Shake My Bootie(s)

Come on now. Give it up for the cuteness. Not a bad first, second, third attempt. I found these to be something of a challenge and the lifeline saved me. There was an instruction that's akin to a turning row where you knit the stitch on the needle with a stitch several rows below and that was kind of awkward until I decided to place a lifeline at the beginning of the turning section. That made it easier to find the place to pick up that second stitch - yes, I know, once again I am a frickin' genius!

This might be interesting to do again in a more stable fabric. Even though this Cuddle Muffin is supposed to be DK weight and the booties were designed to be done in sport weight, the DK still seems kind of 'soft'. I think it might be worth doing in a cotton or a light worsted just to make them a little more solid. On the other hand, they are booties and not boots so maybe it's just me.

I am also on square number four of the book and I am still having fun. Photos of those will be coming when there is a more substantial number to be shown - just for the effect of it all - you know.

I saw some old friends last night (old in the sense we've been friends for a long time not that they are long in the tooth - though some of them certainly are that but far be it for me to say. It was a Lenten supper and it was held at our church. There will be one each Tuesday until Easter. It's soup, dessert and a program. This year, we will focus attention on the new country of South Sudan and study a book called, A New Way of Seeing by Gregory Pierce. He was there last night and gave a talk regarding the book and it's premise that the Kingdom of God is here and now and we can plug into the eternity of it today. I found him to be very funny and insightful and it's a small book so there should be no problem getting through it. I am only going to attend four of the seven suppers but I'm thinking I won't be left behind.

He presented the Lord's Prayer in a way I had never thought of before and it has gotten me to thinking about how we do relate to God and Heaven as if they are both far off instead of closer. It should, I think, make me change my behaviors if I thought the Kingdom was a lot closer than I think it is now.

Food for thought.

What A Difference A Day Makes

Sue and Karen were so excited about me entering the world of sock knitting - even Chuck was supportive.

Alas, it is a world not meant for me.
Here's the sock.
It probably won't have a mate.
I will say I am glad to have made it. But after it was done I was really, well, underwhelmed. I tried it on and it can stand a little adjustment and it was very warm, heck, it was even comfortable. But I didn't have the same thrill I get when I finish a pair of mittens. And it looks nothing like the sock in the picture and I followed the directions (well, the third time I started over I finally understood them!)

It's like an anklet boot. Or a sock that forgot to take its vitamins. It looks nothing like any sock I've ever seen anywhere.

That's not why I won't make it's mate, though. I might be tempted again if I had the sock yarn or a thinner yarn and if I revised the pattern a little. But now that I've done this - the thrill is gone away.

Sorry Sue. Sorry Karen. I don't know what to tell you. We're still friends, eh? I won't even completely close the door on making another sock sometime in the future - but it's all done but the latching.

On the other hand: I like the way the spa cloths came out:











I will redo the photos for the site but I can't wait to steam these. They will be uber soft. I am tempted to keep them for myself - but I can make some for myself. I can't wait to try them out to see if they live up to the reputation.

The Curious Case of Beverly's Booties

I knit those oh so cute baby hats and had the brilliant idea there should be little booties to go with them. After all, babies, especially those who qualify as newborn, need to be warm on their heads and their feet. So, off I went to the land of patterns and I made a bootie.

One bootie.

Thrilled was I to make the bootie because I had never made one before. It was quite an accomplishment. OK, the pattern was so easy someone who never knit before could make it - but I believe I was rightfully thrilled.

Here's the thing.

The vast majority of kids come with two feet. So I need to knit another bootie. I pulled out the same needles. The same yarn. I cast on the same number of stitches and.

well.

this is what I got.

Truth to tell, it was even bigger than this because halfway through I noticed it was a mite bigger than the first one and I actually unraveled part of it before going on. I thought that would solve the problem but instead it looks like the bootie on the right hung around Alex Rodriquez and got a little juice.

I swear I did nothing different between the two. I'm a little scared to make another bootie. But now I have to.
I am going to do this again, but this time I am going to put both booties on the needle at the same time. I will use the same ball of yarn and put the yarn on bobbins.

If anyone can explain this phenomenon; I'd greatly appreciate it. I called Marilyn and she said: "It's happened to me, too. Obviously, you've done something wrong." Beech.

On the other hand, they are cute - even the one for the Green Giant's kid. Now, if I can only manage to make a match for each of them, I'd have two pair of booties!

Curious, indeed.