The knitting season is upon us and to celebrate we have a detailed tutorial for you on how to knit a pair of baby shoes. If you want to turn the baby shoes into a gift, just add one of our lovely woven labels with a logo.
Materials for knitting baby shoes
- ca. 50 g wool (virgin-wool blend), yarn length 210 m/50 g
- 5 double-pointed needles 2.5
- 1 safety pin
- 1 yarn needle to sew up the threads
- 2 custom logo labels
Gauge
30 stitches and 42 rows
sole of the foot: ca. 10 cm
Our tutorial on how to knit baby shoes
Leg - Cuff
For the leg, cast on 40 stitches evenly on a total of 4 needles (10 per needle) and knit to close off the round. The leg is the cuff, which is knitted in rounds in a rib pattern for 7 cm – alternating two knit and two purl stitches. You can turn it down once the sock is finished.
Eyelet row
Knit the row with the eyelets for one round with yarn over stitches and knitting two stitches together. This creates little holes which we will need later on to pull a crocheted string through.
That way the baby can’t pull off its shoe.
Top of the foot
For the top of the foot, knit the 10 stitches of the 1st needle and the first 3 stitches of the 2nd needle and put them on hold. Knit the top of the foot in rows following the cable pattern 3 times by knitting the remaining 7 stitches of the 2nd needle and the 7 stitches of the 3rd needle (14 stitches).
Knit cable pattern 3 times
1st row
Make 1 edge stitch, knit 2, purl 1, knit 6, purl 1, knit 2, make 1 edge stitch
2nd row
Work in the stitches according to their pattern
3rd row
Same as the 1st row
4th row
Work in stitches according to their pattern
5th row
Make 1 edge stitch, knit 2, purl 1, put 3 stitches on hold on the 1st needle after the knitting, knit 3, then knit the cable needle stitch.
6th row
Work in stitches according to their pattern.
Sides and sole
Continue knitting in rounds. There are 14 stitches on the 1st needle. With the 2nd needle, pick up 10 stitches along the edge of the foot and add 6 stitches from the 3rd needle (16 stitches) to that needle. Add the remaining 14 stitches and pick up 10 stitches from the top of the foot. You should have a total of 60 stitches on the needle.
1st needle (14 stitches), 2nd needle (16 stitches), 3rd needle (14 stitches) and 4th needle (16 stitches). Now, knit 3 rows in rounds, making sure to only use the knit stitches. Next, work in the purl stitches for 5 rounds, then 5 rows with the knit stitches and finally 5 more rounds with the purl stitches. Now we have a total of 18 rows.
Next, in each round slip the first stitch of the 1st and 3rd needle onto your working needle, knit the next stitch, then pull the slipped stitch over it. That is how you decrease a stitch, knitting together the last two stitches. Continue like this until there are only two stitches each left on the 1st and 3rd needle. In every other round, slip the first stitch of the 2nd and 4th needle onto your working needle, knit the next stitch, then pull the slipped stitch over it. Knit two stitches together at the end of those needles. Repeat this pattern 3 times until you only have 10 stitches each left on the 2nd and 4th needle.
Place the stitches from the 1st and 2nd needle on one needle (12 stitches). Do the same for the 3rd and 4th needle (12 stitches). Next, sew the stitches together, creating a seam at the sole of the foot. Sew up the threads.
Crocheted strings
As mentioned in the eyelet row, we now need two strings, which we can easily crochet with 70-80 stitches each. With a safety pin, pull the strings through the eyelet rows. Now your baby shoes are almost complete.
Woven clothing labels with a logo
All you need now to finish off your perfect baby shoes are the clothing labels with your own individual logo. Simply order your woven labels with a logo at Wunderlabel and sew them onto your baby shoes.
Have fun!