My blog post that has had the most traffic in my four years of blogging has been the one where I posted my family’s baby booties pattern. My mom, aunt and grandmother churned out these booties for every infant that they came into contact with. Kick proof booties, they were treasured by all, and eventually I also began to knit up these cuties for all babies near and far. I first wrote about the baby booties in a post I called Swedish Knitting Genes, and then put up a tutorial showing how the booties are knitted in a follow up post, Swedish Family Bootie Pattern. I’m still making these booties and have begun casually selling them to people who ask for them.
I get kind of bored knitting the same old booties, though, so I tend to mess around with the pattern each time I make a pair. When Misty, the office manager at the shop where I take my car for its routine maintenance, contacted me for booties and a hat for a new niece on-the-way, I decided to make a set with lace.
Misty approved the color of this yarn, so I cast on and got started.
The hat to match these booties was something of a problem for me. I had made a bootie/hat set for this baby girl’s older brother a couple of years ago, and that hat was too small! I then adapted and panic knit a new hat using the Easy Peasy Newborn Sock Hat pattern to make it a little larger and with a ribbed brim, which fit the baby much better. Whew. Here’s the set that I made for that baby boy.
Knowing that this new baby sister would probably have a larger head I wanted to make a hat that matched the lace topped booties and would also have some slight adjustment to the brim size.
I adapted the Easy Peasy hat by moving up to 2.5mm needles and casting on more stitches (102). I used the same lace as the booties on the brim of the hat, and then added a row of eyelets to accommodate the I-cord tie. Easy, peasy girlie hat. Here are the project notes on Ravelry, and I put into the notes my modifications to the original pattern. I can’t wait to hear back from Misty how this fits the baby.
By the way, last weekend was a little rough; my younger son was hospitalized with complications of diabetes. Once again, knitting saved the day as I sat with him that first night in the hospital.
It is so good to be a knitter. Calming, portable, and always ready to go.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Yarn, Books & Roses 
First I hope your son is fine! Scary stuff when kids are sick.
Second I love the hat and booties! They’re so cute. Have you published the pattern on Ravelry? You really should:)
My son is doing much better and had a good week. He lives in a city north of me, but we usually get together over the weekends; I’m helping with cooking and meal planning as he tries to get his Type 1 diabetes under control.
My BKB Deb told me to write to pattern up for Ravelry. Gee… that will cut into my knitting time. I should just get over myself and do out, huh. I’m really pleased with how the hat turned out. I should knit another pair and take more careful notes. Things were a little crazy with three lace…
I hope your son is doing better, Marilyn. What a scary thing! I’m so glad you had your knitting and that it was a comfort. The booties and hat are beyond precious! Lucky baby! 🙂
Oh, I take my knitting with me everywhere. 🙂 We really are swimming in medical misadventures in my family, so I take the phone and knitting with me at all times. The good news is that he realized that he was in trouble early on and we got him into the hospital before things were too bad (this is diabetic keto acidosis that he’s dealing with). It’s been a week and he continues to look great.
I still haven’t managed to get the knitted items to Misty, which is good as I can get some more pictures before they go. I’m thinking of getting the pattern written out and then will post it in a blog or maybe PDF it. It depends on how much this will cut into knitting time… I have priorities!
I mean how adorable are those baby booties and hat! And the color of the yarn is so cute 🙂
Thank you. I just loved these booties when my children were little, and am happy to pass them on to new babies now. 🙂 The color of the yarn is called “naive” and is Hedgehog Fibres sock yarn. I don’t know if they still make this color, but it is a nice one. There are little hints of brown in the pink.
I hope your son is doing better!! I use knitting to calm my nerves all the time- gives you something to focus on that you can control!
The knitted goods look amazing:)
He is better, thanks
I am a firm believer in the powers of knitting. I wasn’t surprised to hear that there is now research that shows it has a lot of positive impact on health, as I know it is helping me. No matter how bad things are, if I knit I am cheerful and ready to cope.
It doesn’t surprise me either!
Cute set. I love how you used an old family pattern.
Well, when you have an easy one memorized, that’s what you use! 🙂
Adoreable hat and booties, a greyt heirloom.
And yes, knitting is a lifesaver.