A Pink Sweater with Booties.

I wrote last of a baby outfit I have completed for a child soon to be born in my extended family. The pattern that I followed was called  The Five Hour Sweter by Beverly A. Qualheim, Jennifer Cox, Beth Koskie. (I have since seen that this pattern, with variations, has been floating around the net for years.) Be that as it may, I came across a pattern for bootieshttp://suzies-yarnie-stuff.blogspot.com/2011/06/5-hour-matching-booties.html to match this sweater. The pattern advised the booties were knitted in the round. I tried to make the booties on the size 6 circular needles that I have, but that proved very cumbersome (read "impossible for me to do") because the flexible strand between the needles was very long. I checked for a smaller length on size 6 needles and found some where the overall length was 9"; 2" for each of the needle and 5" for the flexible strand.

The first pair of booties I made were for the baby set for the soon to be here child of my nephew by marriage. The yarn was baby yarn and the needle worked well.

I had some pink alpaca yarn which I decided to make into another Five Hour Sweater. This is not specifically for any baby, but to have on hand in case. Here it is being modeled by Li'l SisterLilley.

The alpaca yarn I used for this set is heavier than the yarn I used for Casey's baby's sweater set. It worked well and the sweater and beanie  turned out  just fine. When I made the booties with the alpaca yarn I discovered how difficult it is to work with such a tiny needle on thicker wool. 

Pushing the needle through the yarn was rough on my fingertips I tell you! However, I learned an important lesson; I will need a larger flexible strand to do thicker wool. I hope there is a circular needle out there that has a larger span than 5 inches and a smaller one than 16 inches. I am on the hunt....