Baby booties

Even before I became pregnant I used to make baby booties for all my friends who were expecting babies. It became my thing and any time a friend or colleague at work got pregnant or had a baby, I would present them with a pair of baby booties in bright colours.
I searched for various patterns but none of them were as straight forward as I wanted. Eventually I came up with my own pattern. The idea is very simple. I make sole and top parts separately and then join them together with a number of single crochet rows which become the sides of the booties.

The yarn I use is mostly merino wool dk, 4 ply or baby yarn. I use a 2.5mm or 3mm hook to make the newborn sizes and a 3.5mm hook for the bigger size of booties.
First make 11 chains, then make 10 single crochet (sc) stitches starting from the second chain from hook.
Make 20 rows of  sc, fasten off and the sole is done.
Then either make 10 rows of sc for the instep part of a shoe or make a more complicated square which will measure half the length of the sole.
Now with either contrast yarn or the same colour make 7 rows of sc around the sole part of a shoe starting from the side of the sole. The results in raised borders which later become the sides of the booties. Attach the instep part with a row of sc in the same colour as the sides of the shoe. Continue working with the same tread to make a cuff around the ankle. Make 3 double crochet stitches (dc) in the first chain of the side of a shoe, then make 3 chains. Put a slip stitch into the top of the last dc, 3 dc into the same chain as the first 3 dc, skip 3 chains and then repeat across the side of a shoe until you reach the end. Fasten off.
To finish up make a chain 15-20 cm long to insert into the holes in the cuff for the booties not to fall from feet. Alternatively you can use some silk ribbons or just make some shoe lace yourself.
You can also decorate the instep with some flowers, funny faces, etc.

Tiramisu Baby Blanket

After completing the pink blanket, I decided to make another blanket which would be more neutral. I came across a Tiramisu Baby Blanket pattern by Alicia Paulson on the Ravelty website. The pattern is very simple, but it makes such a lovely texture when crocheted and it looks lovely when viewed from either side.
I choose yellow and white acrylic yarn. It was sold as DK baby wool in a yarn shop. 250g in yellow and 50g in white, I also bought 5m of a yellow satin ribbon 2cm wide to go around the edge of the blanket. Again I used a 3.5mm hook.
The size of my complete blanket was 75x75cm (30x30in)
The pattern instructions can be found on the Ravelty's website.
I would recommend this pattern for any crochet beginner.
You can make the entire blanket out of a single colour, and use a contrast ribbon to go around the edges. Alternatively you can do the same thing I did, by using one colour for the middle part, a different colour for the lace edges and a ribbon which is the same colour as the yarn is the middle part.
This blanket is perfect in the bedroom and I use it to cover Mia in bed on cold nights.

Second item made - Baby Dungarees

So now after I made a pink blanket I decided to make something for a baby boy, so at least I would be covered if I had either.
A friend of mine gave me a book by Tina Barrett, Natural Crochet for babies and toddlers and I really liked the Cotton Archie Bear Romper Suit. I got 200g of Sirdar Snuggly BabyBamboo yarn in grey and 50g of  Sirdar Snuggly BabyBamboo yarn in blue. The reason why I reversed the colours was that I wanted to make it more neutral. I used my favourite 3.5mm Clover hook.
I didn't want to follow the design from the book completely, as I didn't like the idea of buttons on the back. I knew that my baby would spent most of her time on her back and buttons might hurt her. Instead I decided to make it into dungarees.
I followed the pattern instructions for 0-6 months size. For the front body I followed the instructions as per the original design. For the back body I contuniued crocheting upwards after finishing the bear's face and finished up with two 3cm-wide straps on each side.

I then sewed the two parts together.
I contured with a row of single crochet stitches in blue, followed by grey, making a nice edging on both the legs and the upper body.
I would recommend putting some fasteners on the inside leg for easy access when changing nappies.

Mia's first blanket

This was the first thing that I created for my baby. My husband and I didn't find out the sex of our baby in advance, so I never knew what kind of blanket to make. But when I saw this blanket in The Happy Hooker book (Seija Stroller Blanket by Bev Ireland), I fell in love with it and wanted to make it. The pattern was very easy and since I hadn't been crocheting for a while beforehand this was a perfect opportunity to start on something so simple and yet so cute. I was planning to give the blanket to my friend who had a little girl only couple of months before me if I had a baby boy.
For the blanket I used 100g Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in pink, 100g Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in chocolate brown and 100g Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in white and a 3.5 mm crochet hook.
The finished size of the blanket was given in inches and since I came from a country using the metric system, I never knew what it meant. I used a measuring tape that had centimetres on one side and inches on the other and started to crochet. I suddenly realised that my blanket was going to be a lot smaller than I expected. It turned out that my measuring tape had incorrect measures for inches, luckily I had an iPhone Units Converter app, so I used the inches and converted them into centimetres and continued my work on the blanket. I must admit I hardly ever follow the instructions for the patterns once I can understand them.
I ended up using all my yarn for the blanket and had nothing left for the braids that are weaved through the spaces in the borders on each end of the blanket. So I finished it up with three rows of single crochet stitches in pink yarn making a nice simple boarder.
So when my baby girl was born, I asked my husband to bring this blanket from home and it was the first thing that she had that was made by me.

Books and websites I use for my projects

I find www.ravelry.com a great source of inspiration. I'm amazed on how people can create the things on this website. Some of the projects can be so complex that it is hard to believe that they were handmade by someone. You will need to register on the website and then you can access all of the patterns and projects published there. Some of the patters can be bought, others are completely free.
I also use the Russian crafts site www.rukodelka.ru to download some of the patterns and crochet magazines.
Another great source for my projects is Lion Brand yarn website (www.lionbrand.com). I use this site's free app on my iPhone. That way I can always access it on my phone and use it anytime.

And finally here is a list of books that I own, most of them are purchased on Amazon, others in bookshops. I also have couple of books that I borrowed from my friend which I also use for some of my projects.
1. Baby Blueprint Crochet by Robym Chachula
2. Crochet for Babies and Toddlers by Betty Barnden
3. Natural Crochet for Babies and Toddlers by Tina Barrett (belongs to my friend)
4. The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller
5. 100 Crochet Projects by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss
6. Crochet Bible by Sue Whiting ( also belongs to my friend)
7.  Positively Crochet by Mary Jane Hall
8. Russian books called Crocheting for the whole family (Вяжем крючком для всей семьи)

I hope some of these can be of help to you also.

About MiaBabyCrochet

I have always enjoyed crocheting and I made a few things for myself when I was in school, but it really became a passion later when I got pregnant. Creating cute tiny things for the new little life inside me was not just a relaxing activity in front of the telly each evening after work, but it also helped me to connect with this tiny creature inside me, each time I made something special and unique for her. She is the sole inspiration for all my works and this blog is dedicated to her.