The Blue & White Pink & White Baby Set

Like I said, I'm not the only one having a baby right now. My high-school and college friend and her husband just had their first child, a sweet baby boy, and I made her a baby set (I'm loving them!).

The pattern is Pink & White Baby Set, a free, vintage (1955) pattern from Celtwich's Angelfire site. Clearly, I made the set in blue. I also decided that sacque, mittens and booties are fine, but bonnet makes it a little girly. So I made a little toboggan in the same pattern stitch. The problem is that I was clearly feeling optimistic about childbirth and made a hat that was too small for even Baby Becky's head. So while it's in the picture, it didn't make the present package.

I used about 3.5 ounces (2 balls) of blue and half a ball of white in Bernat Baby with a size E hook. The pattern calls for a ribbon tie around the neck, but I really prefer buttons, so I modified the pattern a touch. I think it turned out nicely!

It was hard to find a pattern that didn't look too "girly", even in blue, but I'm keeping this one on file for later!

Labels: crochet, gallery-mywork

posted by Kate on Monday, October 01, 2007 @ 4:04 PM

2 comments

Adorable Addie

I'm not the only one having a baby girl! A friend of mine from church is due within a week of me, and is also having a girl. In addition to some (totally non-girly; it's a hazard of paternal profession shared by my daughters) cute cuddly (store bought) clothes, I made her this baby blanket as a baby shower gift. (By the way, in case you can't tell, that's a stuffed kangaroo with joey sitting on it.)

If you know the friend - shh! The shower isn't until the second week of October, but by then I will have forgotten to ever post this!

The pattern is actually called "Shell" (descriptive? yes. original? not so much.), and is from Beary Sweet Baby Afghans (Leisure Arts leaftlet #2774). For people who like having a pattern to work from, it's an inexpensive little leaflet. But while I think the blanket is pretty and I like having the "built in" border, I think that you could probably figure out a similar pattern to fit your needs without the pattern pretty easily if you are comfortable with working "pattern free".

I used just shy of three balls (5 oz each) of Bernat Softee Baby in pink, and a size G hook. The pattern worked up fairly quickly, and was easy to work on without looking at the whole time, so I got to work on it while I took my daughter to the summer movie series. The blanket was a gift to me, as it helped me keep my sanity during Clifford, Sesame Street and multiple viewings of Charlotte's Web! Under other circumstances I might have appreciated the bit of extra warmth in the theater, but I'm a pregnant little oven and was quite warm enough.

Labels: crochet, gallery-mywork

posted by Kate on @ 12:45 AM

2 comments

Lovely Lavender Baby Set

In the past few months I have been on a layette kick. This is the set that kicked it off for me! I originally was going to make the set in white (you can read below why that one didn't work out), but I love the way it turned out with the lavender!

The set uses about 4 ounces of yarn, plus about 45 yards of size 8 pearl cotton, all done with a D hook. I especially like that the pattern calls for buttons, as opposed to a ribbon tie, on the sacque, and I have modified most of the other sets I have made since to include buttons, also.

The pattern comes from Baby Layettes, Book 2 (Leisure Arts #460). This book has two sets in it, one knit and one crocheted. Each set has a pattern for a dress (or same pattern with mods for a gown), sacque, bonnet, booties, and blanket. The one complaint I have I can alleviate for you right now (and maybe you're smart enough for it to not have been a problem!) - when it calls for "baby yarn" it means "fingering weight".

Yes, I tried making it with sport weight baby yarn, and then started thinking "this is really huge", and then "why am I using such a small hook on such thick yarn?"

You live and you learn, right?

By the way, many thanks to my lovely model, Baby Becky, my daughter's favorite doll!

Labels: crochet, gallery-mywork

posted by Kate on Friday, September 28, 2007 @ 2:40 PM

2 comments

Crochet Enclosure Cards

I had been looking for something to include with my crocheted gifts, and some way to enclose care instructions, too. I hadn't come up with much.

There was the sew-in tag option. I could buy a pack of customizables, or get custom ones made, or make my own, but none seemed like a great solution to me. I wouldn't want a tag sewed onto an afghan or in a baby set, personally, so why would someone else want it on something I gave? Plus, it wouldn't have the care instructions option.

No, I needed something else.

The solution presented itself when I had to get some items from VistaPrint.com for a church group. It didn't take much more in shipping to have a box of business cards sent, and they were running a special (aren't they always?) for free premium business cards.

I found a design I thought looked classy, played around with the text and formatting, and ended up with what you (mostly - I blurred some info) see above.

They say "Uniquely hand-crocheted by Katherine E. Dohl", and then some contact info. The backs are totally blank, and I put care instructions unique to the project (if necessary) or other message on the back. I thought a lot about the wording before I finished it up.

• Uniquely - each of my projects is unique, some to the point of free-form, others unique just because of the nature of hand-crafts
• Hand-crocheted - all crocheters probably think I'm being redundant, and I guess I am, since there is no way to machine crochet, but many non-crocheters don't realize this and I thought this was a fine way to include it
• not including "especially for you" - I originally had "especially for you", but I have had a few projects that I have sold, not to mention I have some smaller projects I have made before having a recipient in mind. I don't feel comfortable in those situations claiming they were made "especially for you" (unless it was a commissioned project). There is a good space beneath my name that I have used to personalize a tag by adding "especially for Jane Doe" in the many cases where it is made beginning to end with a particular recipient in mind.

I think they turned out very nice, and I look forward to having 250 projects to attach them to that necessitate another printing!!

Labels: crochet, Misc

posted by Kate on Thursday, September 27, 2007 @ 12:40 AM

0 comments

Kaitlyn's "Big Sister Blanket"

While I was working on Broccoli's baby blanket, I thought about my 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn. I hadn't made her an afghan since her baby blanket that I started the day I found out I was pregnant with her. Well, except for the kid version of Keith's blanket.

Closeup of panel details -->

Not to toot my own horn, but I have gotten better at crocheting since that time (or at least better at/more adventurous in trying new patterns). Also, I wanted Kaitlyn to get something special when the baby was born and not feel too overshadowed by the new baby. So my husband helped me pick out a pattern for a special afghan that Kaitlyn could keep throughout her whole life.

The pattern is called "Ivy Cottage" and is from Afghans for All Seasons, Book 4. I used plain old Red Heart worsted weight in lavender and white with an I hook. It took six skeins of lavender and one of white.


I was skeptical of the edging on the panels, since it was basically just reverse single crochet, but it looked good when it was done. I think I would figure out another edging/joining if I was doing it again, though.

Labels: crochet, gallery-mywork

posted by Kate on Thursday, September 13, 2007 @ 10:03 PM

1 comments

Broccoli's Baby Blanket

I have a confession to make. I haven't updated this site in a while.


I heard that.

Yes, it's been about six months. A big six months. Where did I go? Well, I went and got pregnant. And early pregnancy does not agree with me. This is a crochet site, so I won't go too much into it, but suffice it to say I was barely up to being up, let alone crocheting, far from blogging about crocheting.

The day I found out I was pregnant I did what any newly expecting mom would do... I went to the yarn store to get supplies and start a baby blanket! Well, it took me a while to finish, but a few months ago (and a few months before the baby is due) I did finish the beautiful blanket.

The pattern is called "Baby's Joyful Arrival," and that's what we're waiting on now! It's from Afghans for All Seasons, book four, and it might look familiar to readers of this blog. I made this afghan in pink and white two years ago for a friend. And what did I say about it?

I think it turned out beautifully, but I don't think I will make one again - unless it is for my own next child!

And that's what I did.

Labels: crochet, gallery-mywork

posted by Kate on @ 9:36 PM

1 comments

All Content ©2006,2007 Kate Dohl (KateCrochets)
Design ©2005 Pat Heard