Knitted Boots for Baby

Materials:

Worsted weight yarn in 2 colors - I used Simply Soft acrylic yarn by Caron
Size 3 circular needles (or dpn)
Size 1 circular needles (or dpn)
1 cable needle (or dpn)
3.5 mm crochet hook
Stitch markers (at least 4)
Sewing needle
Upholstery thread (color of sole)
All purpose sewing thread in both yarn colors
3" faux fur fabric (off the bolt)
12" super soft fleece (off the bolt)
8" x 8" leather
8" Craft Felt, color of upper boot
Hammer & Nail
Spray Adhesive
Flat sorbent pad (or similar material)
Absorbent shammy (or similar material)

Notes: Knit the shells at least one size bigger than you think you want. Once you get the lining and the felt inside, Baby's foot will have much less room. These boots are made to fit a size 3 1/2 infant foot. To knit the boots smaller or larger, begin by adjusting the size of the knitted sole, and then adjust the remainder of the pattern accordingly. 

Knitted Body

Sole
In the color you chose for the bottom of the boot, using a size 3 needle set, knit a sole using seed stitch that is 15 stitches wide at it's widest and 7 stitches wide at the narrowest, as follows:

CO 7
R1: sl1, * K1, p1; rep from * to end of row. 
R2: sl1, K1m1, * p1; rep from * to last stitch, p1m1.
R3: sl1, * P1, k1; rep from * to end of row.
R4: sl1, K1m1,*k1, p1; rep from * to last stitch, k1m1.
R5: sl1, * K1, p1; rep from * to end of row.
R6: sl1, K1m1, * p1, k1; rep from * to last stitch, p1m1.
R7: sl1, * P1, k1; rep from * to end of row.
R8: sl1, K1m1, * k1, p1; rep from * to last stitch, k1m1.
R9: sl1, * K1, p1; rep from * to end of row.

You should now have 15 stitches on your needle. Continue knitting back and forth in seed stitch, slipping the first stitch of every row, until you have 28 rows. You will then decrease on row 29, by knitting the second and third, and the second to last and last stitches together. You will have 11 stitches.
Continue knitting the heel of the foot until you get to row 60. Decrease  on row 61 to 9 stitches, and on row 63 to 7 stitches. Bind off so that you have 63 rows.

Lower
Using a crochet hook, pull the yarn through the edges of the sole, and put them on the size 3 circular needles, picking up a total of 64 stitches. Seed stitch in the round for four rows.



On row five, you will switch to your second yarn color, and as you knit, place stitch markers after stitches 16, 24, 40, and 48. You are going to decrease every row starting on row six, by knitting 2 together - just AFTER the first two markers, and just BEFORE the third and fourth. So that you will decrease 16 total stitches on four rows (6, 7, 8 & 9). You will have 48 stitches total.

Top & Tongue
Place the first 12 stitches on reserve on one piece of yarn or stitch holder. Place the next 8 on a second reserve. Leave 8 stitches on the needle, and place another 8 on reserve. Place the last 12 stitches on reserve, following the diagram below.

Pick up your yarn and knit across the 8 stitches at the very top of the boot. Turn, and purl across the eight, and pick up another stitch from one on reserve from the left side. Turn and knit across, pick up a stitch from one on reserve from the right side. You should now have 10 on your working needle and 7 on each of the top reserves.
Turn, purl across the row, pick up a stitch from reserve. Turn the work again and knit the first two stitches together. Knit across, pick up a stitch from reserve, turn. Purl 2 together.
Continue knitting and purling the stitches, picking up one from reserve as you come to it, and then knitting or purling it into the work so that you keep 10 stitches working. 
Once all of the stitches have been used on the first sets of reserves, work back and forth as follows:
k10, turn
k2, p6, k2, turn.
Make 25 rows past the reserve stitches. On row 26, knit on both sides to create the garter stitch, for 3 more rows. Bind off on row 30.

Upper Boot

Pick up all 24 of the remaining reserve stitches. Slip the knitting needles beneath 8 of the tongue stitches (4 on each side) and pick up new ones, for a total of 32 stitches.
R1- K5, p3, k4, p2, k4, p2, k4, p3, k5
R2- K3, p2, k3, p4, k8, p4, k3, p2, k3
R3- K5, p3, Sl 2 sts to cn, hold in front, k2, k2 from cn, p2, k4, p2, k4, p3, k5
R4- K3, p2, k3, p4, k8, p4, k3, p2, k3
R5- K3, p2, k3, p4, k8, p4, k3, p2, k3
R6- K3, p2, k3, p4, k8, p4, k3, p2, k3
R7- K3, p2, k3, p4, k8, p4, k3, p2, k3
R8- K3, p2, k3, p4, k8, p4, k3, p2, k3

R9- K5, p3, Sl 2 sts to cn, hold in front, k2, k2 from cn, p2, k4, p2, k4, p3, k5

R10- K3, p2, k3, p4, k8, p4, k3, p2, k3

Repeat rows 1 through 10 five more times, or until the boot is as tall as you want. Knit back and front of fabric for three more rows, bind off the on the fourth.

Once the boots are knitted, weave in all of the loose ends.

Inner Shoe

 Cut the following pieces from crafting felt:

Tongue: 4.5 x 1.25 inches (2)
Heal: arc 5.5 x 2 inches (2)
Toe: 8 x 1.25 inches (2)
Top: arc 2 x 3 inches (2)
Back: square 7 x 6 inches (2)

Turn boots inside out. Use spray adhesive to first glue the tongue felt piece to the inside of the tongue. Take care to stretch the knitted fabric to the proper width, leaving a small edge.
 Again, use the spray adhesive to glue the heel pieces to the back of the boots, then glue the large back square. The knitted fabric will need to be worked and stretched as the adhesive dries.

Glue the toe strip in place, the snip vertically twice at the toe to fold down the fabric for a rounded toe piece (refer to photo on the right). Glue the top arc on top of this with more spray adhesive.

Once the felt pieces are glued in place, allow the shoes to dry overnight.




Leather outer Soles

Make a pattern for your leather sole by following the dimensions of the original knitted sole you made. Cut the leather using sturdy scissors, then take a nail and hammer to punch holes around the edges for stitches. You want the holes to be 1/8 of an inch apart.

Glue the soles to the bottom of the shoes with spray adhesive, then stitch in place with upholstery thread.

Trim and Lining

Cut two pieces of fur to make
trim; 16 inches by 2 inches. Fold this long piece over, width-wise, and pin into place around the edges of the upper boot.
Hand stitch the fir trim in place, taking care to keep the stitches on the insides of the knitted fabric bars so the thread will not be noticeable.

Cut one wide piece for the tongue, roughly six inches by six inches. Pin in place and sew to the knit fabric just as you did the trim.

Knit a rope using the yarn you used to knit the soles.
CO 2 stitches on size 1 needles. k2, slide the stitches over and k2 again (you are knitting in the round). Do this until your rope is 6 inches long. You are going to make 4 of these.
Sew one end of each rope into the inside of the shoes right up next to your fir trim. Refer to the photo on the left. Make loops in the rope by tack stitching three more times, evenly, along the rope.
Use your felt pattern pieces to make the pattern for the soft fleece lining. You will want to make the fleece pattern pieces a little larger to accommodate for seam allowance.
Once the fleece lining is sewn together, turn it inside out and tuck it down into the boot. Use the thread that is the same color as the sole to sew the lining to the bottom of the shoe. It is easiest to sew along the sides from the outside of the shoe, hiding the threads in the knit.

At the top of the boot, fold the soft fleece edges under and pin them in place. Use the thread that is the color of the upper boot to sew it in place, again, hiding the stitches in the weave of the knitted fabric.

Insole


The insole is made using the same pattern used for the outer sole and cutting slightly to the inside.
I used a piece of flat sheet sorbant (PIG brand), which is essentially stiff cotton. You can use any stiff padded flat substance.
The blue is a shammy, bought in the automobile section of your local big box store.
Glue the shammy to the padding with spray adhesive.
Turn the boot inside out and glue the insole to the bottom, with the shammy fabric on the top.
Once dry, you can turn the boots right side out again. The last thing you need to do is make the laces.



Laces

Make rope just as you did in the trim and lining section. I chose white to have a contrasting color. Knit the rope to approximately 20 inches.
Once the rope is finished, you will have a small length of yarn left on each side. Leave them here. Lace your boots before tying on the poms.
Make small poms by taking the two colors of your boot and winding them around the palm of your hand six to eight times. Lay this on your rope ends, right at the knot and use the attached excess yarn to tie it in place. Wrap the upper section in the two colors and tie in place. Cut the bottoms of the poms so that they are about an inch long.