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.

Baby Mittens

I finished the baby mittens for my friend's new little girl who is due to come into the world any day now.  This pattern vexed me.  It vexed me good.

I started out with a Magic Loop and half double crochet standard double increase initially.  It didn't work.  The mittens were squared off on top and swooped down like the brim on a southern belles bonnets.  It wasn't pretty.

I scoured the net.  Read through Ravelry.  Poured over pattern after pattern.  I made 8 different attempts at mittens.  All failures.  I blamed myself for losing the original perfect mitten, hat and bootie pattern.  I was filled with crocheting sorrow.

But then I thought - why not just make the first few rows double crochet?  The stitches would be twice as long and they would round over instead of squaring off and swooping.  So I did.  And it worked!

I added a detail at the top to match the bootie detail and all was right in the world once again.

Yay!

Mini Chullo

Time to continue down the path for the baby gifts.  After going round and round on what type to make, I finally settled on this cute little chullo.

I love the earflaps on these.  They keep the little one warm and frame their tiny face.  And the braided ties with the fringe give them something to play with while keeping the chullo in place no matter how squirmy they are.

The chullo style of hat is Peruvian.  The intricate designs on these alpaca wool hats sold by the street vendors in the city with their little llama, snowdrifts and mountains adorning them always make my fingers want to start knitting whenever I see them.

The top of the hat is a little beanie - like half of a ball,  The two flaps are gently sloped triangles.  The ties are made from the fastening off of the yarn, so it has very little finishing to do.  Yay!  I love that part the best.

Again, I used that washable acrylic that's super soft yet super practical.  There's no added color here.  I thought about adding a little brim on it and weaving some ribbon through, but then I thought that it would be easier to match it to all sorts of outfits if it was just a simple white.  I also thought that it allowed the design of the chullo to shine.

Size E crochet hook
1 oz Fingering yarn

Start with a Magic Loop (or a circle of ch3 if you prefer), ch1

Row 1 - 12 hdc in ring, pull to tighten, ch 1
Row 2 - 2 hdc in each hdc from Row 1, ch 1
Row 3 - (hdc, hdc, 2 hdc), repeat between the ( ), ch1
Row 4 - (hdc, hdc, hdc 2 hdc), repeat between the ( ), ch1
Row 5 - (hdc, hdc, hdc, hdc, 2 hdc), repeat between the ( ), ch1
Row 6 - (hdc, hdc, hdc, hdc, hdc, 2 hdc), repeat between the ( ), ch1
Row 7 - hdc around, ch1
Row 8 - hdc around, ch1
Row 9 - hdc around, ch1
Row 10 - hdc around, ch1
Row 11 - hdc around, ch1
Row 12 - hdc around, ch1
Row 13 - hdc around, ch1
Row 14 - hdc around, ch1
Row 15 - hdc around, ch1
Row 16 - hdc around, ch1

First earflap

Row 17a - 15 hdc, ch1
Row 18a - hdc across, ch1
Row 19a - dec, hdc to last 2, dec
Row 20a - dec, hdc to last 2, dec
Row 21a - dec, hdc to last 2, dec
Row 22a - dec, hdc to last 2, dec
Row 23a - dec, hdc to last 2, dec
Row 24a - dec, hdc to last 2, dec
Row 25a - dec, hdc to last 2, dec
Pull the loop out 2-feet, leave the tail 2-feet and cut the yarn.  This will be part of the tie.

Second earflap

Skip 25 stitches and attach.

Row 17b - 15 hdc, ch1

Row 18b - hdc across, ch1

Row 19b - dec, hdc to last 2, dec

Row 20b - dec, hdc to last 2, dec

Row 21b - dec, hdc to last 2, dec

Row 22b - dec, hdc to last 2, dec

Row 23b - dec, hdc to last 2, dec

Row 24b - dec, hdc to last 2, dec

Row 25b - dec, hdc to last 2, dec

Pull the loop out 2-feet, leave the tail 2-feet and cut the yarn.  This will be part of the tie.

Edging

Attach at the tip of an earflap leaving a 2-foot tail.
Row 26a - sc to the tip of the 2nd earflap.
Pull the loop out 2-feet, leave the tail 2-feet and cut the yarn.  This will be part of the tie.

Attach at the tip of that same earflap leaving a 2-foot tail.

Row 26b - sc to the tip of the 2nd earflap.

Pull the loop out 2-feet, leave the tail 2-feet and cut the yarn.  This will be part of the tie.

You will end up with 7 2-foot long strands at the tip of each earflap.

Separate the strands into 2-strands, 3-strands and 2-strands.  

Braid together.  

Tie a knot at the end leaving 3-inches of fringe.

Fringe

Trim evenly and unravel the yarn.

Finishing

Weave in the end from the magic loop.

That's it!  You're done.

Abbreviations:

ch - chain

hdc - half double crochet

dec - decrease (as hdc)

You could absolutely decorate this with little flowers or cute buttons and the like.  It would be adorable.  


Okay - it's adorable with or without decoration.  Awww!  I know the mommy-to-be will love it and the baby will have fun chewing and tugging on the ties.


It's a hat - it's a toy - it's a chullo!


I wonder if I could get my little girl to wear one?

Probably not.

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.