Alright, my very first pair of boots is completed! I'm extremely happy with how they've turned out and how they have stretched over the past couple weeks. The first time I put these on, it was a tight fit! But knits have a natural stretch, so the fitting relaxed over time already. These have turned put to be exceptionally comfortable, decisively warm, and definitely water resistant after Minnesota's first big snowfall.

I've worn these to school, work, and to band practice in six inches of snow: there was about enough snow to reach the top of the fold, but the snug fit kept the snow from sneaking into the boots.

Since the outer layer is acrylic, these mostly repelled the mass amounts of snow that packed onto the outside (but kicked off quickly). With a cotton blend interior, these stayed plenty warm and kept my feet dry for the day.

Check out more after the break! 

The process for making these started entirely with concentrating on the sole. I knit a cotton blend base and hand sewed it to the rubber sole of the shoe. If I were to approach it again, I would make this base a little wider and have the edges of it tucked in between the inner and outer layers of the rest of the boot. This seemed to be the only place where there was water penetration (a welcome adjustment for my next pair for my sister).

I then used the same seam as the base for connecting the inner and outer layers of the upper boot.

The inner layer was done entirely in a rib stitch to allow for both stretch and additional thickness throughout the boot. It helped to keep these snug and warm while offering ample stretch.

The top of foot, since I started at the toe, was definitely easier than rounding the top into the heel. Knitting in the round along a solid object always proves to be the most difficult knitting challenge. But continuing the rib through the rest of the inner layer seemed to help keep the structure of the boot mostly intact.

With the inner layer done, the rib stitch keeps the boots far too stretchy to use alone, but it kept the fitting easy and allowed me to make simple adjustments for creating the outer layer as a layer that offered structure and keeps the fit relatively snug on the foot.

The outer layer of the boots worked very similarly to the inner layer. The main changes came in the yarn selection, needle size, and stitch choice.

I switched to a teal acrylic yarn since acrylic tends to repel water instead of absorb it (though I have thought about using wool instead to keep these a bit more economically friendly). Acrylic is also a really easy yarn to work which was perfect for the difficulty of this prototype.

I switched to a needle three sizes smaller (size 4) to help keep the outer layer more snug to the foot. Having the inner layer done gave me a decent guide to follow when adding and attaching stitches to the sole of the shoe. Like the inner layer, I followed the only seam sewn into the sole of the shoe.

I also switch to a moss stitch - my prototype standard - to eliminate a lot of the extra stretch that the rib stitch has. I worked much of the outer layer in the same manner as the inner layer in terms of laying out the stitches.

The final additions to these boots was connecting the inner and outer layers at the top of the inner layer. I used a knit two together technique that allowed me to slip a piece of the cast off row into the knit stitches of the outer layer.

Once I was about an inch and a half past the inner layer, I switched back to my larger needles and continued knitting a few rows in the round.

On the larger needle, I stopped knitting in the round in favor of a straight row so I could split a seam for and open fold over. Along the side of the seams, I installed button holes so these boots could be folded down into an ankle boot and still buttoned to keep these snug or folded up and buttoned for a higher boot and more protection from snow and moisture penetration.

I couldn't be happier with the choices I made for this prototype. The fit is perfect, the style is fitting to my personality, and I am thrilled that these work so well as a moisture resistant boot. After the one tweak with changing the bottom liner, these will practically be perfect.