Baby Bootie #1 -Crafting 365/ Day 65

Baby Bootie #1 -Crafting 365/ Day 65, originally uploaded by homemadeoriginals.

Patern: Christine's baby booties
Yarn: Lana Grossa, Meilenweit Party, sock yarn. 80% wool, 20% Polyamide

I loved this pattern when I first saw it, but when I read about the origin of the pattern, I was even more determined to knit a pair.

This pattern was published in Threads no 22 (April 89) in a letter to the editor from Christine Bourquin. She was at the time 95 and living in Redwood City CA, still knitting, and expressed the desire to have her pattern live on. As Christine would be 108 today, we can only hope that she's still around, but perhaps she's not able to see well enough to still make them. I love the story of Jeanne Calment, the French woman from Arles who met Van Gogh as a child (and didn't particularly like him). She set a record by dying at 122, attributing her longevity to the regular ingestion of chocolate, and having only been persuaded to give up smoking at 104 (hear that Christine?). Anyway, Christine's legacy is this pattern for booties that stay on because of the clever side ribbing, and as we all know keeping booties on babies is not a straightforward task...

from Fuzzy Galore web site

The pattern is not difficult, however, I found it very challenging to use the size 2 DP needles (thank goodness they were wood needles, I would have gone crazy with plastic ones!) as I had many dropped stiches I had to rescue and several times one of my little needles slipped and all the stiches came off. Several times I had to undo several rows of knitting too. I decided to make the tie out three strands of yarn, braided. Now, I just have to knit bootie #2. It should be easier than the first one, I think.