engineer booties

Lots of friends have had babies recently, and they're all boys. I admit I've been way more inspired to make girlie stuff lately, so it seems like I'm partial, but it's just that I haven't gotten around to taking a picture of the super-hero cape I made for Auden (with, per his request, an "S" on the back -- which, for the record, is THE HARDEST LETTER IN THE WHOLE ALPHABET TO TOP-STITCH).

I should also admit that I've become an unwitting enforcer of gender signifiers in babies. My friend Emily, pregnant with her second, got word during one ultrasound that she'd be having a girl, and I got all squealy and excited for her because her first is a boy and of course boys are awesome but eeeeeee! Cute girl things! And I started knitting a little hat for her right away. Then subsequent ultrasounds pointed in the other direction, and as much as I wanted to, I just couldn't send a cherry red pixie cap to a baby boy. And I thought I was so progressive! So I needed a different project.

I've been meaning to tweak the pattern for booties I made here, and of course all babies need booties.

Without any commentary on gender-appropriate colors, clothes and/or career choices, behold, the Engineer Booties! For boys! In blue! (okay, that was commentary)

I had some Osh-Kosh overalls that never quite fit Auden right, but I LOVED the stripey denim so I couldn't throw them away. I managed to get two pairs of booties out of one pair of overalls.

I changed the shape of the toe piece so that it was wider overall, then added a little elastic for a snug fit.

With the pair I made for Isla, I put fusible web in the toe, but left the sides soft. With these I did the opposite, which makes way more sense, since the sides need structure but the toe needs to be flexible.

Cute cute cute.

*