Sunday, October 11, 2009

Knitty-bitty teeny-weeny

About a month and a half ago I picked up my knitting needles again in a MAJOR WAY. It had been about 5 months since I'd knit anything and prior to that probably almost a year. As most knitters know, it can be difficult to get excited about knitting in the summer - it's too hot to even imagine a knit item not to mention hold one on your lap every evening! So I suppose I blame the last 2 summers for my lack of knitting. Last winter - I have no excuse other than being in Africa for a month...which is a pretty poor excuse. But the perfect thing happened this year - a lot of babies started arriving! Knitting baby items is something I hadn't done yet. But they're the EASIEST knitting since they're so small and fast, and size doesn't have to be exact - just make it a tad bigger and they'll grow into it!!

Handknit "Merry Jane" booties for Lexi and Tali

They'll grow into the booties soon enough

The first babies to receive a hand-knit item from me were Andrea's twin girls, Alexis and Natalia (Lexi and Tali). I had been at Andrea's home 2 days before the girls were born and knew she was low on hats. She was prepared to bring them home from the hospital in poor-fitting and un-matching hats. *OVER MY DEAD KNITTING NEEDLES!* I had already started a previous project for the girls but I pushed it aside and started in on Nona's Newborn Hats [non-Ravelry] instead.
The hats fit perfectly... but they sure won't for long!

Newborn hats in purple and pink

As you can see, I changed the pattern a little. I made the hats a tad smaller (knit 4" before decreasing, instead of 4.5"), did a seed stitch trim instead of the ribbing, and added the stripes. I was really happy with the results and they fit the girls (~6 pounds each) PERFECTLY! It wasn't confirmed to me but I think they wore them home from the hospital. I certainly know they wore them in the hospital.

"We wore our hats in the hospital!"

Now onto that other project I'd put aside to frantically make the hats... a pattern I've had in my Ravelry queue for literally over a year - just waiting for a very close friend to have a baby girl; or two. Bekah Knits' Baby Merry Janes (non-Ravelry). Oh My Goodness these were just about the cutest things I'd ever seen. I started the booties on my flight to Hawaii in early September and that flight was the perfect length to make one bootie minus the sock. I spent my afternoon (quite tired from my early flight) finishing the rest. So 1 bootie perhaps took about 8 hours to complete. And I had 3 more to go...

The strap and button actually work - but it's still easier to
just leave it buttoned and slip the bootie on

CJ modeled them for me before they were gifted

I made sure to differentiate the booties with different colored buttons

I gave the booties to Lexi and Tali when I met them at 1½ weeks old. We couldn't help but play dress up with them and I personally think they're quite the little fashionistas! Hot off the knitting runway: hats and booties!

While they look like clown shoes on the girls, the booties stay on because of the stretchy sock. I love that they will fit for at least a couple months due to the stretchiness! I think Andrea the girls love them too.


"OMG I can't believe I just said that" ~~ "Oh well, let's laugh about it instead" - Lexi


For both the hats and booties I used all Rowan yarns: Cashsoft Baby DK, Cashsoft DK and Cashsoft 4 ply. LOVE these yarns. LOVE. They are {gentle} machine washable and so soft. And there are so many beautiful colors! Stay tuned for more knitting. I had to keep it all under wraps until I finally gave Ali her gifts, but I feel like it's all I've been doing lately!

8 comments:

  1. i love the hats & booties you knitted! Amazing! They look like store-bought ones!

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  2. they turned out great Lisa! Andrea's girls are adorable in them! :)

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  3. the booties and hats are soooo adorable! great job, lisa!

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  4. where do i begin???

    (1) andrea had twins?!?! yay!!!

    (2) you have personalized tags for the kintted goods? ...wait, of course, you do, miss wondefully detailed woman, you.

    (3) and CJ, CJ, CJ... "dad" clearly cannot claim you to be a boy any more... ;) way to be a wondeful model on the hats and the booties!

    great post and pics, lise!

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  5. Love the hat and booties.

    Jodi
    www.jodaycraf.etsy.com

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  6. Love the booties! I saw them on craftgawker and had to click :)

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  7. The booties and hats are just adorable!! Great job =)

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  8. those are t he cutest booties ever!

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