Baby Gift

My girlfriend is having a baby.  She doesn't know if it is a boy or a girl yet - it'll be a few more weeks until the surprise is delivered - so I could have gone with yellow or with green ribbons.  Both great colors for the unannounced child.

Or I could have wrapped blue and pink together and she could choose which one to remove once her new baby comes.

But here's the cool part - my girlfriend is Buddhist, and this gives me an option not often available in the rainbow of pastel baby colors - orange!  The color orange represents the essence of Buddhism, so I thought it a very appropriate color for the ribbons on the booties, mittens and hat.

And since I did manage to finish the sweater...

I went with yellow, orange and red hearts for the baby's chakras - I mean, buttons.

Seriously, how cute? 

I wish my girlfriend and her husband and their soon to be new child all of the blessings that you can give to a new family.  

And thank you! for the not often seen chance to use orange.

Bootie Call

Five of my friends are heading into the last few days/weeks/months of their pregnancies and that means one thing - time to make the booties.

I used to have a super pattern for baby booties, mittens and hat - but I lost it.  I know I still have it somewhere, but after 2 days of looking I still can't find it and my first set is due tomorrow.  Well, my girlfriends always say that I work best under pressure so I guess now is my chance to shine!

Here's what I came up with for the bootie.  It works up quickly - about 20 minutes per boot including stitching it up.

I know that most knitters love to use wonderful wools to knit with, but I've found that most new moms prefer a washable fiber so I use a super soft acrylic yarn.  Soft enough for the newborn, tough enough to  let all of the drippy things that come out of newborns get washed away in the laundry.

Size E crochet hook

1 oz. Fingering yarn

Row 1 - ch 34

Row 2 - hdc across, ch 2

Row 3 - hdc across, ch 2

Row 4 - hdc across, ch 2

Row 5 - dc across

Row 6 - sl 5, ch 3, dc in same stitch as ch 3, dc across, leave 4 unworked

Row 7 - dc across, ch 3

Row 8 - dc across, ch 3

Row 9 - *fpdc, bpdc* across

Whip stitch seams.  Weave blue and pink ribbons through the front/back post double crochets - the new mom can just remove the appropriate color.  You can roll the edge down for a cuff, or leave it up for extra warmth.  

Abbreviations:

ch - chain

hdc - half double crochet

dc - double crochet

sl - slip stitch

fpdc - front post double crochet

bpdc - back post double crochet

I think they're pretty darn cute.