Knitting basics and baby boots - Slanting decreases, seams and baby joys

When I found out that friends of ours are expecting their first baby soon, I went into baby knitting overdrive. Of course, the first thing a baby needs, are fashionable baby boots! And in order to make baby boots, you'll need to learn the wonderful art of left and right slanting decreases...

Given I am still new to this whole knitting thing, I desperately wanted to find an easy baby boots pattern, that involved minimal sewing at the end. Ideally something that could be knitted in the round, so that I could put all of those beanie knitting skills to use. 

I finally settled on Larisa Vilensky's Baby Boots Basic pattern, which ticked all those boxes and looked like something even a beginner like me could handle.

What skills you will need

Using the magic loop 
method to knit in the round

You will already have many of the skills you need to knit some fancy baby boots, but something
you may not have had to deal with yet are slanting decreases and seams. Slanting decreases are as easy as pie, especially if you had a look at my previous post, where I explained the mysteries of how to knit two together or K2tog.

Slanting decreases 

Slanting decreases can lean either right or left, thus forming a visual line the eye can follow. This can be used for decorative purposes only or to do some nice shaping. When knitting booties, you will need to make decreases that mirror each other, so those decreases left of the centre of the work should slant towards the right and those decreases right of the centre towards the left.  

Right slanting decrease - Knit two together (K2tog)

This decrease was already explained quite nicely in my previous post, but here is the Knit Witch's video again as a refresher:

Left slanting decrease - Slip Slip Knit (SSK) or Knit two together through back loops (K2togtbl)

That's some lovely slanted decreasing there

You will note that the pattern calls for a Slip Slip Knit (SSK) for this decrease. Personally, I much
prefer to Knit two together through the back loops (K2togtbl), as it takes out one step and just feels that little bit quicker. SSK and K2togtbl will result in very similar looking decreases, so don't stress over which one to use and just pick whichever one you prefer.

Have a look at the two videos below, where the Knit Witch shows you exactly how to do both:

Slip Slip Knit

Knit two together through the back loop

Seams

Once you have finished your little master piece, you will need to sow together the sole of each boot. Personally, I cannot stand seams, which is why I tend to spend a disproportionate amount of time trying to find knitting patterns that are done in the round. Nevertheless, it's an essential skill and sooner or later, you're bound to be confronted with it. These baby boots are the perfect example. So hoist up your pants and learn the art of doing up a seam next. 

The perfect seam is invisible

My first attempts at seaming were completely ad hoc. I had no structure, no understanding of basic principles, no skill. All I knew was that A had to be attached to B through whatever means necessary. The result was usually passable, but quite obvious. The perfect knitting seam, however, should be nearly invisible.

If you google knitting seam, you'll found a thousand different seams for every possible stitch combination. Yet, if you ask my Nansie, she will tell you that there is no need to learn a thousand different ways to do a seam. As with most things in knitting, simply pick one and stick with it.

The booties will require you to stitch together two pieces of garter stitch, so check out the below video by KnitPicks for a quick how to:

Or use my favourite all-rounder, the mattress stitch (which incidentally is Nanna's favourite as well): 

So armed with these simply skills, you'll be able to whip up Larisa Vilensky's Baby Boots Basic pattern in no time. 

Enjoy.