Knitting Project - "Converse" Baby Booties!!!

I originally found the pattern for this project here, but it has been slightly altered and I'm adding more basic instructions for those of us who aren't expert knitters!  Plus, I'm adding like 203,948,239,048 more pictures so you know you're on track as you go along with the project!

Yay - I'm finally getting around to posting about my knit "Converse" booties!  They're absolutely adorable, and they're a total hit!  And despite the long list of skills you'll have to use to complete the pattern they really aren't that difficult.  I totally had like 9 tabs open on my browser while I was working on these so when I forgot how to  do something I already had the YouTube video open, hahahaha.

Skills Used:

Yarn Over (yo) - Good demonstration

Slip Knit Pass (skp) - Good demonstration

Wrap & Turn (turn) - Good demonstration 

Slip (sl)

Purl two together (p2tog)

Pass Slipped Stitch Over - single decrease (psso) - Good demonstration (for this pattern, use the second example in the video)

Knit two together (k2tog)

Slip slip knit (ssk) - Good demonstration 

Materials:

Main Color - Red (MC)
Contrast Color 1 -White (CC1)
Contrast Color 2 -Black (CC2)
I used a worsted weight yarn for this project
1 pair size 5 and 6 straight needles

Other Supplies

Large-eye yarn needle
White felt
Sewing needle & black thread
Small, star shaped button to match the MC

Pattern

To Begin
With smaller needles and CC1 cast on 26 stitches and knit 1 row.
Row 1: k1, yo, k11, [yo, k1] twice, yo, k11, yo, k1.
Row 2, 4, 6, 8, 10: knit (when you reach the yo knit in the back of the stitch).
Row 3: k2, yo, k11, yo, k2, yo, k3, yo, k11, yo, k2.
Row 5: k3, yo, k11, [yo, k4] twice, yo, k11, yo, k3.
Row 7: k4, yo, k11, yo, k5, yo, k6, yo, k11, yo, k4
Row 9: k5, yo, k11, [yo, k7] twice, yo, k11, yo, k5

The increases used in this first part created different direction slants that will help shape the bootie.  In this picture I highlighted those "seams" with purple lines:

Next - Change to larger needles

Row 11: knit across using CC1
Row 12: purl with CC1
Row 13: knit across using CC2 (this is the black stripe along the bottom)

Row 14: purl CC1
Row 15: knit CC1
Row 16: purl CC1
Row 17: knit MC
Row 18: p19 MC, p13 CC1, p19 MC

Shape Instep

Using MC and CC.
Row 1: k19 MC, k10 CC1, SKP CC1, turn.
Row 2: sl 1, p7CC1, p2tog, turn.
Row 3: sl 1, k7, SKP, turn.
Row 4: sl 1, p7, p2tog, turn.
Row 5: sl 1, k7 CC1, sl 1 CC1, k1 MC, psso, turn 
Row 6: sl 1, p7 CC1, p2tog MC, turn.
Row 7: sl 1, k7 CC1, SKP MC, turn.
Row 8: sl 1, p1 MC, p5 CC1, p1 MC, p2tog, turn.
Row 9: sl 1, k2 MC, k3 CC1, k2 MC, SKP, turn.

Using MC only now

Row 10: sl 1, p7, p2tog, turn.
Row 11: sl 1, k7, SKP, turn.
Row 12: sl 1, p7, p2tog, turn.
Row 13: sl 1, k7, SKP, turn.
Row 14: sl 1, p7, p2tog, turn.
Row 15: sl 1, k7, SKP, knit to the end of the row.
Row 16: p 21, p 2 tog, purl to the end of the row (35 stitches).

Side One

Row 1: k11, yo, k2tog, k1 (place remaining stitches on stitch holder) (FYI - by doing a yarn over and then a decrease you're creating little holes for the laces)
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: k11, k2tog, k1
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: k10, yo, k2tog, k1
Row 6: Purl
Row 7: k10, k2tog, k1
Row 8: Purl
Row 9: k9, yo, k2tog, k1
Row 10: Purl
Row 11: k9, k2tog, k1
Row 12: knit
Row 13: knit

Bind Off

Side two

Place 14 stitches from the stitch holder back onto your needle
Row 1: k1, ssk, yo, k11
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: k1, ssk, k11
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: k1, ssk, yo, k10
Row 6: Purl
Row 7: k1, ssk, k10
Row 8: Purl
Row 9: k1, ssk, yo, k9
Row 10: Purl
Row 11: k1, ssk, k9
Row 12: Knit
Row 13: Knit

Bind Off

Tongue

Place the final 7 Stitches from the Stitch marker onto the needle.
Row 1: k across
Row 2: p across
Rows 3, 5, 7 & 9: k across
Rows 4, 6, 8 & 10: k1, p5, k1
Row 11: ssk, k3, k2tog
Row 12: p across

Bind Off

To finish

Using your large-eye yarn needle stitch up the bottom and up the back of the bootie.  For this, I have found that stitching it up with the project inside-out creates a more refined finish.

For the laces you can either create an I-cord, do a single row of crocheting, or (like me) just make a simple braid!  16 inches is a sufficient length for the laces.

And the most important finishing touch is the star emblem!  For this, I cut out a circle of white felt and hand stitched it onto the outer side of the bootie (either side can be the outer side, just make sure you don't sew it onto the same side of both of the booties in the pair) using black thread.  Then I attached a small, star shaped button in the center of the white circle.

Et voila - totally authentic looking converse booties!

These fit a 10 month old nicely, so I would say they could fit anywhere from a 6 month old to an 18 month old (especially since there is a good amount of stretch since they're knit).  I'm going to work on making a smaller (newborn) sized pair and if I figure it out I'll post that as well.

These have been a huge hit on my Facebook page (which can be found here) and I've already sold a light pink pair and now I'm working on a hot pink pair!

If you have any questions about the pattern, feel free to ask!  And if not, I'm always open to compliments on my work, hahaha.


Until next time...

**All images used in this post are personal photos**