further adventures in bootie making

Okay, so maybe booties aren't my worst enemy after all. Last Saturday I grabbed a skein and hunkered down for an afternoon of bootie making. I even went so far as making a gauge swatch before trying the real deal. And behold! I produced something that was definitely bootie-shaped and looked like it might actually fit on a baby's foot without having to be tied on.

But even after one successful pair, I'm sort of nervous about attempting a second pair. I've also realized that it only takes one skein to make a pair of booties with matching newborn cap. In an overzealous fit of wanting to have enough yarn, I had bought two skeins of each color. So now I have extra skeins that I really have no idea what I'm going to do with (especially since each skein is drastically different colors; I can't combine them to make one piece).

Still, even with my glowing first success, I'm still procrastinating from trying to finish two more sets. I've been avoiding the project by catching up with some reading this week. But now that I'm finished with the book club's selection for the month (Sex with the Queen by Eleanor Herman), I have no other excuses to shy away from hook and yarn.

adventures in bootie making

Baby booties are the bane of my existence. Okay, maybe that's an over-statement. But still, something that should be so simple, so easy to whip up consistently stumps me. The first bootie I ever tried to crochet came out looking fine. It was the shape of a foot. But every other attempt from that first bootie on has ended in disaster. They end up looking more like little brightly-colored cotton baggies than something cute and "awww"-worthy. I've tried different patterns, different yarns, but each time I get the baggy-effect.

So I said I wasn't going to try to do booties again. Ever. But now one of my dearest friends is expecting her first and the itch to take needle and yarn to hand is overwhelming. I could do a blankie. But to be honest, I'm sick of them. Most of my projects have been baby blankies and I want to do something different. Not to mention, my friend attends a church with a very active crochet ministry - I know she's going to get tons of blankies, booties, caps, etc.

And that leaves me in a bit of a conundrum. It's one thing when you're the only knitter/crocheter in a group. Your gift sort of sticks out with all it's handmade-with-love yarny-ness. But when your one of over a dozen crocheters, it kind of feels like "oh, another blankie/cap/bootie/etc."

And my husband is no help. As I whined in the yarn aisles at Michaels about not knowing what to make, he uttered the dread words: "Why don't you make some booties?" This is the man who thought my baggy-booties were "kinda cute."

I pretended to ignore his suggestion and bought six skeins of bright-colored variegated yarn with the purpose of crocheting caps/hats. Lots of them. (A complete aside here, but another aspect of crocheting baby stuff that I've come to dread is the limited color palette. After three years, it's getting old using the same shades of pastel blue, pink, yellow and green.)

But now that I have the yarn at home and I've been mulling all week over getting started on the little hats, I find myself being drawn to the idea of making little matching booties. Three little caps, three little sets of booties. So I think I'm going to suck it up and try again. Maybe use a different size hook (have I mentioned that I loathe gauge swatches and try to pretend they don't exist?) I'm feeling determined to make it work.

That is once I can get up the nerve and/or energy to start.

rinse and repeat

Today I hunkered down with my crochet supplies, determined to get to work on the many projects I have planned for Christmas. I was able to crank out a beret for my mother-in-law. The pattern came from the September/October 2009 issue of Crochet Today!. I had made one for myself last year and loved the pattern. It's amazing how much a years difference and experience can make.



Last year, it took me two days to complete the beret. This year, it took me under six hours (including a lunch and dinner break). The first time I made it, I had never worked in rounds. Instead of using stitch markers, I tried to count correctly. Needless to say, it was a nightmare and I ended up improvising several times to make the count come out correctly. This time I used the markers and the stitches came out nice and even. Which probably explains why this beret fit much better than the one I made for myself.


***the red beret to the left is the one stitched last year; the green to the right is from this year