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!

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 :)

One evening slippers free pattern

What I really mean is not slippers FOR one evening, it's slippers MADE IN one evening. :)
As it looks like the weather is changing into it's usuall cloudy and rainy type again, and because I've got a huge hole in my old slippers I just had to make another ones. While knitting I really wanted not only to make some nice slippers for myself, but to create a super easy pattern that even a beginner could follow. Hope I really did it :) Try it and let me know!

This slippers are size 7, but they are quite stretchy, so I would say it's 5 - 8.

The yarn was just something from my stash, but it's DK and it didn't take too much yarn to make the slippers. Less than 100g definetly. And you will need 5mm needles, a tapestry needle and a spare evening.

So, let's start?

Tension: 10st x 10 rows = 5,4 cm x 3,3 cm

Slipper body:
Cast on 33 st, knit 50 rows, put stich markers on the both ends of the 50th row, knit 4 more rows,
the next row: k2tog, knit 7, k2tog, k2tog, knit 7, k2tog, k2tog, knit 7, k2tog
knit 4 rows with no decreases
the next row: k2tog, knit 5, k2tog, k2tog, knit 5, k2tog, k2tog, knit 5, k2tog
knit 4 rows with no decreases
the next row: k2tog, knit 3, k2tog, k2tog, knit 3, k2tog, k2tog, knit 3, k2tog
knit 4 rows with no decreases
the next row: k2tog, knit 1, k2tog, k2tog, knit 1, k2tog, k2tog, knit 1, k2tog
knit 4 rows with no decreases
cut the yarn, leaving a long end (we'll need it to sew the slipper), bring the yarn through the remaining 9 stiches, pull up firmly. Then fold the slipper in half and sew it from the toes to the stich markers on row 50. Sew slipper back seam.

For the flower:
cast on 90,
Row 1: purl 90,
Row 2: knit decreasing each 10th st,
Row 3: purl 81,
Row 4: knit decreasing each 9th st
Row 5: purl 72

Row 6: knit decreasing each 8th st
cut the yarn, leaving a long end, bring the yarn through the remaining stiches, pull up firmly. Start rolling up the flower in a spiral shape, starting with the center. When you've shaped the flower sew it to the front part of the slipper. Add a bead in the center of your flower to make it more glam and shiny.

Repeat for the second slipper and enjoy your new pair.

Baby sleeveless jacket free pattern. Size 0-3 months.

I know, it's getting worm out there, but still some little babies might need a sleeveless jacket for more windy days. Plus the weather in England is changing every day and you never know what it;s gonna be like tomorrow. So here I made a little sleeveless jacket for a 0-3 months old baby and decided to share a pattern for those who want to make one for their babies.







I used some aran weight yarn from my stash, a bit more than 50 grams. I think it was Filati, some wool and acrilic mix, but I'm really not shure. Anyway, you will need a bit more than 50g of aran veight yarn, 5mm needles, 5 buttons and a tapestry needle to complete this project. It is supereasy!



Gauge 10 st x 10 rows = 6 x 4,5 cm. My friend from the wool shop measured the finished project and said the tension should be 15sts/21 rows in st st.

In the beginning and till the armholes body front and back are knitted as one pease. Cast on 65 st.
1 row: purl
2 row: knit
3 row: purl 61 st, p2tog, yarn over, purl 2
4 row: knit
5 row: purl 3, knit 26, purl 5, knit 26, purl 5
6 row: knit 5, purl 26, knit 5, purl 26, knit 3
7 - 10 row: repeat rows 5 and 6 two times
11 row: purl 3, knit 26, purl 5, knit 26, purl 1, p2tog, yarn over, purl 2
12 row: knit 5, purl 26, knit 5, purl 26, knit 3
13 row: purl 3, knit 26, purl 5, knit 26, purl 5
14 - 17 row: repeat rows 12 and 13 two times
18 row: knit 2, yarn over, k2tog, knit 1, purl 26, knit 5, purl 26, knit 3
19 row: purl 3, knit 26, purl 5, knit 26, purl 5
20 row: knit 5, purl 26, knit 5, purl 26, knit 3
21 - 24 row: repeat row 19 and 20 two times
25 row: purl 3, knit 26, purl 5, knit 26, purl 1, p2tog, yarn over, purl 2
26 row: knit 5, purl 26, knit 5, purl 26, knit 3
27 row: purl 3, knit 26, purl 5, knit 26, purl 5
28 row: cast off first 5 st, purl 25, cast off 5, purl 25, knit 3
29 row: cast off 3, p2tog, purl 20, p2tog, purl 1, turn
leave the rest of the stiches as they are for now. We'll return to them later. Now we will continue working on the back of our sleeveless jacket
30 row: knit
31 row: p2tog, purl 20, p2tog
32 row: knit
33 row: purl
34 row: knit
35 row: purl
36 row: knit
37 row: purl
38 row: knit 6, cast off 10, knit 5,
39 row: purl 6
40 row: knit 6
41 row: purl 6
42 row: knit 6
43 row: purl 6
cast off 6 and cut the yarn. Now work with the 6 st on the other side of the back, rejoin the yarn and repeat rows 39 - 43. Cast off. And you're done with the back.
For the front:
return to the stiches left on the needles, Rejoin the yarn then
purl 1, p2tog, purl 20, p2tog, purl 1
then repeat rows 30 - 35:
36 row: knit 6, cast off 10, knit 5,
37 row: purl 6
38 row: knit 6
39 row: purl 6
40 row: knit 6
41 row: purl 6
42 row: knit 6
43 row: purl 6
Cast off. Now work with the 6 st on the other side of the front, rejoin the yarn:
37 row: purl 6
38 row: knit 6
39 row: purl 6
40 row: knit 6
41 row: purl 6
42 row: knit 6
43 row: purl 6
44 row: knit 6
45 row: purl 1, p2tog, yo, purl 3
46 row: knit
47 row: purl
cast off. And you've done the front!

Now hide all the yarn ends, sew the left shoulder stripes together, sew the buttons according to your buttonholes (every time we made yo it was actually a buttonhole), steam press and try it on your young man! Or a young lady. :)

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! 

Crochet baby ripple blanket free pattern

Size 77x79 cm
You will need 250g. of DK, 150g in yellow and 100g in blue, 4mm crochet hook and a bit of patience.
This pattern is super easy, all you need to know before starting this blaknet is how to make a double crochet and how to crochet two double crochet together; the tricky part is the first row where you need to count the dc. All the rest is easy.
Some abbreviations I used:
ch is chain
dc is a double crochet
2 dc into next dc means make two double crochets into the next double crochet of a previous row (increase)
dc 2 tog means double crochet two together (decrease)
I would adwise you to make a gauge from the yarn you want to use in the blanket. For the gauge chain 18, dc into the 3rd chain from the hook, dc into next 5 chains, make 2 dc into the next chain, make 2 dc into the next chain, dc into next 5 chains, dc 2 tog, turn. For the second row chain two, dc into next 6 chains, make 2 dc into the next chain, make 2 dc into the next chain, dc into next 5 chains, dc 2 tog, turn. Repeat the second row a couple more times. This is how ONE of your blanket ripple "waves" will look. 9 of them will make this partikular blanket. By making it you can understand how big your blanket will be.

If you want to make you blanket wider simply change the number of times you crochet from * to * (point 6 of row 1) and repeat it every row.



So, are you ready to start? Here we go:
Row 1:1.) take your yellow DK and chain 146 with it,
2.) dc into the fourth chain from the hook,
3.) dc in next 5 chains,
4.) 2 dc into the next chain
5.) *2 dc into the next chain, dc in next 5 chains, dc 2 tog, dc 2 tog, dc in next 5 chains, 2 dc into the next chain*
6.) repeat from *to* 8 times
7.) 2 dc into the next chain, dc in next 5 chains, dc 2 tog
Row 2:chain 2, dc in next 6 dc, 2 dc into the next dc, * 2 dc into the next dc, dc in next 5 dc, dc 2 tog, dc 2 tog, dc in next 5 dc, 2 dc into the next dc*, repeat from * to * 8 times; 2 dc into nxe next dc, dc in next 5 dc, dc 2 tog.

And here is the drawing to show you the first two rows. I know it could have been better and I'll try harder next time, but for now I hope it's all more or less clear:



Repeating row 2 make two more rows in yellow, than change the colours as follows:
2 rows blue,
1 row yellow,
3 rows blue,
2 yellow,
1 row blue,
3 rows yellow,
2 rows blue,
1 row yellow,
1 row blue,
2 rows yellow,
3 rows blue,
4 rows yellow,
2 rows blue,
3 rows yellow,
1 row blue,
1 row yellow,
2 rows blue,
3 rows yellow,
1 row blue,
2 rows yellow,
3 rows blue,
4 rows yellow,
1 row blue,
1 row yellow,
2 rows blue,
3 rows yellow,
1 row blue,
2 rows yellow,
2 rows blue,
5 rows yellow.

If you want to make the blanket longer, skip last 2 rows blue and 5 rows yellow, and repeat from the top - 2 blue, 1 yellow, 3 blue and so on till you are satisfied with the lenght. Then, after finishing your last rows in blue, make 5 rows in yellow to finish the blanket. In this case you obviously will need more yarn in both colours.
Hide the yarn ends and enjoy your new baby blanket :)

If you make a blanket with this pattern I would be really happy to see you results, so any pictures or links to them are appreciated in comments. As well as any questions. Just ask and I will be glad to help.