Question about ending a bootee

How-to Questions
1

Dear all,
I don’t know if I should post my question in “How to”, rather than in this forum… if so, please accept my apologies…

I am knitting a pair of bootees, and I just realized that, at the end of the model, there are instructions for “Shape sole”, and then nothing more… no casting-off :shrug:

The last line of the model says:
"row 3: K2tog, K18, K2tog, K2, K2tog tbl, K18, K2tog tbl"
and that’s it, nothing about the cast-off row…

So my question is simple… in your opinion, should I knit an additional row that I will cast-off little by little, or should I cast-off directly the so-called row 3? :??

Thanks in advance for your advice! :hug:

Ramiro

2

Is it possible that the knitting is continued after the sole, or does the pattern just end there? If there are no further directions for continuing and the bootie is done, then just bind off, I guess.

3

Thanks to Jan in CA for moving my message to the right forum, and to Ingrid for her answer :hug:

But I am still somehow confused…sorry, I’m really a newbie on knitting… not much experience behind me

Is it possible that the knitting is continued after the sole, or does the pattern just end there?

The pattern just ends there. Actually, on the same page, but just below that line, a new pattern begins… so there is nothing left.

then just bind off

:pout: Do you mean by that that I should… knit an additional row that I would bind off? Or should I bind off the “3rd row” ?

Thanks again!

Ramiro

4

It depends on what you have done so far.

row 3: K2tog, K18, K2tog, K2, K2tog tbl, K18, K2tog tbl

Does what you have look like a sole? Could it be that you have to keep decreasing in this pattern with fewer stitches between the k2tog to get an entirely shaped sole?

Obviously, there’s something missing, we just need to figure out what.

Can you post a picture of what you have so far?

5

Hello again Ingrid,

I am attaching a couple of pictures of the bootee… but it’s hard to capture what it looks like.

I believe I actually only need to knit one more row, and cast-it off.

The model describers how to do the turn-back, then the shape instep, then the shape foot, and finally “shape sole”.

When I begin the shape sole part, I have 50 st on the needle.
And the complete instructions for the sole are as follows:

Row 1 (RS): k2tog, k20, k2tog, k2, k2tog tbl, k20, k2tog tbl
Row 2: knit
Row 3: k2tog, k18, k2tog, k2, k2 tog tbl, k18, k2tog tbl

And that’s it… I am not quite sure they meant to keep on reducing the size. I believe I will just need to “fold” the last row and seam it together.

What do yo think? :teehee:

Thanks again,

Ramiro

6

It seems that the attachments were not included in my reply :doh:

Here you are the images:

Thanks!
Ramiro

7

The yellow stripes are on the heel, and the ribbing will go around the ankle, yeah? Is there a picture of the booties included in the pattern book?

What I think it looks like you would do is fold that row in half, right in the middle, and sew it together. Starting from the middle of the row/fold, sew it together. When on the foot, this would be in the middle of the heel, on the base of the foot, and the seam would go along the middle of the sole, to the end of the foot, come up over the middle of the toes, and go along the middle of the top of the foot (from toe to ankle), then up the middle of the front of the ankle joining the ribbing.

Imagine folding that row in half, you would get two halves, these two edges would be sewn together.

I’ve never done bootees… but that’s what it looks like to me. From what you can see of the knitted fabric, if you sewed it up in the way I just described, does it look like that would give you a bootee shape of about the right size?

If so, you could cast it off first and then seam, but that seems like a waste of time. You could graft the stitches together with Kitchener or mattress stitch - Google to find tutorials with pics - or you could put the stitches onto two smaller needles and do a 3-needle cast-off (google 3-needle bindoff). I would go with the last one, I find it easier, and many people find mattress stitch fiddly and difficult.

Good luck
Sarah

8

Hi Sarah,

thanks for your reply.

I should have thought about posting the model’s picture in the first place… :wall:

Here it is:

Anyway, I am quite sure that what you proposed is what needs to be done… meaning, I will just cast-off with an additional knit row, and fold it in the middle, and then just sew.

Unless somebody in the forum tells me I’m doing something idiot :oops:

In any case, I’ll do it tomorrow morning, and let you know how it went.

Thanks!

Ramiro

9

Yep, it looks like that to me, except with the stripes on the instep not heel. Remember that casting off before you sew will add a bit of bulk to the seam - of course that’s less important for a bootee, which presumably will not be walked on!
Sounds right - but may I resuggest you consider not bothering to cast off before you sew? I don’t mean to be bossy - please do whatever you find easier, but I genuinely think it will be faster and less fiddly to use grafting, or a 3-needle castoff, rather than cast off and then sew. Of course, that’s easy for me to say, because I love 3-needle castoffs.
The bootee looks really good by the way!
If you sew, I suggest starting at the ribbing/ankle end of the seam, so the edges will be flush, and maybe putting a pin halfway along the seam, to keep it symmetrical.
Post a picture in the FO forum!

Sarah

10

Many many thanks to all of you…
:teehee:
I finally finished my first bootee of this series… I finally just did a cast-off on an additional row, folded it, and sew it. I did not do a 3-needle bind-off, because… I have never done one before, and I did not want it to be wrong at the very end :roflhard:

Now, I just realized that it’s for a baby boy, and maybe it’s a bit too “pinky” :doh:

I am going to post the pictures in the other forum, with the question…

Again, THANKS !!!