First thing I did was made these in the round instead of flat. I wasn't keen on grafting all that reverse stockinette and K2P2 ribbing and making it look seamless. Why do that when I can make it seamless by working in the round?
The pattern says to end the top of the foot with a K row but that seemed backwards to me (because of how I would have had to pick up the sts on the sides) so I ended on a P row and picked up the 16 sts on each side like I would for the gusset of a sock.
Working the sides of the foot was easy enough, I just changed the pattern's definition of a flat section as "K1 row, P1 row, K1 row" to "P 3 rounds" and "K 3 rounds" (alternating, starting with P3 rounds after picking up the side sts).
I changed the final 3 rows of the foot from K 3 rounds to P 2 rounds -- the kitchener join takes the place of the third round, and I turned the bootie inside out before grafting. I think this makes the sole flow more naturally from the foot's bottom "bumper." Hard to explain but I did it both ways and prefer my way.
I tried 4 different soles before I found one that made me happy. Basically what I was after were soles that would sit flat without any peaks. (The sole as written in the original patterm was practical but ugly.) I tried to do a short row sole in stockinette and it worked OK but it still wasn't perfect and as long as I was in an experimental mood... then I realized I had 84 foot stitches on my needles. I've made so many of those Fiber Trends felted slippers I knew the garter st sole ended up with 85 sts ... couldn't I just make the same sole, skip over a M1 on the final row to come up with 84 sts, and then kitchener it to the completed foot? Yep. I can't say it's FUN to kitchener 168 stitches (x 2 for a pair) off the needles but damn it looks nice, exactly as I envisioned it.
Next time I should try to make the garter st sole in reverse in the round (using K2tog/P2tog instead of M1) to avoid grafting around the outer edge. Might work, might not, I'll save that experiment for later.
There was no gauge given on the pattern so I did them at 10 sts/inch on size 0 needles. I don't think I'd make them any larger in the future, they are already too large for a newborn so she will have to grow into them.
Anyway, here they are. I think they're even cuter in person. I used up the leftover sock yarn from my Trekking socks and the colors don't reproduce well in this photo, the blues and blue-green colors are much prettier. I told my mom I wouldn't make anything for Lily in pink (my least favorite color) and she said that was fine, I should use whatever color I liked ...
Here's my sock made from the same ball of yarn, this gives a better idea of what the colors look like in person:
