Noblin Design - Debbie Blissful Booties

A little while ago, not very far from here, some yarn was asking to be used.

Says the yarn, "I wish to be made into booties for the baby of a dear one. I wish to be made into booties that will bring happiness and comfort to the bonny baby."

"But yarn," I say, "I have no suitable patterns for you."

"Trust me," says the yarn, "I will be blissful booties."

I searched for a pattern and found one requiring 4ply yarn and 3.25mm needles. My yarn is dk weight. So I knitted the original pair and they were very large. I then rewrote the pattern and publish it here for you.

Requirements

1 ball of dk weight yarn, approx 90m to 50g
1 set of 3.25 mm needles
4 stitch markers (two each of two colours/styles is useful but not essential)
2 small buttons
Scrap yarn (preferably smooth and in a contrasting colour)
Darning needle

Gauge
26sts to 10cm/4inches

Techniques used
Provisional cast on
CO - cast on, for the bootie strap, cable cast on is recommended
k - knit
p - purl
sl - slip stitch purlwise unless otherwise stated

Cast off
Grafting garter stitch


Decreases:
k2tog - knit two stitches together
skpo - slip one stitch knitwise, knit one, pass slipped stitch over
pso - pass second stitch on right hand needle over the first and off the needle

Increases:
m1 - make one by working in to the back of the bar between stitches
yo - yarnover
kfb - knit into the front and back of the stitch


Instructions

Bootie Base:
The base of the bootie is knitted in a long, garter stitch rectangle and later folded back on itself. The length of the knitting is twice the length of the bootie. The cast on edge becomes a centre seam so a provisional cast on is used and the base is later grafted to itself to reduce bulk under the baby's foot.

Using a provisional method (see examples here or here) cast on 31 sts

Row 1: k1, place marker type 2, k14, place marker type 1, k1, place marker type 2, k14, place marker type 1, k1
Row 2: knit to marker type 1, m1 in front of marker, k to marker type 2, m1 after the marker, k to next marker type 1, m1 in front of marker, k to marker type 2, m1 after the marker, k to end --- 35 sts
Row 3: Knit

Here is Row 2 written out in full:
k1, m1, slip marker type 1, k14, slip marker type 2, m1, k1, m1, slip marker type 1, k14, slip marker type 2, m1 , k1.
The markers are placed around the two sections of 14 sts.

Repeat rows 2 and 3, 4 times. Increase before marker type 1 and after marker type 2 on even rows only. You will always have 14 stitches between marker 1 and 2. On the last repeat, row 9, you can remove the markers.

Stitch count

Row 4: 39 sts
Row 6: 43 sts
Row 8: 47 sts

Bootie Side:
The stitch count is increased and the side of the bootie knitted in stocking stitch.

Row 10: k10, (m1, k9) 3 times, m1, k10 --- 51 sts
Row 11, 13, 15: Purl
Row 12, 14: Knit

Row 16: k8, (k2tog, k9) 3 times, k2tog, k8 --- 47 sts

Bootie Nose:
The nose of the bootie is turned by working repeated decreases around the centre 7 sts. The nose is knitted in stocking stitch. There will always be 7 sts between the markers.

Row 17: p27, place marker 1, p2tog, turn
Row 18: sl1, slip maker, k7, place marker 2, skpo, turn --- 45 sts

Row 19: sl1, slip marker, p to marker 1, slip marker, p2tog, turn
Row 20: sl1, slip marker, k to marker 2, slip marker, skpo, turn

Repeat rows 19 and 20, 4 times.

Row 27: sl1, slip maker, p to marker 1, remove marker, p2tog, turn --- 36 sts
Row 28 : sl1, k to marker, remove marker, skpo, k to end --- 35 sts

Bootie Edging:

Row 29: Knit
Row 30: k12, k2tog, k7, skpo, k to end --- 33 sts
Row 31: k6, kfb, pso, cast off 17 (until 6 sts remaining on left hand needle), k to end --- 14 sts
Slip remaining 14 sts to scrap yarn

Bootie Base:
With the inside of the bootie facing you (the purl side of the stocking stitch section) pick up and purl the first 16 sts of the provisional cast on.

Unzip the rest of the cast on.

Graft the stitches together ( for instructions see here being careful to follow the instructions for garter stitch at the end of the article or here).

Sew the back seam.

Bootie Strap:

Row 1: Knit across the stitches on the holder, joining them up at the back in line with the seam. You may need to rearrange the two sets of 7 sts from your holder/scrap yarn.

Left bootie
Row 2: CO 4, knit all stitches --- 18 sts
Row 3: CO 14, knit all stitches --- 32 sts
Row 4: k to last 4 sts, k2tog, yo, k2
Row 5: Knit
Row 5: Cast off

Right bootie
Row 2: CO 14, knit all stitches --- 28 sts
Row 3: CO 4, knit all stitches --- 32 sts
Row 4: k2, yo, k2tog, knit to end
Row 5: Knit
Cast off

Weave in ends and attach buttons.

With special thanks to Debbie Bliss. The original pattern, which this one is based on, is featured in The Baby Knits Book. I wrote to Debbie to check that she was happy for me to publish the pattern, here and for free, after I finished the booties. I received an extremely sweet reply, including advice for sewing up the sleeves for the beautiful cardigan and best wishes for my exam. What a lovely person!