Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The Amazon Bootie!

Last week I finished the bonnet I was working on, and sent it to my grandma to finish for me (she crocheted the trim around it, put the french knots in and made the cord for it). I included the matching booties in the package for her to look at. She then sent me a very nice e-mail to say that the pattern did not mention the type of yarn or needle size, so clarified that I needed to use baby yarn and a size 1 or 2 needle. This did not mean much to me at the time, since I had use Baby Ull and a size 2 needle. It did however, take on a whole new meaning once she sent the bonnet & booties back to me, along with a bootie she had knit to show me the size they are supposed to be. I have now named my bootie "The Amazon Bootie", as it is a full 1 inch longer than the one my grandma knit. Mine was 4 1/2" long! It seememd little when I made it, but apparently I was mistaken!

I think for now I'll be done making booties (except to finish the 2nd amazon bootie I am currently working on so I have a pair). Soon I will look for baby yarn (likely the next time I am at the yarn shop), but I really am in no hurry, as I feel a little let down about the size of my bootie, but rest assured, I will get over it, and continue to make booties, as the really are kind of fun to make!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Thursday.....

It is hard to believe that I have been enjoying knitting as much as I have! Over the weekend I knit a bootie to match the "practice bootie" I knit when I first tried to knit booties. My mother-in-law wanted a pair of booties for a doll she has, so now her doll has a pair of booties to wear! One lesson I learned after making them is that the needles used my have an impact on the size of the booties, for example, my first bootie was knit on metal size 2 needles, and my second one was knit on birch size 2 needles. The second one came out larger (but that was ok for the doll, as she has one foot bigger than the other). While it could have been my tension, I don't think it was.

My bonnet is almost done. I only have about 1/2 inch left to go before I send it to my grandma to finish it for me!

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Knitting Baby Stuff

When I was home in March I asked my grandma for her baby bootie pattern. She gave it to me, and also gave me the matching baby bonnet pattern. It is a quaker stitch. So far I've knit a practice bootie out of some scrap yarn and a pair of pale yellow booties out of Baby Ull Dalegarn and am working on the matching bonnet. The booties knit up quite quickly, I got them done in 1 1/2 days (I did have a 3 hour car ride, so got a bunch of knitting done then). The bonnet, however, is going much slower. I think once I get the frilly part done, it will go much easier. I've cast on those 200 stitches like 3 times! It is not perfect, but I will be satisfied with it since it is my very first one. My grandma said that she would finish it for me once I knit it. That will be good, as it needs to be sewn up, some edging crocheted on and some french knots put in. I am lucky to have such a wonderful grandma!