On Sunday, while my husband had twelve tube hi-fi guys from all over New England in the house to swap line stages and listen to reel to reel and vinyl, I knit a pair of baby booties. There is little more in this world that is more bewildering to a group of over-caffeinated high-end audio geeks than a woman knitting a pair of baby booties in their midst. I sensed the collective confusion early on, and I really enjoyed my affect on them. Nay, I exploited it and amused myself with their mystification. I washed some fleece, I knit on Birch, I did a little Intarsia, I wore yarn keeper bracelet for awhile. Finally, unable to resist the appeal of an obscure gadjet, one guy said, "What is that you're doing? It's called knitting, isn't it?"
Guys are cute, non?
These are my first pair of baby booties. I knit them for my husband's hairdresser, who just had a baby girl. He asked me on Friday if I would make something for her; he said "I have a haircut on Monday." This I knew. He said "This will be my first haircut with Denise since she had her baby." So I can't wash fleece in the kitchen sink, but I can knit him something to take to his hairdresser. Yet I give the guy credit for knowing that it would be a very nice thing to show up for his haircut with something I had knit for the baby. I also give him credit for asking me in such a way that if I didn't want to knit anything for his hairdresser's baby, that I could just play dumb and not have to say no. But is there a knitter among us who wouldn't be flattered by her husband's request to make him a baby present? Since Friday left me two days to knit, even though I have been dying to knit Kate Gilbert's delectable Samantha for a baby girl--any baby girl--and since I am no Yarn Harlot who knits whole Aran sweaters inside of two weeks, I defaulted to something small. I am embarrassed to say that they turned out huge. I think that the baby in question will be walking before they fit. As my first bootie, I trusted the pattern (which was a complete puzzle: knit, cast off, do some origami, surpize, it's a bootie!). Were I ever to appempt these again, I think that I will have to cut the number of stitches by half. Had I more time (read this darling husband) I would have started over again and made them less than enormous. But thank you so much, my dear, for asking.
I feel it is my duty to warn you about the dangers of putting coffee grounds in the disposal. Ask me how I know. (the scientific explanation: They are heavy, so they settle in the pipes before leaving the building, thereby leading to a horrible CLOG that has to have Roto-Rooter there to laugh at you and give you a big bill. Also, the Roto-Rooter guy warned us against pasta, which hardens like cement.) I asked the question, "with all the things you have to AVOID putting down the thing, what's it good for!?" So annoying. Sheep poop is good for ya. Tell the hubby.
Posted by: Norma | October 18, 2004 at 04:43 PM
Norma oughta know after spending the weekend walking among sheep poops...Cute booties, regardless of size.
Posted by: Margene | October 18, 2004 at 05:02 PM
Oyy..I used to date a high end audio guy...I was usually the only female in the shop and spent a lot of time explaining "girl stuff" and "how to get a date", whilst learning all about tubes. Very educational for all concerned.
Posted by: Annika | October 18, 2004 at 06:22 PM
Nice booties. (Nope, not hitting on you.) I completed one of these, then, thanks to paying absolutely no attention, stitched the back up incorrectly. (Imagine one seam straight up the back, giving the booties an elvin quality.) And, since I seamed it so freaking well, I couldn't get the seam out without cutting live stitches. I have since started another but they seem to be getting pushed further and further back. I fear that the child will be too old to wear them once I have finished them. Maybe we could switch. ;-)
Posted by: Collette | October 18, 2004 at 06:25 PM
Very cute booties and love the colour. Men can be damn hard to work out sometimes!!
Posted by: Alison | October 18, 2004 at 08:43 PM
I have never been able to knit booties that would actually fit an infant - no matter what pattern I use - they always turn out huge!
Yours are very pretty though, she will just have to grow into them.
Posted by: Colette | October 19, 2004 at 09:41 AM
About Samantha...The Bean is 2 and she'd look adorable in it ;> At least the booties didn't turn out to be Christmas ornament size. I attempted a pair of booties for Bean and even though she was teensy, these were made for doll feet. I keep thinking I'll try socks and then I remember The Bootie Incident (sounds like a porn film).
Posted by: Liz | October 19, 2004 at 10:53 AM
The booties are great. Mine are always too big also. I should invest in a yarn keeper bracelet.
I showed my husband the first sentence in your post, and now he's really, really excited. He's a big head-fi guy also. So, here's a question on behalf of my husband: Does your husband belong to any audio internet groups?
Thanks for getting back to me.
Posted by: Lynette | October 19, 2004 at 09:39 PM