Baby’s Boot: Medium Size.

Merino or Andalusian wool, and pins No. 14.

All these patterns can have the sock worked in white, and the shoe part in a colour, but all white is preferable.

Cast on 48, and do 14 rows of ribbed knitting. Then knit a row, pearl a row for 2 inches; or work this part in any open-work pattern, of which there are so many in The Lady’s Knitting-Books, especially on page 56 of 1st Series.

1st row of instep. Knit 18; leave these stitches for a time: you can slip them on a piece of wool, and knit backwards and forwards on the centre 12 stitches for 18 rows. Suppose you have made the leg open-work knitting, this must be done the same. You can slip the last 18 stitches also on a piece of wool.

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19th row. If you are using two colours, you must now join the coloured wool, which is used for the remainder of the boot. Plain knitting.

20th row. Knit.

21st row. Pearl.

22nd row. Knit.

23rd row. Knit. Pearl the next row, and continue thus to make ridges of 3 lines. When 4 ridges are done, you must decrease for the toe. Pearl the 12 stitches as usual to keep the ridges even. Then for the 13th row work thus:—Slip 1, knit 2 together, knit 6, knit 2 together, knit 6, knit 2 together, knit 1.

14th row. Pearl.

15th row. Like 13th, but knit 4 instead of 6.

16th row. Knit.

17th row. Pearl 1, pearl 2 together, pearl 2, pearl 2 together, pearl 1.

18th row. Slip 1, knit 1, pass the slipped stitch over, knit 2, knit the last 2 together. 27 This finishes the toe. Break off the wool and fasten in the end.

Go on with the right-hand pin which has the 18 stitches on it; knit these off, then raise 24 from the side; knit the 4 toe stitches. Now take a third pin (you only use it once, so it does not matter if it is not the same size) and run through the 18 stitches you had slipped on the piece of wool, and raise 24 from the side of instep: knit these off. You have now 88 stitches altogether. Pearl the next row, knit the next 2, and so on, to keep the ridges even. Do 4 of these ridges.

13th row. You have the wrong side of the knitting towards you. Knit 3, knit 2 together, knit 31, knit 2 together, knit 12, knit 2 together, knit 31, knit 2 together, knit 3.

14th row. Pearl.

15th row. Knit 3, knit 2 together, knit 30, knit 2 together, knit 10, knit 2 together, knit 30, knit 2 together, knit 3.

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16th row. Pearl.

17th row. Knit 3, knit 2 together, knit 29, knit 2 together, knit 8, knit 2 together, knit 3, knit 2 together, knit 29, knit 2 together, knit 3.

18th row. As usual.

19th row. Knit 3, knit 2 together, knit 28, knit 2 together, knit 6, knit 2 together, knit 3, knit 2 together, knit 28, knit 2 together, knit 3.

Slip half your stitches on another pin, lay the pins alongside, and cast off through both stitches at once.

Strap.—Cast on 20 stitches; then cast on 5 more, at the same time drawing the wool through the shoe itself, exactly in the centre of the upper ridge at the heel. This makes 45 altogether; pearl back.

2nd row. Knit 1, knit 3 together, knit the rest.

3rd. Pearl 41, pearl into the long stitch, pearl again into it by twisting it, pearl the 29 last. Knit the next row and cast off. Sew a button to the other side.

This pattern is very pretty, with the leg and open-work pattern done in Shetland wool. In either silk or Shetland, and pins No. 17, cast on 64 stitches, have 14 for the instep, which must be about 18 rows long. Then join the Andalusian wool for the ridges, which make the toe, and do the shoe also in Andalusian.

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