an old magazine for kids dotted socks that she'd found in a bottom of a bag of yarn odds & ends given to her by a friend. Turns out it was a excerpt from this very book!

My brother's step-daughter is also expecting (a girl) in August/September, so I'll probably borrow it again to make some more girly styles. I've already bought some more of the yarn in various shades - I'll have plenty with which to make myself a snuggly pair of socks or two as well.