How the Design Came to Be
I made a few pair of Saartje booties (using the Bockstar seamless variation) for friends who were expecting. My son, who is 8, adored them and wanted a pair for himself, so I did some experimenting and came up with this pattern. He is totally delighted.

Recommended Variation
Forget about the whole buttonhole business. Add two stitches on each side to the strap cast on and just sew the straps to the slipper. You can sew buttons on for cuteness, but they really aren’t worth the trouble. If I get time I’ll rewrite the pattern this way!

Want a Bigger or Smaller Size?
You can probably fudge the sizes larger by using bigger needles. If you want to go smaller you could try only using one strand of yarn and the same size or smaller needles.

I wouldn’t try to push this smaller pattern bigger than a US 2 or 3. The larger pattern looks really similar, but is actually quite different. You can get the pattern for the larger size here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/saartje-inspired-...

That one is for a size US 5.5-6 / EU 36-37, but you can definitely change the size larger or smaller by changing needle size or yarn weight. I did a try with slightly bulkier yarn, following the pattern exactly, and got about a size Eu 39 / US 8. They’re very quick to knit. Don’t be afraid to mess around with the gauge for sizes. Be sure to leave a comment about how they turn out if you do.

Watch Out!
These slippers are very, very slippery! If you are afraid of in-home floor skating, you might consider some kind of sole.

Magic Cast On
Here are a couple links to instructions for the magic cast on.

• Knitty article

• How-to video