Simple Shoes in Rowan 4-Ply Cotton "Baby"

Yesterday's distinct lack of posting was brought to you by Comcast. I don't know how many of you are bombarded by the rather inane Comcast commercials about their "Comcastic" service, but last night we lost that service at about 8 and didn't have it back until about 8 this morning. Comcastic, indeed. I think that the marketing people at Comcast and I have a very different definition of what it means to be Comcastic.

But that aside, I did actually finish something this weekend. While my lovely husband celebrated his birthday by brewing beer with a friend, I put the finishing touches on the second bootie project that I started in Toronto: Simple Shoes from Zoe Mellor's 50 Baby Booties to Knit in the 3-6 month size. Now, when Ms. Z arrives she will have a little shoe wardrobe to look forward to. And I will admit to having a third, somewhat more whimsical, pair on the way.

A few comments about this pattern and yarn. I liked working with the 4-Ply Cotton. It's nice stuff and makes a softer fabric than you might think just upon feeling it in the ball. It knit up evenly and created an even fabric in my hands. That said, while I know cotton is not elastic, one thing I forgot about a bit when working on the finishing for this project, is that cotton fabric does a lot of giving and very little returning to shape. So I think the little shoes may have "grown" a bit across the sole as I was putting them together. The pattern itself is pretty easy to understand and I did find the finishing process to be mostly easy, but I didn't really like how the toe went together. The "easing" process left a little bit to be desired and I had some little wings off the edges of the toe that I didn't like very much. You don't see these, of course, with the shaping I've added courtesy of a couple of pieces of paper towel, and I'm hoping that baby feet will have the same effect in the future.

Pieces of Simple Shoes in Rowan 4 Ply Cotton, Color "Baby"

So the second set of booties has begun. This pair is also from Zoe Mellor's book, and is entitled, descriptively enough, Simple Shoes. They are knit using Rowan 4 Ply Cotton, and the color I picked is titled, very appropriately, "Baby". I selected this pair from the book for three reasons: 1) I wanted to try out the 4 Ply Cotton; 2) I wanted to try out a bootie that had a different construction technique from the first bootie project I completed; and 3) I didn't have the needles I needed in my collection in Toronto to do anything with the Cotton Glace.

The knitting for this pair of shoes is straightforward. I am somewhat concerned that the finishing and seaming will be on the more challenging side if I want these little shoes to look polished, but that is just part of the adventure. What I am more concerned about is attaching a button that will allow closure of the little shoe strap, but that won't be removable, and thus consumable, by Miss Z. Any suggestions? Or should these little shoes just end up being for special dress up and worn only when significant monitoring can be applied?

Wool Cotton Booties and a Canadian Icon

Booties are the perfect hotel room knitting. Small, fast and not so much finishing. Z now has her first pair of booties, and her very first knitted item from her mother. These are the "Textured Cuff Booties" knit out of Rowan Wool Cotton from Zoe Mellor's 50 Baby Booties to Knit. It's a quick and easy project since most of the knitting is on 4.0 mm needles. I'm not usually a sucker for tiny sweet things, but these booties make me happy as I imagine them filled with baby feet. Perhaps not her first booties (they are supposedly sized for a baby 3 to 6 months) but it seems like the wool content will make them a nice accessory when it gets a little cooler.

I'm glad y'all liked the belly shot from yesterday. I find my body right now to be both strange and amazing. If body image was strange before becoming pregnant, it's even stranger now as I alternate between feeling that I am not too big and then thinking I am completely enormous. And then I feel her move around and stop worrying about the getting large part. I've been feeling her move since about 18 weeks, and I just don't think I could ever get bored of the little reminders that John and I will soon be sharing our lives with a new small human.