GENERAL REMARKS.
Always cast off loosely, unless directed to the contrary.
The size of wool and pins is important in trying a pattern. Wools necessarily vary, both in quality and price; the best kinds to use for babies’ boots are Merino, Andalusian, 2-thread Lady Betty, and Eider yarn. Penelope wool is a trifle thicker, and is sold in 2-oz. skeins. Small-sized things can be increased by using larger pins and coarser wool: for instance, the smallest boot in this book can be made to fit a much older baby by using Berlin fingering and bone pins, No. 13.
Terms used in Knitting,
To increase, or make.—With your right-hand pin knit through the lower part of the next stitch as well as through the next stitch. Or, if at the beginning of a row, knit the first stitch, then knit again through it from the back. Or, put the wool before the needle, but this makes a hole. Or, cast on another stitch, and then knit it.
To decrease.—Knit 2 stitches at the same time so as to make 1 out of the 2. Or, slip a stitch from the left pin to the right without knitting it, knit the next stitch, then with your left pin pull the slipped stitch over the knitted one.
To pearl, or purl, or seam.—Bring the wool in front of the knitting, and insert the needle the reverse way through the stitch. Replace the wool in its right place.
To raise, or pick up.—Put your right needle through the knitting, put the wool round the needle, and draw the wool through the knitting.