Friday, July 28, 2006

Bootie-licious

Continuing my adventures in Last Minute Knitted Gifts, here are the angora baby booties, as modeled by Albert Einstein. They're in the one-to-two hour gift section. In all honesty, it probably took me three hours, but that was because I was having some trouble with the construction at the cuff. She does give really detailed directions, but I was having brain farts. Now that I get it, I think I could probably do them in two.
I just barely made it through with one skein of Belangor angora that I picked up at Sheep's Clothing last weekend. It's 100% angora, which is ridiculously soft and fuzzy. We're talking kitten's tummy soft and fuzzy. (I guess technically bunny's tummy, as that's what it is, but I relate better to cats than rabbits.) The entire toe part of the bootie is double knitted, which is a fun technique. I'd started a scarf in double knitting before, but it really wasn't as well constructed. This went quickly, and was a great way to make a little pouch for the toes. You do a three needle bind off up the heel flap (another one of my new favorite techniques), then do some ribbing for the cuff. And there you have it, really cute little baby booties.
Paula, the owner of Sheep's Clothing, mentioned her concerns about babies and the angora hair. She thinks that they might suck on the booties and swallow some of the fuzzy angora hairs. She probably knows better than I do, having raised infinitely more children (I think two) than I have (zero). Einstein is being fairly well behaved about them, but then again he is a genius. These are probably going in my hope chest. (Don't mock the hope chest, some things are just too cute to give away.)
I tried to get Worfy to model the booties for me, but this was the best picture I got.
Pattern: Angora baby booties from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, in the collection
Yarn: Belangor angora, 100% angora, 1 skein (33yds) at $8.00
Needles: Size 5 dpn, in the collectionPrice: $8
Time: About three hours, a repeat performance may sneak in at two. Despite the speed, this is not a beginner pattern. Tricky techniques include double knitting, three needle bind off, knitting in the round, and reading really complicated directions.

1 comment:

Andrea said...

Your booties turned out great. I have been struggling with this pattern for over two weeks. I finally made it to the cuff section, then when I truned the bootie right side out, it doesn't look right. I'll keep trying.