delicate booties
My son turned 11 a couple of weeks ago and is in such a curious hurry to get grown. He has a special girl, tiny clusters of brand new pimples faintly dotting his chin, an obsession with his MP3 player and the telephone. There's no interest in being clutched and cuddled by his kissy-kissy momma.
My friends are taking their couplings to that biological next step, and it's making me broody. I can smell new baby at the top of my nostrils just thinking about them. A little girl would be so wonderful to....have? Now you know it's a whole lot more than that ....
What I do have is a burgeoning knitting stash that's beginning to get on my boyfriend's nerves. "Why don't you ever finish anything?" is a natural question when you see the proliferation of skeins and hanks spilling out of the small closet in our even smaller bedroom. Of course I get defensive. Most of my purchases these days have been of the cheap, craft store variety. Acrylic skeins at under $5 a hank. He should not complain. My local yarn store is four times more expensive, which is why I haven't been there in five months.
What happens when you mix equal portions of broodiness with unused stash? "Bootie Fest 2008".
I'm starting with a pattern from Precious Baby Booties by Carolyn Christmas. I've decided to crochet the first pair for a more structured shoe. Being the loosest needle wielder in the universe means I had to swatch carefully, and ended up going down two needle sizes (E) which is normal for my hands.
These boots knit up super quickly, about an hour per boot with snack breaks. The first boot ended up an un-photographable disaster. That's because I didn't count diligently when making the sole. I ended up with a turning hole and it wasn't big enough when I fastened off which I didn't check for. Seeming the sole to the body of the bootie is careful work as the pattern calls for you to sew through the back loops only, which I was able to do successfully only until hitting the first turn. I'm taking more careful now, which is one of the greatest joys of this hobby. It's so pointless and time consuming and fun. Which is kind of like procreating, raising kids and being alive!
