Wednesday 15 April 2015

Tundra Baby Shoe


Baby shoes are my favourite knit. So relatively quick to make, and the end result is so pleasing. 

I had an idea for a new design, as two of my work colleagues are expecting. (In fact one of the babies has already arrived.) Although I love knitting my Baby Daisy Shoes and Baby Bee Shoes I thought it was about time for a change. I am sort of trying to work up the courage to design a baby garment, so these have been a welcome delaying tactic.


Those of you who know me are probably looking at this new design and thinking "why no embroidery?". Well I may add some later (I just can't resist) but for the pattern photos I wanted to show the simple shape of the shoes, and I thought that embroidery might be a distraction. 


I have put a lot of thought into the shape of these shoes. I had in my mind that they would be very simple. 

Just for once I can say that this is not a difficult knit. You do not even have to know how to purl. (I am usually so worried about people buying my patterns and finding them hard, that I think I exaggerate the difficulty.) But this pattern is all knit, and has only one technique that new knitters may not have come across. 

These were made with my last scraps of this wool. Unfortunately I don't know what it is as I would love to get some more. Any clues?








This is the wrap method to prevent holes in your knitting when you change direction mid-row. I explain this at the start of the pattern, and have put a photo tutorial on my blog to help more visual learners. (There is also a link to this in knitting tips in the right sidebar.) Once you have done this a few times you will see it is not hard. This gives the front upper of the shoe its very distinctive curves.

Knitted with James C. Brett Marble DK

The pattern just comes in one size, and the finished shoes are 8-9 cm long, so about the size for a newborn to 4 months. You need no more than 22g of wool. I am thinking of getting some chunky wool and trying to size it up to adult size, as I would quite like to pad about the house in a pair of these. 

Knitted from Jaeger Luxury Tweed (unfortunately this wool has been discontinued)

The shoe is made up of three pieces, and I have used doubleknit slightly fluffy wool to give them the look of a felted shoe, and to make them really cosy. So like my other shoe patterns you will find this a tight knit, but that is what helps give the shoes their structure. The pattern is available on ravelry and Etsy.

While knitting these I have had the idea for another baby shoe, which I am already working on. So expect even more baby shoes. 

P.S. I had lots of visitors here this week, mostly from South Africa. I can't quite work out if I have been featured somewhere, so I would be very grateful if anyone could let me know. 

24 comments:

  1. Oh no. Oh my goodness, they're so cute! Too bad I don't know any babies or babies on the way. But when I do...

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  2. So cute, makes me wish I knew a baby somewhere that I could knit for.

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  3. Oh, they are absolutely adorable! I love the round shape and the cuteness :-)

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  4. Cute shoes! The design's so clever.

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  5. Oh my word! Those are too cute and luckily I have some babies to knit for right now.
    xoxoxo

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  6. This is beautiful. Consider me enabled!

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  7. They are gorgeous, as soon as I have another baby to knit for...!

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  8. Aww i love these! The shape is gorgeous and its great to hear that they are a relatively easy knit as i can imagine lots of people wanting to give them a go x

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  9. Oh my goodness, these look so snuggly! I can imagine them made slightly bigger and then felted down to size, with some little embroidered flowers on for good measure :D x

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  10. Love the tweedy yarn just as it is! -- Of course, you could perhaps embroider some eyes and a smile to stare back at the Babies when they raise their feet..?
    ;-D

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  11. These are adorable, im not so keen on cutsie style, but these are stylish and I love the stylish shape x

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  12. Just beautiful! I can imagine cute little baby toes snuggled up in them!

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  13. These are really pretty, I love the wrap around style, it makes them look all snugly.

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  14. They are beautiful and I love the colour choices.

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  15. What a great gift your Tundra Baby Shoes would be, they are adorable.
    Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop! I hope you’ll join us again next week!

    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick
    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

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  16. These are delightful, the perfect gift for someone expecting or just had a baby :)

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  17. Beautiful design, and knitted up in gorgeous wools:)

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  18. These are adorable! I haven't knit baby shoes yet, but I am adding these to my must to list!

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  19. These are cute. They have a very unique shape and look to them. Very neat.
    Thanks for sharing at our Yarn Fanatic Party, and for continuing to party with us!
    Alexandra
    EyeLoveKnots.blogspot.com
    #34: http://eyeloveknots.blogspot.com/2015/04/yarn-fanatic-linky-party-34.html

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  20. Omg these are so cute!!! I wish I could knit!

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