Blackbaud Booties

I work with a brilliant woman who helps with our database at work.  I was both excited and sad when I learned she was expecting. Excited, because, duh,; babies = happy news.  But sad, because it meant she would go on maternity leave and I’d be on my own… Anyway, our database is a Blackbaud product, so there are my Blackbaud Booties!

I was such a fan of the Rainbow Steps Baby Booties I made last year so I decided to whip up another pair.  I got some flack that the original pair was super tiny, so I made these ones on size 2 needles so they’d be a little bigger.  (This messed up the stripe sequence a bit, but I managed).

Rainbow Baby Booties

And, for the naysayers, proof this pair will actually fit a baby:

yarn details
Knit Picks Felici in Rainbow (24194)
dye lot 46549
fingering weight
75% Superwash Merino Wool, 25% Nylon
Machine Wash, Tumble Dry Low
218 yards / 50 grams @ $5.49 each

project details
pattern: “Blue Steps – Baby Booties” by Regina Willer (free on her blog); used the rewritten version by hellahelan  (on her project page on Ravelry)
needles: size 2 wood dpns
yarn used: about 20% of each ball – a little more than 74 yards total (I forgot to make exact measurements… oops!)
gauge: again, forgot to measures
finished size: …guess what?
duration: March 11, 2017 – April 2, 2016

notes

  • Helpful tip: when you want to make booties match exactly in self-striping yarn, it’s important to note exactly where you are in the stripe sequence when you cast on, including the length of the yarn you use for the cast on tail.  Here, I started at the beginning of the orange stripe and made a CO tail the length of my arm. Writing this note down helps you start in exactly the same place on the second bootie.
  • To add the bows, knit a 7” 2 stitch i-cord, tie in a bow and stitch to front of bootie (I added the bows to cover up the section in one of the booties where the color change looked weird in the garter stitch).
  • As I mentioned below, the stripe sequence didn’t work out as perfectly as it did last time on the smaller needles.  At the top of the booties, there was only one row of red and it bugged me, so I decided to cut the purple stripe short and make the red stripe a little longer: I did ten rows HBS in the purple, broke the yarn and added in the red (Russian join), did four rows HBS in the red, then the 8 rows of plain stockinette (the part at the top that rolls over).  Hooray for problem-solving!
  • Originally thought I’d do a white sole on these, like clouds around a rainbow, but I hated how it looked…  way too much like candy corn!