sophy's knits, notes, etc.

i've adored and obsessed over many patterns for baby booties and shoes over the years, including saartje's booties and every single baby shoe in zoe mellor's book, "50 Baby Bootees to knit"; but, i have to say that ysolda teague's tiny shoes pattern has to be the cutest and most ingeniously simple pattern i've ever knit. i love the use of eyelets to shape the front of the shoe and how the soles are formed with decreases and finished with a very tidy seam. and the best thing about them is that they require very little yarn.

two pairs of tiny shoes all in a row.

yes. i did finished these little knits quite a while ago, and i actually have yarn set aside for at least three more pairs. i intended to knit the batch before posting about them; but, now i actually have recipients for these two pairs.

tweedy tiny shoes

tweedy tiny shoes.

pattern :: tiny shoes by ysolda teague.
yarn :: rowan yorkshire tweed 4 ply, color 286, approximately 60 yards.
needles :: size 3 (3.25 mm).
modifications :: used cable cast-on when casting on stitches after picking up along the strap of the shoes. also, i miscounted and knit one less row for the foot portion of the shoes.

i knitted these for a coworker's baby girl but then knitted a tiny dress as well and so i never gave these to him. eventually, i started to wonder if they would still fit... but his daughter is such a tiny bundle, i think they will. you can see many more pictures on my ravelry page. [ravelry]

i think they look very lizardlike because of the buttons!

also, i've noticed in many pictures that most people who've knit this pattern used "backward loop" when casting on stitches; this makes the front of the shoe much stretchier. i chose to use the "cable" caston simply because i wanted the shape of the front to hold a little more; i think you can see what i mean in the second photo.

soft sea wool tiny shoes

softsea wool tiny shoes.

pattern :: tiny shoes by ysolda teague.
yarn :: reynolds soft sea wool.
needles :: size 3 (3.25 mm).
modifications :: for a baby boy, so i replaced button straps with 3 rows of 1x1 ribbing.

i had about 60 yards of baby blue soft seal wool left over from baby socks i knit last year. after making the tweedy tiny shoes, i wanted to see how they would look in the blue. but i didn’t want to knit the straps, so instead i knitted 3 rows of 1x1 ribbing and 1 knit row before the eyelet row. [ravelry]

sideview of a tiny shoe, without button straps.

these are going to my sister-in-law's sister's newborn baby boy. i love these little baby shoes, though i imagine they become impractical when the baby is old enough to start wondering what toes taste like… however, i think he might appreciate them once he starts walking.