Finished Pair of Chucks

I wanted to share the finished chucks that I will be donating to the silent auction at The Humane League of Lancaster County where my sister works. They are my own pattern (as mentioned below) and take very little time compared to other booties I've made. I think that another cute use for these would be to tie them together and put them over your car's review mirror instead of fuzzy dice...

Thanks for checking them out -- and happy Friday!

Baby Chucks

Recently, I taught my friend Nicole how to crochet. Since then, she has made two adorable baby sweaters (which hopefully I'll have pictures of soon). One sweater is in a pink that is sweet as frosting. The other is black for a friend who wanted some alternative baby clothes, much to the chagrin of her very traditional and conservative mother. To match the black baby jacket, she wanted to make some cute baby shoes. I hunted around online... and thought, what would be better than baby chucks?

I saw many knit versions online... but no crochet patterns.

She came over yesterday and we got started on a sneaker pattern that we hoped to modify into hi-top converses.

After an hour or so of making the soles, I realized that I wasn't loving the pattern. The result was that it looked a lot like the hi-top converse (I'll post a picture tonight of chuck model 1.0), but it was too big for a baby and just way too time intensive.



So we scrapped the plan.



I decided that a more abstract and less exact version would be faster, less annoying, and still cute. Basically, get the point across without trying to make a perfect copy. I drew up a schematic and we went to work.


The result was a bootie in 1/2 the time. I haven't added the star yet and didn't finish both booties, but thought I'd share the first one for now.



This pair will be added to the other donations I'm making for a silent auction to benefit The Humane League of Lancaster County where my sister works.

Gifts for my Niece-to-Be

One of my sisters is due next month and I couldn't be more excited for her :o) Most likely, they will be having a lil' girl.. though, everyone knows that that is never 100%.


I started out wanting to make a few gender neutral items... but before long, I was making adorable mary jane booties.

I'm thinking that they can either cross dress the baby if it's a boy (yes, I kid)... or they can give the inappropriately gendered items to someone who is actually having a girl and I can stitch up some new items.



It started innocently enough with a baby blue cardigan... but then I wanted to add some trim and this beautiful lilac yarn was calling my name. Once I added it, I knew it screamed "girl".

Then, I wanted to make some cuff booties... and was eyeing my collection of baby yarns. This really soft, varigated baby yarn purchased months ago and used for this sundress for my niece Myla was calling my name.

I used a bootie pattern from Precious Baby Booties which I modified pretty minimally. The turned out a little lumpier than I wanted - but they are still cute. ;o)

Of course, Lily-Cat had to get in the preliminary shot (before I wove in the ends). She firmly believes that it is not a photo shoot unless her picture has been taken. I think she feels that she increases the value of those items pictured with her.

here they are, sans-cat.
Finally... the Mary Janes. Also from the same booklet... though, I changed these up a little more... Both sets of booties are tiny, with a 3 1/2" sole. I hope that they fit her feet!

Congrats again to Betsy and Andy... they are going to make such great parents! I can't wait to meet the new lil one!!!

Silent Auction Items for Q's Preschool

Last year, I crocheted a bunch o' hats for a silent auction that benefitted my nephew's preschool. As a long-distance auntie, you really look for any opportunity to get involved with your nephew's life.

So, when the auction came up this year, I was excited to partake. Of course, with a new lil niece (or nephew?) on the way, I had a lot of different projects in queue and couldn't commit to the volume that I donated last year.

But, I did what I could.

I made a baby hat and jacket set with beige trim. The navy yarn is almost denim-like, but I think is more of a tweed. It's washable and from some mill ends that my mom picked up. The jacket is sized for 6-12 mos. The hat is for a baby approx 9mos old (or with a head that is 19" around).

The body of the jacket is a hybrid of few patterns and some own touches-- honestly, I just looked at a few patterns and then picked what I liked from each one and then modified as I saw fit as I went along. The hat was just a standard hat in half double crochet... with a picot edge to match the sleeve edges.

Next up, a modified version of this hoodie pattern (which I also used for the dragon baby jacket for my nephew Atticus). I used Caron Simply Soft Yarn for the body and homespun for the edges. This one is sized for 18-24 mos.