Wee winter booties (with pattern!)

 Wee winter booties knit for little boy Gus who turns 3 months old this weekend. I knit these using my favorite baby bootie pattern ---with some scraps of washable sock wool and pure angora. Angora washes ok in a washer on cold--angora doesn't shrink much at all I have discovered.

I love this pattern because these booties stay on very well--and all the Mom's whose babies I make these for tell me they just love them! This is a very old pattern...and is attributed to several sources. One version I have calls them  "Stay-On Booties" but I like the title "Wee Booties."

Of course if you knit this same pattern with worsted weight yarn and larger needles you get a bootie  to fit about a 1 year old. I used sock yarn or fingering weight for this pair...to fit a newborn to 6 months size little one. I have knit these also for summer babies using fingering weight cotton yarn.

In case you want to try to knit these, here is the pattern. Sorry I'm not sure how to make it into a pdf file...but you can copy and paste this into Word with no problem.

WEE BABY BOOTIES

 Size #2 double pointed needles---I use 5 needles for this pattern--you will see why.
Sock or fingering weight yarn

Cast on 10 sts. Knit 32 rows, always slip the first st with yarn in front.
Count 16 ridges, then pick up and knit 16 sts on each side of the rectangle you just knitted and 10 sts on the other end of the rectangle.

1) Join and knit 1 round
2) Purl 3 rounds
3) Knit 4 rounds
4) Change color (if desired) and repeat row #1
5) Purl 3 rounds
6) Knit 4 rounds
7) Change color (if desired) and repeat row #1
8) Purl 3 rounds
9) knit 4 rounds
10) *knit 9 sts, then knit last st together with 1 st on the edge (edge st is on the long needle that has 16 sts on it). Turn.
11) Slip first st, purl 8 sts, p 2 tog (the 10th st and the edge st). Turn.*
12) Repeat * to * until you have 10 sts on each needle = 40 total sts.
13) Knit 4 rounds
Make holes for ties:
14) Knit 2 sts, yarn over, k2tog for entire row
15) Knit 2 rounds--40 sts total.
16) K2, P2 about 15 rounds (or until you think the top of the booties is high enough)
17) Cast off loosely.

I-cord Knit ties (or shoe lace)
1) cast on 3 sts
2) Put all sts back onto left needle (or if using double pointed needles slide to opposite end)
3) Knit 3 sts
4) repeat row 2
5) Knit 3 sts
repeat these 2 rows until tie measure 18" long, then make another tie
(Note: you do not turn your work. Your working yarn comes from the furthest left and it feels very wrong and weird. Just do it!;-)

I can knit a pair of these in about two evenings now...so go ahead and try some! If you have an trouble shoot me an e-mail and I will help you, but these are pretty simple. And then give them to the favorite baby in your life---the Mom will love you!

"Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about."-- Author Unknown

I is for Ingenuity

ingenuity, noun, pl. -ties.
1. skill in planning or inventing; cleverness.
(SYN) inventiveness.
2. skillfulness of contrivance or design.

This letter ("I") had me stumped ....(hence my lack of posting here); however this morning the topic of inventiveness or ingenuity popped into my head. We are all blessed with ingenuity---I think my ability to tap into my ingenuity was honed by living in the Alaskan "bush"--with no stores (except a very small grocery store)--so one saved everything, and recycled most items---and became very inventive when one needed something not readily at hand.

Everyone in town had some area of expertise, so we also traded goods and knowledge--rarely did money change hands, but I might trade a handwoven scarf for an outboard motor repair job. Ingenuity was the key to a comfortable survival.

I think living in a larger city--with all the services readily available for money---stamps out ingenuity---unless one is seriously dedicated to recycling or buying nothing new, it is much to easy to just buy what you need (or want---there is a big diff between needs and wants, but that is another topic).

Here are some wonderful examples of ingenuity that I have recently found online:

mini paper wreaths from the blog Scrumdilly-do!



Sweater Balls
from The Sweeter Sweater
A Button Bracelet from Creative Kismet

Recycled Slippers from SEW GREEN
I am currently working on my own inventive holiday project--one that I can gift to everyone on my gift list (and that is ingenuity!)---but I can't show you it yet--that would be a gift surprise spoiler...but I will be sharing this project once the gifts are in the mail...meanwhile here are my hands clapping to making your holiday gifts or at least buying handmade. For buying handmade may I suggest HERE....and do have fun either creating or shopping.

Tutorial Round-up # 2

Here are some more tutorials from the list I've been bookmarking for about a year...I just saved any crafty projects with good tutorials that I hope to make ...someday....(anyone know when someday actually comes?)



1) Brooke's Columns of Leaves Scarf ---here
I just love this scarf...and so do other knitters, it seems...



2) Sew Green : Recycled Slipper Tutorial
Use a thrifted wool blanket (or maybe a thrifted wool suit?) to make these slippers; meanwhile check out the Sew Green blog .


3) Baby chenille bibs tutorial from happythings blog. Can't wake to make some cute bibs for the expected grandbaby!


4) At Evil Mad Scientists Laboratories a great tutorial for a "camera cozy" or a camera bag

5) and here is an outdoors--(at the beach! no less ;-) project for nature lovers!
THE WORLD BEACH PROJECT

Devised by Sue Lawty in association with the Victoria & Albert Museum.

"What is the World Beach Project?

The World Beach Project is a global art project open to anybody, anywhere, of any age. Building on the experience many of us have of making patterns on beaches and shorelines, this project combines the simplicity of making patterns with stones with the complexities of shape, size, colour, tone, composition, similarity and difference....."