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September 30, 2004
Reindeer Bootie
I had a 15-minute time slot to fill while running kids around in town yesterday, so I popped into the yarn shop to see about getting started on the reindeer booties from the new FCEK.
The pattern calls for Dale Falk (this clerk pronounced it "Dale", while others I have met say "Doll-uh" so I never know quite which way to go on that) which she did not have in the right color. So I picked up some Daletta instead. It's too fine gauged, it turns out, and I sensed that at the time, but I was so eager to get started it was worth $4.70 to just get going on an a trial bootie if nothing else.
This is a strange pattern. You knit the bootie starting by casting on along a line that runs from heel to toe of the foot. You do some increases in the middle to make the toe, and knit back and forth up to the cuff. Then you seam it together down the back of the heel and continuing on the bottom of the foot.
Now even though babies aren't walking at age six months, still - the idea of a seam on the bottom of the foot makes my foot itch just thinking about it. Eeeww, that would feel creepy.
The trial bootie is too thin and drapey - I think it should be more stiff and substantial. In fact, a yarn approaching worsted weight knit up on smaller needles might work, too.
I'm also going to modify the pattern to knit a solid sole, and then knit in the round to form the bootie. I do like the little bit of increasing at the toe, followed by some parallel decreases to form the face. And although the pattern doesn't show it, quite obviously these should be Rudolph booties complete with red noses.