new buttons, why needle size matters, and new soles

The perfect buttons for Baby K's green and blue sweater were found at Pacific Fabrics. I'm not sure if it's obvious in the photos but the buttons and green yarn are the exact same color, it's like they were dyed to match. (I can't get the colors in this sweater to look accurate in photos, not even in natural sunlight -- argh.)

It's hard to get across how cute this is without including something to indicate its size. I'm not at all baby crazy but little baby clothes are so sweet, there's something about them that makes me go awwwww.

I've already posted photos of the two pairs of booties I made for Baby K but this time they're shown together and the soles are revealed. The following is a photo I'll show beginners when I'm teaching them about gauge. The bootie on the left was knit with size 0 needles, the bootie on the right used size 1 needles. Both were made with fingering weight yarn following the same pattern (but I made the green bootie's leg twice as long so it'd fold over).


Left: about 3.75" long (size 0 needles)
Right: about 4.25" long (size 1 needles)

click here for larger image

This is the improved sole, I took it from the Fiber Trends Felted Clogs pattern. When I changed the pattern a few years ago it occured to me that I needed a sole with 84 sts and the women's medium sole ends with 85 sts, so I simply ignored a M1 in the 6th row. If you've ever made a clog from the FT pattern you'll also be amused that it can be used for something so tiny -- those clogs before felting (knit on size 13 needles using bulky weight yarn) look like giant floppy clown shoes.

Speaking of the FT clogs/slippers, I just finished another pair and I hope to have them in the washer this afternoon. Pictures of before and after once they're dry. Ha, I'll put a bootie in the before picture to illustrate how goofy it looks.

Newborn Hat for Baby K

This hat for Baby K (my niece or nephew due in 2.5 weeks!) looks like it was meant to match the socks in my last post, but the cable and yarn are both different. I used the blue leftover yarn from the Ullared hat I made in March.

Yarn: Brown Sheep Naturespun Sport - 100% wool (color: Bit of Blue)
Pattern: from the book Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas

YO Cable Socks

socks for grandma

pattern: based on the YO cables from Sensational Knitted Socks (by Charlene Schurch)

yarn: Cascade Fixation (98.3% cotton / 1.7% elastic)




I wasn't crazy about the yarn at first -- it's a little too nubbly for my tastes -- but it sure makes a comfortable stretchy sock. Even better, the elastic allows me to knit for hours without pain. Knitting with other cotton yarns makes my hands ache.

I want to mail these off tomorrow (grandma's birthday was last month) so I steam blocked them instead of doing my usual wet block. First I made a blocker using a wire hanger, which makes a lot more sense than dropping $25 plus s&h on commercial blockers. I found easy instructions here (not my page). Blockers aren't really necessary though, I've always found that gently patting the fabric into shape works too.