MYOKB, Week One: “Booties Trio” Finished!

February 12, 2012January 2, 2014 KateLeave a comment

Again, at the very last minute, I have completed the “Booties Trio,” my first project in my series taken from Debbie Bliss’s A Knitter’s Year–“My Year of Knitting Blissfully” (from here on, referred to as MYOKB).

At first, I couldn’t decide if I was only “required” to do one pair of booties, or if I had to knit all three. Then I realized — duh! — I didn’t “have to” do anything. Like the line in Chariots of Fire says: “We are the committee.” In other words, I am in charge of deciding what counts, so I decided to go for it. And now that we’ve all got that theme song running through our heads…

Now to get these in the mail on the way to my sister-in-law who is expecting a little girl practically any day now. I’d personally like her to arrive on February 29th so she can be a leap-year baby, but my SIL is in the “dog days” of pregnancy and I think she’d like the baby to come as soon as possible. Either way, this will be one of the best-shod babies around town.

MYOKB: Booties Trio in Progress

February 10, 2012January 2, 2014 KateLeave a comment

The Knitter's Year Cover — Cover of Debbie Bliss’s *The Knitter’s Year*

Here’s my progress so far on the “Booties with Lacy Top” from the “Booties Trio” from Debbie Bliss’s The Knitter’s Year. This is my first project from my year-long project to knit all 52 projects in that book, a project otherwise known as “My Year of Knitting Blissfully” or “MYOKB” for short.

These are going to be a gift for my new niece who is expected to make her appearance at the end of this month. Personally, I’m hoping she’s born on February 29th so she will be a leap year baby. I’m just weird that way.

Basically, I’ve completed all the actual knitting (except for a small bit on the second “Bootie with Lacy Top”) and now I have to weave in all the ends and do the seaming and finishing:

Booties with Striped Instep, in progress, cuff unfolded

And here are both of them, still unseamed, but with the cuffs folded down:

Booties with Striped Instep 002 — Booties with Striped Instep, cuffs folded

And the final entry in the trio, “Booties with Striped Foot”:

Have I mentioned lately how much I hate seaming? Blurgh. And I have to make some “shoelaces” for the “Lacy Top” booties. Double blurgh.

The dark pink and light green are two different (discontinued) colors of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (340042 and 340018 respectively), and the white in the “Striped Inset” and “Striped Foot” versions is Karabella Aurora 4. The white in the “Lacy Top” version is Suss Love in ivory.

WIP: Cabled Raglan Baby Sweater

June 9, 2009July 5, 2015 Kate3 Comments

When I saw this free pattern (if the link doesn’t work, see the second “update” below) on Knitting Daily, I liked it instantly and I knew I just had to make it for the niece-to-be. Here’s my version of “Cabled Raglan Baby Sweater” by Rebecca L. Daniels:

My version is worked with heather Suss Love (I’ve sung the praises of this yarn before) on size 5 needles. I made the sleeves a bit longer than the pattern called for and used seed stitch for the edging instead of garter stitch. Seed stitch is probably my favorite simple edging. This change caused some minor glitches at the neckline, but I’m hoping those will be covered up by the button. I’m thinking a shell button would look rather elegant.

Bonus: the raglan, top-down shaping means no seaming! Sweet.

Update 01/25/11: Sadly, Suss Love yarn has now been discontinued.

Update 07/05/15: I’ve been informed that the link to the free pattern for the “Cabled Raglan Baby Sweater” doesn’t work anymore and I’ve searched all over Ravelry and the Interweave Knits sites and couldn’t find a copy. Click here for a pdf copy of “7 Free Baby Knitting Patterns from Interweave Knits” that includes this pattern.