Dainty Baby Booties: Pattern Notes

I've been doing a little house-keeping and realized that I'm behind on my pattern notes, so I decided to get caught up - just in time for baby season part II...

If I look lonely it's because I'm waiting for my mate to be sewn up...

Dainty Baby Booties
Knitting for Two, designed by Erica Knight
Four booties made with 1 skein of Jaeger Extrafine Merino DK (100%Merino Wool) in Shade 989 Cupid (lavender) (136 yards/skein) on Clover Bamboo size US5(3.75mm) DPN's.

An additional four booties made with 1 skein of Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton (50% Cotton/50% Merino Wool), in Shade 125505 Yellow (122 yards/skein) on Clover Bamboo size US4(3.5mm) DPN's. (The size 4 needles gave me the slightly smaller gauge that I wanted for my friends premie twins.)

Size: Smallest

The Pattern:
I will buy any book that Erica Knight publishes, and probably have. She has a wonderful sense of color, composition and style and can take the simplest of ideas and make them into elegant original projects. Even if I never knit anything from her books (and actually these booties are the first of her projects that I've knit) I would collect them simply for the inspiration.

That said, Ms. Knight does not include schematics for her designs and occasionally leaves out little details that would be helpful to the beginning knitter. In the case of these booties, she omits that they should be worked on DPNs rather than straight needles. This isn't such a big deal if you have way too many needles on your hands and read through the pattern before you start (we all know that I'm a geek, so I did), but it could be a nasty suprise for a newer knitter if they got started out on straights and then couldn't figure out how to make the pattern work. Normally I would think that this was just a stray omission which didn't get caught by the editor, but because I own so many of these books I know better. The details are often left out, so read before you knit.

Other than the DPN issue the pattern was a little fiddly, but error free. Personally, I don't mind fiddly little pieces or sewing in ends. The resulting booties are some of the cutest I've seen, and that's good enough for me. There are probably simpler booties out there which require less sewing, but these are so great that they've become my standard, and I've made four pairs for my various new mommy friends this year.

This is what a bootie looks like before seaming.

Impressions of Jaeger Extrafine Merino DK:
If you've read my Desert Island Yarn Post, you know how I feel about JEFMDK. It's fabulous stuff and my all-time favorite merino to date. It works wonderfully for these booties, and I highly recommend it.

Impressions of Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton:
The first thing to know is that this yarn has been discontinued, so you'll probably only be able to find it in the stash or on Ebay. Personally, I think it's a fine yarn, but I wouldn't go to any great lengths to find more of it. The most interesting thing about this yarn in my opinion is that it behaves like a cotton. This really threw me off, because Rowan wool cotton - same name, same fiber content - behaves like a wool. DBWC worked well enough for these booties. It works at a slightly smaller gauge than the JEFMDK so I used smaller needles with it and got the fit I wanted for my friend's premie twins. Because it is cotton-like, seed stitch tends to gap with this yarn, which is an effect that I'm not terribly fond of. The JEFMDK works better. The strength of DBWC is its stitch definition, which it takes from its cotton content. The great failing of the yarn is its complete lack of resilience and memory - also from the cotton. When I think of it now, this would be a great yarn to use in a project that needed good drape - perhaps as a linen substitute. It doesn't fare as well if you're looking for structure.

Possible substitute yarns for this pattern:
Rowan's wool cotton would be a great substitute. It behaves like the JEFMDK, comes in really pretty colors and I think it is even machine washable, though don't quote me on that. Karabella is coming out with an Aurora 4 this fall that could also be a possibility. Their current Aurora 8 (a yarn that I've used a lot this year, especially in my beginner classes) is a 100% merino reminiscent of wool cotton that is just a little too chunky for these booties. The Aurora 4 may well do the trick, and is sure to be a nice yarn regardless. For all you knitters in the DC area, I have it on good authority that Stitch DC (my favorite area store) will carry it when it makes its debut.

More Photos:

Tips for Making Dainty Booties:
Use DPNs! I don't think it's possible to do without them. (If it is, I'm sure someone will let me know!) Go with a yarn that will give you some structure. These booties are cute when they stand up at attention. Be careful not to make 2 left (or right!) feet. This is pretty easy to do if you aren't a spatial thinker.

Cute Dainty Booties Sighting:
I've also seen these over at Sweet Georgia. She made the fabulous bonnet to go with as well, and if I hadn't been using oddballs I would have been forced to do so myself. It's so beautiful.