Currently there are 17 women (that I know of) pregnant or adopting at my church. The next baby due is my friend Kaitlyn's (and her husband Andrew's), expected in early April. Andrew and Kaitlyn are both violists, and Andrew is also an instrument maker, so I asked myself one question when designing booties for their baby:
What would it look like if a converse high top had a baby with a viola?
Well, I think it would look kind of like this. It would be knit out of thin double-stranded red and orange wool, to imitate the woodgrain of a brightly colored viola. It would have a fingerboard/tailpiece in place of a shoe tongue, with golden strings lacing up the top. It would have f-holes on the sides, and for baby Henry it would have the Henry Basses logo embroidered on the top.


Check out HenryBasses.com to see more of Andrew's work, or read the story behind his business here.

The one thing I was disappointed about with these booties is that the French knots which made up the end of the strings disappeared into the tailpiece on the left boot. I also tried adding a bridge under the strings, but it looked out of place so I took it out.

The strings/laces themselves worked really well. After battling with some more authentic-looking (but boring) grey yarn for a while, I decided these violas would have golden strings. Using double-stranded gold metallic crochet thread, I laced up the four strings and sealed the ends with clear fingernail polish.
Suggested retail: $24.00