Baby Bootie Follow-Up

You remember these guys, don't you?

That's right, they were the last-minute, KitchenAid-felted, 3-in-1 felted baby booties.

The recipient was the lovely Brandy Fortune.  I met Brandy at TNNA in June, but didn't realize I would be meeting her until the day before I left.  Brandy emailed me a while back and volunteered to take pictures of my 3-in-1 Felted Baby Booties on her daughter, Rowan.  This is why there was such a rush to complete the baby booties (and thus the infamous KitchenAid experiment).  To tell you the truth, I actually sat at a table in the Bryson Distributing Booth at the TNNA marketplace finishing these little booties... all because I forgot my sharp needles and had to take one off their display unit in order to sew on velcro and embroidery... really (Thanks, wonderful people at Bryson!). 

Anyway, Brandy is the author of the online blog Pixie Purls, and also has a pattern line to go along with it.  The Milk Infant Top has been a favorite of mine since it was published:

Besides having her own blog and pattern line, Brandy is also Co-Editor, Photo Editor, and Web Diva of the ever-popular Petite Purls. Petite Purls is an online knitting magazine that offers free children's patterns seasonally.  If you haven't seen it yet, it's a must!

So are you itching to see the beautiful shots of the baby booties on an actual baby?!?  I'm sure you are!

Aren't they just adorable?!
There are more, too!  You can see the rest of the photos here.

And while we are on the subject of baby items, I could use a little advice.  I know many of you are mothers and help for a soon-to-be-mom is always appreciated.  yesterday on my day off I started registering for my baby showers- I thought it would be easy, but quickly learned I was in over my head.  Is there anything in particular that you love, couldn't live without?  Anything I should pass on?

I'd love to hear what you have to say!

KitchenAid... Not just for Bakers Anymore

Well, kind of.  I decided to go ahead with the hair-brained idea last night.

First Step: Choose Your Weapon

I figured the whatchamacallit on the right would get things done without getting little baby booties wrapped around it in the process.

Step 2: Get Together All your "Ingredients"

I started with about 3 cups of super hot water, a squirt of dish soap, and of course the booties.  From here the KitchenAid was turned on the lowest setting and locked down.  It splished, it splashed, water was everywhere.  I decided to check after five minutes: nothing.

I left the KitchenAid alone to do its work and check again after 20 minutes.  Felting was finally occurring, but things looked different than I expected.  It almost seemed that there was too much agitation.  The felted piece was thinner, flatter, and hairier than normal. I decided I would add more water.

You would have thought we had a flood in our kitchen, but then my genius of a husband reminded me that I actually have a splash guard for my KitchenAid... how did I forget?

So after an hour of the KitchenAid working hard (and a TON of shaping on my part), I ended up with these little buggers:

Yes, they still need a good trim and finishing- but they will work.  In a pinch, the KitchenAid came to the rescue once again.  Would I do it again?  Probably not!

KitchenAid to the Rescue?

This evening I have a little dilemma.  A couple months ago I talked to an online knitter friend about taking pictures of my felted baby booties on her daughter's feet.  The original plan was to wait until I needed to felt a load, and knit a pair up really quick.

Well, last night I realized that I would be seeing this person this weekend at TNNA.  I figured I should make a pair to bring with me so I wouldn't have to ship them out later.  So, this morning before work I threw some yarn on the needles and came up with these:

Now, the dilemma- I still don't have anything else ready for felting and would hate to run the whole washing machine just for this one little pair of booties.  That's where this comes in:

Before you start your mocking, it's not my idea- I've read about it in the wonderful blogosphere in the past.  Look here...see?!?  It worked for Kimberly, could it work for me?

So what do you think, should I (or maybe I should say the slippers) take the plunge?