Little booties and some news about my patterns

You know, I'm really happy today. Despite the fact that the winter is back and a nice sunny day suddenly turned into a snow storm I'm sitting here and smiling. And I've got several reasons for that.
First of all, yesterday for the first time in my life I've posted a pattern to Ravelry. My tiny newborn socks. And today I've discovered that 47 complete strangers added it as a favourite and one lady already knitted a pair! Wow!
Then yesterday in the evening while Little Man was having a nap I translated the same pattern into Russian for the lovely ladies in Russia who knit and crochet charity blankets and clothes for children in Russian orphanages. Send it to one of them and she posted it into her blog so ladies could use the pattern for their charity projects. And again - almost 40 complete strangers re-posted it to their blogs.
Someone would say that 40 is not much and even 80 (if I would count all of them together) is not much too, but for me it means a lot. Really a lot. And first of all it is so important to me because I don't know this people and they don't know me, so they liked my pattern not because they like me and want to be nice and polite, but because they all like what I did. And it makes me feel happy and proud of myself.
The other thing that made me smile was a response from the lady from Canada who received my pot holder, that I crocheted for her participating in a Pot Holder Swap on swap-bot.com She loves it and it was nice to read how talented I am and how perfect the work and the colours are.

Today I finally packed everything for my charity package to Russia. Hoped to send it today, but had to stay at home because of the snow. Anyway, I promised to show you the booties I was making for orphanage babies. Here they are:



The yellow ones were made using a pattern found here which actually is not a pattern but a Japanese crochet chart (the chart itself can be found here ). It might look a bit confusing but after you figure out what they mean in the chart the booties turn out to be quite easy. I used 3mm crochet hook and some DK yarn and the finished size is about 3-6 months.



The blue ones are actually my favourite. For them I used a pattern I found on Pinterest but I had to modify it a bit as I just could not understand the pattern in the end. Little crocheted star pattern can be found here and I used 2mm crochet hook and a bit of 4ply for them.  For the booties I used 3.5 mm crochet hook, not 4.25 as in the pattern as I just didn't have one, and DK yarn leftovers. The size I was making was 6-9 months, but I ended up with a really tiny pair, 0-3 or even newborn size... Was it my crochet hook that changed the size so much?
But I still love them



Hope are doing great too :)
Have a nice evening!

Baby socks free pattern. 12 - 18 months

It is getting colder and I'm knitting lots of stuff to make my Little Man ready for the winter. And some warm socks are a must-have thing, so I made a couple of pairs and can share the pattern with all of you.



So you will need a bit of sock yarn (4ply) and 2.5mm double pointed needles. What is sock yarn? It's quite thin, about 200m in 50g, and usually it has 75% wool (or more) and some nylon in it to make the socks stretchy and washable in the washing mashine (on mild wash still). You can use other yarns, of course, in fact if you use a thin DK yarn with the same size needles it will still give you the same size. Just check the gauge before you start :)

Gauge: 4 rows X 2.5 st = 1 X 1 cm

Abbreviations used:
st - stich
k - knit
p - purl
k2tog - knit 2 together
p2tog - purl 2 together
ssk - slip slip knit (here is the on video how to do that)

Cast on 32 stiches and divide them between 4 needles. You have to cast on really loosely, so I would adwise to cas on on two needles (just put them together and acst on as if they were one, then remove one of the needles and divide the stitches between four needles). There will be 8 st on each needle then. We'll work in rounds starting with the 1x1 rib.
Round 1: *k1, p1*, repeat from * to * till the end of the round.
Rounds 2 - 9: repeat round 1
Round 10: knit
Round 11 - 23: repeat row 10
then work only on first and second needle, which means - with 16 st. Take them to one needle and work in rows.
Row 24: knit 16, turn
Row 25: purl 16, turn
Row 26 - 33: repeat row 24-25.
Row 34: knit 11, ssk, turn
Row 35: take the first st off to the holding needle to the working needle (don't purl it!), purl 7, p2tog, turn
Row 36: take the first st off to the holding needle to the working needle (don't knit it!), knit 7, ssk, turn
Row 37: take the first st off to the holding needle to the working needle (don't purl it!), purl 7, p2tog, turn
Row 38: take the first st off to the holding needle to the working needle (don't knit it!), knit 7, ssk, turn
Row 39: take the first st off to the holding needle to the working needle (don't purl it!), purl 7, p2tog, turn
Row 40: take the first st off to the holding needle to the working needle (don't knit it!), knit 7, ssk, turn
Row 41: take the first st off to the holding needle to the working needle (don't purl it!), purl 7, p2tog, turn

And you'we done the heel!
Now you have 8 st on the heel. Take the first st off the holding needle to the working needle and knit that  7 remaining st from the top of the heel, then cast on 10st along the left side of the heel, knit the stiches from 3rd and 4th needle, cast on 10 st along the right side of the feel and knit 4 st from the top of the heel. Now you should have 14 st on the 1st needle (10 from the side of the heel and 4 from top of the heel), 14 st on the second (the same as on the first one), 8 st on the 3rd, 8 st on the 4th.

Now we'll start making the decreases as we need to have 8st on each needle and we have much more than that on the 1st and the 2nd needle. Remember that we just finished knitting the stitches from the first needle. Now we'll work in rounds again making the decreases in the beginning ot the 1st and in the end of the 2nd needle as follows:
Round 42: knit 12 st from the second needle, k2tog, knit st from the 3rd and the 4th needle
Round 43: ssk, knit 12 (first needle), knit 11, k2tog (second needle), knit 8 (3rd needle), knit 8 (4th needle).
Round 44: ssk, knit 11 (first needle), knit 10, k2tog (second needle), knit 8 (3rd needle), knit 8 (4th needle).
Round 45: ssk, knit 10 (first needle), knit 9, k2tog (second needle), knit 8 (3rd needle), knit 8 (4th needle).
Round 46: ssk, knit 9 (first needle), knit 8, k2tog (second needle), knit 8 (3rd needle), knit 8 (4th needle).
Round 47: ssk, knit 8 (first needle), knit 7, k2tog (second needle), knit 8 (3rd needle), knit 8 (4th needle).
Round 48: ssk, knit 7 (first needle), knit 8 (second needle), knit 8 (3rd needle), knit 8 (4th needle).
Now you should have 8 st on each needle.

Knit 24 more rounds with no decreases.

NB! This quantity of rows is calculated from the average lenght of baby foot at this age, which is 12.5 cm. But please note that all babies are different and some of them can have much smaller or bigger feet at the same age. For example, Little Man is only 11 months old, but his feet (well, the whole baby in fact) are quite big, exactly 12.5 cm. So, before you start knitting I would advise you to measure your baby's feet and adjust this part to your baby's actuall size by knitting more or less than 24 rows.

Then you need to start decreasing to form the toe:
Round 1: K2tog in the beginning and end of each needle (6st on each needle)
Round 2: knit
Round 3 - 4: repeat rounds 1-2 of the toe (4st on each needle)
Round 5: knit every two st together (2st on each needle)
Round 6: knit every two st together (1 st on each needle).
You will have 4 st left. Cut the yarn leaving 10cm long tail. Using the tapestry needle sew the last st together and hide the yarn ends.
Repeat for the second sock!

If you knit some socks using my pattern, please leave a link to the picture of your creation in comments. I'd love to see it :) And please let me know if you find any mistakes in the pattern too.

Baby socks free knitting pattern. 3-6 months

As so many people like my newborn socks and some of them asked me to make the bigger size pattern too I finaly did it. I used double knit yarn, but it was actually quite fine for double knit (it allways surprises me how yarn can vary in DK range).
The pattern is similar to the newborn sock pattern, only the rib part folds in half when the sock is done, so it is made to be much longer than it was in newborn socks. Of couse, you can make the rib small, then you need to make 5, or 7, or 10 (definetly not less than 5) rows of rib in the beginning instead of 15.

So again you will need a bit of yarn and 2.5mm double pointed needles.

Cast on 28 stiches and divide them between 4 needles. There will be 7 st on each needle then. We'll work in rounds starting with the 1x1 rib.
Round 1: *k1, p1*, repeat 9 more times from * to *.
Rounds 2 - 15: repeat round 1
Round 16: knit
Round 17 - 25: repeat row 16
then work only on first and second needles, which means - with 14 st. Take them to one needle and work in rows.
Row 26: knit
Row 27: purl
Row 28 - 31: repeat row 16-17 two more times.
Row 32: knit 9, k2tog, turn
Row 33: take the first st off to the working needle (don't purl it!), purl 4, p2tog, turn
Row 34: take the first st off to the working needle (don't knit it!), knit 4, k2tog, turn
Row 35: take the first st off to the working needle (don't purl it!), purl 4, p2tog, turn
Row 36: take the first st off to the working needle (don't knit it!), knit 4, k2tog, turn
Row 37: take the first st off to the working needle (don't purl it!), purl 4, p2tog, turn
Row 38: take the first st off to the working needle (don't knit it!), knit 4, k2tog, turn
Row 39: take the first st off to the working needle (don't purl it!), purl 4, p2tog, turn

And you'we done the heel!
Knit that 6 st from the top of the heel, then cast on 4st along the side of the heel, knit the stiches from 3rd and 4th needle, cast on 4 st along the other side of the feel. Now you should divide stiches as following: 7 st on the 1st needle (4 from the side of the heel and 3 from top of the heel), 7 st on the second (the same as on the first one), 7 st on the 3rd, 7 st on the 4th.
Knit 14 more rounds.
Then you need to start decreasing to form the toes. K2tog in the beginning and end of each needle in every second row twice, then knit every two st together. You will have 6 st left. Cut the yarn leaving 15cm long tail. Using the tapestry needle sew the last st together and hide the yarn ends.
Repeat for the second sock!

Ta-dah! Green fields blanket finished!

I finally finished my "Green fields" blanket! I started it just before Tte Little Man was born. Remembering the day in the hospital, when we had to wait for six hours (I'm kidding you not!) to get some doctors attention as I wasn't the urgent one and I was sitting there and crocheting... And then the nurse brought all the equipment to monitor the baby and it did show that I was actually having contractions, just didn't feel them! Oh, this memories are the ones that probably allways will be with me as the sweet ones, also all the rest 9 hours were full of pain, but in the end The Little Man was born and it was one of the happiest moments of my life.
Anyway, back to the blanket. It took me almoust nine months to finish, but now I'm proud to present it to the whole world :)



The edging is my favourite scallop edge:



So now it is given to my mum as a Birthday present, newer mind her Birthday is the 10th of September. I just couldn't wait for so long! And I'm really glad she likes it :)

What was my inspiration in choosing the colours? Well, I could say that it's England, the green fields in all different shades of this wonderfull colour and the grass, that stays green even in winter under the snow. And my little garden too. That's why I took some photos of it to show you.





Isn't that inspiring? Looking at this pictures I even want to start another project in green... And what usually inspires you?

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Every baby needs a teddy

Probably all the babies have their own teddy bears. And not only babies. I was collecting teddy bears myself a couple of years ago. My Little Man has his own teddy too. Actually this is the first toy he had, as it was given to me by my sister when she came to our wedding and brought that teddy all the way down from Denmark. Little Man was still inside me and had just passed his 20 week scan. after his birth my sister came to see him and started playing with him showing him the teddy bear and after she left I continued to do that - showing him the teddy and telling stories about his. So soom Little Man understood that teddy is his friend and he bacame a favourite toy.

That is why I decided that my little nephew needs to have his own teddy too. Little Man's teddy bear was my inspiration, but the teddy I made was crocheted from lovely soft cotton. This is another June project. Took me three days to make and a month to post about it.



Here he is sitting on my sofa right before I gave it to little baby Leon. He is not too small - just the right size for a baby's little hands. Compare him with my hand on the next picture :)



And here is the teddy and his prototype - our beloved Danish teddy bear.



My husband said this teddy looks like a little bee. So may be I'll make the next one with a body of black and yellow stripes so he really would look like a bee. A bee bear. Sounds good :)

Father's day 2012

On the 17th of June we had Father's Day here in UK. For my husband it was the first Father's Day in his life so I really wanted to make it special. And it is allways more difficult to make a gift for a man, they usually like something usefull, not just something pretty like we, women, do. So it was a challenge untill he mentioned that he really would like a hat. And not just any hat, but an orange hat with a ram scull. I sad that I'll try but can't promise and of couse decided to definetly make him one.
So I want to the internet and spent a day trying to find a knitting pattern for a ram scull. No results. Then I tried to find a cross stitch pattern to adapt it. No result either. And after all I had to make one myself. It was the first time I did something like that and here is what I ended with:

I made this apliqued T-shirt and a vest for our Little Man too, so everyone would know who they both are - dad and son :)
And I was really happy watching how proudlu my husband was wearing both the hat and his new T-shirt.
And I really like this picture. Aren't they just lovely together?

A big summer tote I designed for a wool shop.

June was a really busy month for me. I've done so much stuff that had no time to write any posts about it. But it is just wrong to neglect my own blog for the whole month! So now I'm back with some pictures and stories about my June.
One of the things I made in June was a big summer tote. Actually I was asked to design one for "Knitters World Scarborough" (it's our local wool shop), so I had to make it and make the pattern of what I did. And here is the result:



And here is me with the tote full of apples in one of the bright sunny days after I finished it. Well, the face expression could have been better, but the sun was shining right into my eyes.



I've used 100% mercherised cotton, a total of 150g, and a crochet hook Nr.3 (yes, my favourite one:)) and the pattern is now available at "Knitters World Scarborough". They are working on their web page so hopefully it will soon be available on-line too.

This makes me proud of myself and I kind of feel like a designer. And I must admit that this is a cool feeling :)

Mike the Monkey - my big crochet project

A while ago I mentioned a big project I made this month and now it's time to show it, so I'm proudly presenting you all MIKE THE MONKEY!





This crocheted monkey was an order. I was asked to make a monkey for a little boy aged 1,5 who has been on a safari and liked the monkeys more than anything else.
I never made monkeys before so it was quite a challenge for me. I've spent acouple of days just trying to figure out how a monkey should look like and then it took me about a week to crochet (I've changed the arms 3 times, and the legs 2 times) and I can say that in the end I'm kind of proud of myself.













The design and crocheting is 100% my, the yarn is cotton & acrilic, no little bits, no beads or buttons, so it's complitely safe for the babies under 3.
And here I'm with the monkey, so you can see how big it actually is.



And here is the monkey and My Little Man. His firs reaction was amazing - give it to me, mummy, give it! Well, I didn't let him to chew and soak it, so I had to mamage to make a quick photo and take the monkey away.



And I'm glad and proud of myself (again!) because the little one I was making it for really enjoyed it!

Now I should make a pattern for it, as my friend in the wool shop aslo fell in love with the monkey and immediatly asked me if I've written it all down. Shure I did! So the pattern will be available in a while at Knitters World Scarborough.

My little Man's half-birthday

It is unbelievable, but yesturday My Little Man had his half-birthday! Yes, he is 6 months old now! And to me it still feels like he was born just a couple of weeks ago. but in the same time it feels like he's been with me all my life and all the years before him seem like an old movie about someone else, someone i used to know, but now barely can remember...
Anyway, yesturday we spent a lovely time out, sitting on the grass, watching duck families and ladybugs. Little Man had no cake as he is too young for it, but he had some giftshe seems to enjoy. We bought him a highchair so now he can join us while we have our dinner. And I also made a crochet garland with his name on for his room (photos will follow a bit later) and some soft crochet cubes for him to play with. I started a couple of days before, as it is not as quick to crochet all 6 sides for each cube and then join them together. Here are some colourfull pics of the process:



Love the light an this picture, but it doesn't show how really bright the colours are. This one is more precise:


Then I had to decide in what order to put them before joining it all into a cube:



And they all looked so bright and fun that I could not resist and made a couple more pictures:





The last one is my favourite.

And then, finaly, when it was all finished and presented to My Little Man I definetly could say he likes them all!



Well, I know he looks serious on this picture, but all the funny faces were blured as he was moving and trying to eat his gifts all the way long while I was playing a photographer. But he still is gorgeous, isn't he?

So many things going on

Omg, so many things happened in the last month! I've been really busy with some of my new projects and My Little Man who decided to totally chande his sleeping routine twice this month so when I had some time that could be a moment for my blog I just felt far too tired to write something.
But now it feels like I just should write something, should share all the things I've done.

First of all, after I made little socks for my nephew a few people just totally fell in love with them and I was offered to make some for sale in a local wool shop. Of course I felt excited! So I picked up some pure merino wool, used a bit of yarn scraps from my own stash and made 10 (!!!) pairs of baby socks. Here they are, my little lovelies:



Now we are thinking of presentation boxes and lables and after a while this little socks will be sold in Knitters World Scarborough as Baby First Socks in a nice gift boxes. And everyone can order some really special ones from me, just let me know in comments.

The next thing this month was the gifts for two ladies in our knitting club, who expect their babies in August and September. I made a little sleeveless jacket, hat and socks for one, and a cotton jacket for another one. You will see the similar sleeveless jacket in the next post where I will share a free pattern of it and I still need to make a picture of the cotton jacket, but it definetly will be done and I will tell you it's special story.
But I can show you the little hat and socks:



Then I made two little toys as an example for the owner of our wool shop as he has an idea of making crochet workshop, where we could teach people to crochet toys using my patterns. I will not show you the toys I made, I used really odd scraps of wool for them, because I just needed to show the form of the toy and yarn didn't matter, it just had to be double knitt. I will make some normal samples and show them here a bit later.

And the biggest project I had this month was a crocheted monkey that will have a separate post about it as it took me the whole week to figure out how to make it and to crochet it all.

That is how it goes and it's really exciting and interesting. I just wish I had more time for sleeping :)

Newborn knitted socks free pattern

As my little nephew is freezing in Manchester (it's only +16 in their appartment, and even less during the night) I just thaught it would be right to make him some little socks. So, I'm not only making them, but sharing a free pattern with you too!



Ok, let's start.
First of all, we'll need some DK yarn leftowers. I really mean some scraps, because for such a tiny project you don't need much of yarn. So it's ideal for using some bits from your bigger projects.
Then we'll need a set of 2.5mm double pinted needles.

My gauge was: 10st x 10 rows = 4.5 x 3 cm.

Cast on 20 stiches and divide them between 4 needles. There will be 5 st on each needle then. We'll work in rounds starting with the 1x1 rib.
Round 1: *k1, p1*, repeat 9 more times from * to *.
Rounds 2 - 5: repeat round 1
Round 6: knit
Round 7 - 12: repeat row 6
then work only on first and second needles, which means - with 10 st. Take them to one needle and work in rows.
Row 13: knit
Row 14: purl
Row 15 - 18: repeat row 13-14 two more times.
Row 19: knit 6, k2tog, turn
Row 20: take the first st off to the working needle (don't purl it!), purl 2, p2tog, turn
Row 21: take the first st off to the working needle (don't knit it!), knit 2, k2tog, turn
Row 22: take the first st off to the working needle (don't purl it!), purl 2, p2tog, turn
Row 23: take the first st off to the working needle (don't knit it!), knit 2, k2tog, turn
Row 24: take the first st off to the working needle (don't purl it!), purl 2, p2tog, turn
And you'we done the heel!
Knit that 4 st from the top of the heel, then cast on 4st along the side of the heel, knit the stiches from 3rd and 4th needle, cast on 4 st along the other side of the heel. Now you should divide stiches as following: 6 st on the 1st needle (4 from the side of the heel and 2 from top of the heel), 6 st on the second (the same as on the first one), 5 st on the 3rd, 5 st on the 4th. After dividing the sts on the needles and knitting the last two sts on the first needle your yarn will be between the first and the second needle. Start knitting from the second needle:
Knit 4, k2tog on the 2nd needle, knit all the sts from the 3rd and 4th needles.
In the next round k2tog in the beginning of the first needle and knit all the sts from 2nd, 3rd and 4th needle. So you get 5 st on each needle.
Knit 11 more rounds.
Then you need to start decreasing to form the toes. K2tog in the beginning and the end of each needle. You will get 3st on each needle after making this row. Knit the next row with no decreases.
In the next row knit together every 2 st. You will have 6 st left after making this row. Cut the yarn leaving 15cm long tail. Using the tapestry needle sew the last sts together and hide the yarn ends.
Repeat for the second sock!
 

This is a quick and fun project to make! Give it a try and in an evening you could make a couple of pairs for those little feet of your baby (nephew, grandchild, some friend's baby). It is so addictive that after the first pair it is really difficult to stop and you might find yourself choosing the colours for the next pair when the first pair is not even finished.
Any comments about the pattern would be highly appreciated as this is my first sock pattern and I'm not English native speaker. But I still hope it's clear enough and you all could have a lot of fun with it :)
And if you make a pair I really would love to see the pictures of your little socks too! 

Treasury box for baby Leon

Last week was awesome - I was working on some new crocheted stuff, started one knitting project and, the most important news, our family became bigger - in the 11th of April my husband's cousin had his little son, baby Leon in Manchester hospital. Now they are both home - mum Mary and her little baby, they feal fine and are getting to know each other better.
As in the last couple of months I was knitting and crocheting some little baby stuff for baby Leon, when he was finaly born I've collected all of it, put it into a beautiful box and posted to Manchester.



And this is what was in the box:
a newborn size baby cardigan. It's my own design, but I didn't write down the pattern.



A crocheted baby cardigan for 3 months olds. I used the the pattern from Virkipa, you can find the pattern in this post. It is wonderfully soft and I used the buttons in four different colours so it would look more interesting.



a baby blanket. You can find the pattern in a previous post.



and a little 100% cotton baby rattle.



The next day I had a phone call from Mary and she told she liked it all so much and it looked so sweet and lovely! That's great when someone really likes what you are doing, isn't it?
I hope baby Leon will enjoy all of his gifts.
And I've noticed that I haven't been posting any pictures of My Little Man for a while. Here he is, my little angel:



He's doing great, rolling around, playing with toys and yesturday had his first two teeth - lower front ones :)

Finishing touches

As a while ago I was working on a bunny who was in fact my first custom order for a crocheted toy I started thinking of giving it more professional look and decided it needed a lable.
Than I had to decide what to put on a lable and how that lable should look. I didn't really want to sew the lable to bunnies body, so I came up with the idea to use something like paper tags. Of course it had to contain some washing instructions, some info of who made the toy and some kind of a logo.
Washing instructions were the easiest as you can find it on yarn lables. But name and logo took me quite a long time. I wanted something easy to remember, something sweet (but not too sweet), something connected with babies and toys. I asked some of my friends and relatives with no result really. And then suddenly it just came to me, just appeared in my head - I love bunnies, I make bunnies and I am a mother which inspires me to make the toys. So who else I am if not A Bunny Mama?
Then I spent some time thinking about the logo. Does it have to be a bunny? A painting, a drawing, a stamp? And then again it just appeared in my head - sweet, handmade, crocheted, bright - a cotton crocheted flower! It just tells everything I want to tell - the material, the colour, the way I work.
And so the lable was born:





And this is how the finished toy with a lable looked like before I put it into a box to go to the Post Office:


Now every toy I make will have it's ovn lable with a crocheted flower and washing instructions on the back.

What do you think? Do you like it?

gone crocheting

I know, I haven't been here for a while. But it doesn't mean I didn't do anything good.
First of all - I recieved my first checque for my crocheted design pattern, Snowman family. Now they are available as one pattern in Knitter's World Scarborough. And I should confess it makes me feel extremely good as now I know for shure that things I do are interesting and important for someone.
The next great thing was two orders for my bunnies.
This way Mr Big Bunny Brother got a blue eyed twin:









The lady I made it fore asked for blue eyes as the blue eyes of her little son. Isn't it lovely? Today the bunny allready met his new family in London and they wrote me back that they really liked him :) So I'm happy-happy-happy!

The other bunny is for another lovely lady and her baby. I'm planning to give it to her tomorrow and hope she likes it too. Now I'm still working on him:



Plus I was finishing some gifts for our cousin's baby, who is expected on the 8th of April. The pictures will follow.