Henry Leo in his BSJ, Baby Bell Bottoms, Saartje’s Bootees, and Sweet Baby Cap.

Photo by his mom, Kelly Sue.

Keep an eye out for this outfit in the Winter Spin-Off. I’m anxious to see what they did with it. They sure asked me a heck of a lot of questions!

You know sock gnomes? I think I’ve got a needle gnome. So, because my 40″ size 3 Addi Turbo disappeared between last week and this, we go from Saartje’s Bootees in the round to Saartje’s Bootees flat. (Needles have been ordered to prevent further problems.)

Pattern: Saartje’s Bootees (PDF)
Yarn: Hello Yarn Fat Sock in ancient unnamed colorway- 20 grams (less than one skein)
Needles: size 3 US
Gauge: 6.5 sts. per inch
Size: 4.25" long, smushed flat
Buttons: dark shell

I’m afraid you are going to be seeing a parade of baby-type stuff on this blog for some time because PEOPLE KEEP GETTING PREGNANT! I’ve got another BSJ started in sock yarn that is half done because of all the knitting time I had yesterday during jury duty. I was not chosen, so normal life may continue.

Fantom Bohus:

Knitting has resumed. The body is almost done, but *someone* hasn’t decided how to finish the bottom of the sweater. Ribbing? I was going to rib to match the neck, but I think I might want the neck more open, and while I’m ripping, I can redo it in another stitch. Hemmed? Garter? I do plan on doing the body and sleeve edgings in the body yarn with the very last, cast-off row in the acidy green.

Knitting could resume because:

Handspun from Fantom Farm wool/alpaca mix roving.

approx. 180 yards/ just shy of 4 oz. each, worsted weight

Spun from one of these. This is the second 8 oz. I’ve spun. I really think this might do me for the sweater.

I got about 10 more yards out of this 8 oz. than the last. Not too shabby, and the yarn has the same wpi, so should knit up the same. There’s always that moment of fear when re-skeining handspun yarn for a large project when you were naughty and didn’t spin it all at once.

Copyright:

You might notice, if you are reading this post on a news aggregator, that there is now a copyright notice at the end of each post. This is because I have yet again discovered someone re-blogging my entire blog on their site. I have a feed so that people may view my posts at their convenience on aggregators, not so people can profit, however that may be, from my work. It’s being discussed at length on Ravelry, if you’re there. The legality if re-blogging is a little murky, but I say stealing is stealing and want to be sure that people understand that if they’re not reading my content here or on, say, Bloglines, that it is being published against my wishes. Here’s the WP plugin I’ve used, if you’d like to add a copyright notice to your feed. Want to know if another site is publishing your content or just plain plagiarizing? Search Copyscape. There are a lot of unoriginal people out there!

So as not to leave on a sour note, my knitting basket. I swear that size 3 Add isn’t in there.

Pattern: Saartje’s Bootees (PDF)
Yarn: Hello Yarn Sock in Espresso
Needles: size 0 US (couldn’t find my size 1!)
Gauge: 8 sts. per inch (pattern calls for 7)
Size: 3" long, smushed flat

Figure 8 cast on detail.

Verdict:

It can be done and it’s not bad.

My gauge was off and it’s a big sob story. Hurrying to pack some knitting for knitting group, I couldn’t find my size 1 Addi Turbo, even in a project, so took a 0 out of a sock, knowing full well it would result in the wrong gauge. Tiny brown bootie = experiment.

The actual modification of the pattern was a success. There are some bonuses I didn’t even think of, like being able to knit across from strap to strap, which means only 2 ends to weave in, if you’re knitting in one color. There isn’t much to the mod. I used the figure 8 cast on, which results in a little dent in the center of the sole. Cast on 2 fewer stitches to account for the seam allowance, and purl every other row. I kept the center back as the beginning of the round, switching from knit round to purl round there. This is a good idea because a vertical line is created by that switch and you wouldn’t want that at the side or toe. To keep the number of rows equal on each strap, that means casting off one strap from tip to center back, knitting across the other strap, and casting off from tip to center back of that strap. You’ll end up having to b/o in knits on one strap and purls on the other to keep the top edge matching.

I also modified the strap by adding 5 sts. and working a 1 row, 1 stitch buttonhole. I think next time, I’d do a 2 stitch buttonhole, especially in fingering yarn. You might be able to get a button through a one row, 1 stitch buttonhole in sport weight. In fingering, the hole is teensy.

That’s it!

There is one thing I wonder about. Since the bootie is seamless, there isn’t the same structure to it as the original. It’s more like a sock than a shoe with its stretchiness. Not sure if this is a problem or not, as there aren’t any baby feet hanging around my house to test it on.

Bohus Knitting:

I’d make another pair of booties right away, but I’m two excited by the completion of another 8 oz. of yarn for the Bohus, which means I can get back to knitting that this weekend. Hooray!

Fiber Club:

I think you guys are going to FLIP OUT over the first installment of Fiber Club 2. I walked out to see a bunch of the dry fiber hanging on the clothesline yesterday with the sun beaming down on it and started jumping up and down and clapping. I don’t think I’ve ever dyed anything so gorgeous. This will ship later next week. Wait until you see!