Recently in Baby Knits Category

It's a six pack of cuteness.

The Details:

Pattern: the Baby Bootie pattern from this Filatura di Crossa booklet. Yeah, I had all sorts of plans to use a new pattern, but in the end I didn't have time to make gauge adjustments. I knit what I knew.

Yarn: Odds and Ends. The brown and white pairs are cotton. I know that the white is Peaches 'n' Cream. The brown is a mystery yarn that I picked up years ago in a Knitsmiths swap.

Needles: US 7s and 6s.

Will I knit this pattern again? Undoubtedly.

With these three pairs all ready for gifting. I guess that I'm ready for the next knit. This one, of course, will be all about me.

Can't win every time:

Although the photo doesn't illustrate my failure well, the idea (like the photo--symbolic!) failed miserably.

But it was fun, nevertheless, and thanks to a couple readers, I have no need to experiment further. Two seamless bootie patterns were brought to my attention.

Excellent. I know that booties are a great way to use up tidbits of sock yarn, and I especially like the slipper-type design of the Magic Booties. Add a strap and cute button across the top, and you've got some serious Mary Jane action.

Using the idea behind the Newborn Crawling Booties, my plan is to come up with a version that uses worsted weight yarn (I could adjust for gauge, but I think that it'll be easier to simply design a new pattern.)

Whee! Bootie fun! (Just imagine the google hits....)

Some friends are having their first baby some time in April. I don't know when in April this kiddo is due to arrive, so better safe than sorry, I'm doing the baby knitting now.

And what, exactly, am I knitting, you ask. Well baby booties, of course,

I completely love knitting baby booties, especially when I use my favorite pattern: the bootie pattern from this Filatura di Crosa booklet. I picked up the booklet a few years ago at A Good Yarn in Brookline. Do you know that I first typed "Brooklyn"? Perhaps this New Yorker gig is sinking in after all. Then again, I could have sworn I heard someone say "train to Ashmont" last week and it took a few seconds before I reminded myself that there's no way that I could be on the Red Line. Baby steps, baby steps.

Speaking of baby steps, let's get back to the bootie discussion. Most of the reason that I like this pattern is that it works with worsted-weight yarn. Baby booties are fun, and quick, when you knit them with worsted weight.

There's just one itty bitty problem with this pattern. You first knit the bootie flat, and then you seam it. While I don't mind a little bit of finishing, seaming a baby bootie is unnecessary. Do you seam socks? No. How much difference is there between a sock and bootie? Not much. For the speckled pair (yarn unknown) I eliminated some of the seaming by using a provisional cast on, and doing a three-needle bind off for the bottom of the foot. That left me with only the back seam to finish.

Then, for the white pair (yarn: Peaches 'n' Cream, or Sugar 'n' Cream--don't know which is which) I had the brilliant (to me) idea of joining the stitches at the cuff. Combined with the three-needle bind off, this left me with only about an inch of a seam. A lot better, but still not perfect.

I think that I can re-engineer this pattern to be a top down pattern. All I need to do is to Change the decreases to increases and vice-versa. I'm convinced that the bottom seam adds some stability to the bootie's shape--so I want to leave that. If, however, I finish with the those stitches, instead of beginning, then a three-needle bind off is still possible--but does not require a provisional cast on.

Thea, how soon do you need that sweater? Can I play with some booties this week?

Today, I can safely unveil the project I was racing to complete last week:

It's a baby hat! I feel like a baby-hat machine these days. This is not exactly a bad thing, as baby hats have the two qualities that provide almost instant gratification to knitters everywhere: 1) they're cute 2) they work up quickly.

Hey, as long as a project can deliver that time and time again, who am I to complain?

The details:

Pink Stripes Baby Hat

Pattern: I grabbed the basic pattern from Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns and to it I added a simple horizontal stripe pattern, and a simple picot row above the rolled hem. I slipped threaded a ribbon through the picot row and tied a bow.

Yarn: GGH Goa that I picked up at Seaport Yarns.

Needles: US8s circulars, and finished with DPNs. I knit the hat in the round.

Time to complete: Two days, with lots of subway knitting time.

Would I knit this again: Sure! This knit kept me happy.

Notions: About a half yard of 1/4-inch grosgrain ribbon.

Now, I know that we're working on mid January here, but I haven't had time to share much with you about Christmas, or my after-Christmas European jaunt. Because I think that post after post of just me blabbing on and on about things that happened weeks ago would get boooooring, I'll tack on these posts after current information about the knitting project du jour. So, without further ado:

This was the Christmas that Kate discovered yarn. She first discovered that it's a lot of fun to run across the room carrying my ball of working yarn. I guess that it wasn't so smart to leave my knitting bag withing Kate's reach. This was quickly substituted with some spare Claudia Handpainted that I had with me. Can you see it there in her hand? Even all decked out in her Christmas finery (white cardigan hand-knit by none other than KG--that's Knitting Grandma to new blog readers), she had to carry some yarn with her. I hear that this yarn also went to bed with her.

Hey, what can I say? It's probably in her blood.

Thank you all for your thought-provoking comments about PDF patterns versus the real thing on paper. Apparently more than a few designers aren't happy about the recent developments over at Interweave. Because patterns can be shared with a click of a button, designers are concerned that this will make copyright infringement even easier. If I can extract anything, however, from the comments I received yesterday, it's that most of you are in favor of this service. I have to agree. It's unfortunate that some people don't respect (or even understand) copyright. For those who are bent on sharing knitting patterns with their nearest and dearest, it's just as easy to stop at Kinkos on the way to knitting group as it is to click "forward". Personally, I would be less likely to ask a friend for a copy if I knew that I could easily and instantly download a pattern for a small charge.

Those of you who mentioned shipping costs had a very good argument for the PDF, in my opinion. I especially appreciated those comments from readers who don't have easy access to the American knitting-pattern market. I feel your pain. I don't have easy access to the European chocolate market. Hmmm, I sense an opportunity here. If anyone from over on that side of the pond wants a pattern from this side, please be in touch.

Let's finish out the week with an FO. Two FOs actually, for two babies.

Fraternal hats for fraternal twins! Look carefully: either hat is the opposite of the other. Close, but not identical. And they're not gender specific colors, perfect for a pair of girl-boy twins. This way Mom and Dad don't have to think about which kid is getting which hat.

Alert readers might recognize the yarn as that left over from Kate's sweater, but with the striping pattern of the most recent baby knit. Both are, indeed, true. I didn't think that Kate would mind sharing, she's a generous kid.

Wow, it's really been baby knitting summer 'round here. I like knitting for babies. The projects are small, the patterns are cute, the colors are usually bright pleasant. Small, cute, and pleasant: just what I need right now. I'm kinda itching to begin a larger project, but this has got to wait until after I move.

What's next? Well, if yesterday's post didn't tip you off, socks are next on the needles. For memememememe!