Crochet: Bear and Bunny Lovies

Lovies, aka mini security blankets, were a great thing to have in the stroller for my kids when they were little. I remember an atrociously pink bear that my older child used to cradle in the crook of her elbow when I used to take her on stroller rides to the park.

The blanket part is super soft thick and chunky chenille, and the head and arms are made with fine soft fingering/baby acrylic yarn.

Popular vote at home is that the bunny is cuter than the bear, but, am sure the babies for whom this is intended won't care.

This is for twin girls that a friend is expecting, and I weaved in my prayers and good wishes for the safe arrival of her babies.

Of course, my middle-schooler, who can make her own lovies, very sheepishly asked if I could crochet one for her as she watched me make the bunny lovey. How could I refuse?

I had a bit of soft sheep-fleece-like fabric, so, I made a Sheep Lovey for her one Saturday night after she was in bed.

I gave it to her on Sunday morning.

And, all of that Sunday she didn't let go of it! Took it with her to the library, to Costco, to a little league baseball game (as audience, she doesn't play baseball)... I am guessing she likes it.

Either that, or she felt a certain obligation because I put in all the effort to fulfill her request...

I didn't write down the pattern, I just made it up as I went - started out with a magic ring as usual and worked my way up to one third of the sphere and then decreased appropriately to get the muzzle shape.

Looks more like a cow, apparently, but, i am sticking with the sheep theory.

Since, this is not for a baby and so no choking hazard, I hot-glued googly eyes rather than little French-knot eyes I embroideredfor the baby lovies.

Crochet: Baby Rattles

Not the prettiest, but gets done so quickly that it is a lot of fun to whip some up just because..

I stuck a little cowbell in, stuffed with scrap flannel and fleece fabric instead of polyfill and am hoping the intended recipient babies find it fascinating and entertaining.

Crochet: Earrings

It was fun to make a few crochet earrings with the older child, who is not that much into crochet per se but loves jewelry-making... Simple designs, not too fancy, and each pair can be done within 20 to 30 minutes.

Sewing & Crochet: Baby Blanket and Baby Toys

For a new nephew who arrived six or so months ago, I made a quick little baby blanket, simple block pieced quilt top and a fleece backing for this blanket. And a little crochet teddy bear, with tiny cowbells inside so it can double as a baby rattle toy.

Now, the colors are not typical pastel baby colors for this quilt. I went with some batik and some kid-friendly panels that I cut out from a fabric remnant piece I had stashed.

Also crocheted some tortoises for fun...

Crochet: Baby Blanket and Sewing: Swaddle Blanket

For a friend's baby expected in August I wanted to make something rustic and useful, something that is unique... and so I crocheted a baby blanket with soft acrylic yarn, and sewed a swaddle blanket in soft cotton flannel print.

Of course, the crochet yarn blanket won't be needed until late Fall, but the swaddle blanket might be handy for the first few weeks...

I thought about granny square afghan like I've made before, but, decided to use an attractive tight stitch in colorful stripes, making a unique pattern. As usual, a made-up pattern - just followed a (sc,ch2,2dc) cluster repeated throughout, changing yarn at the end of rows as needed.

The swaddle blanket is not an original design. At first, I was leaning towards swaddlers like the ones I made for Oggie, but found a nicer design on the web which has a simple tie to keep the "baby burrito" from unraveling.

My daughter's friend Enid (cabbage patch doll) volunteered to help demonstrate the swaddle blanket's utility.

All that was left to do was wrap up the yarn blanket in the swaddle blanket and give it to the expectant mother. I was so happy to do these projects. There is something magical and joyful about making baby things, just thinking about the new baby, how the family dynamics changes and how one grows as a human being...

Crochet: Assorted Hats from Leftover Yarn

I crocheted a few hats for this winter - made-up patterns that are variations of the standard hat pattern.

The four here are each different from the other in some way - one even has ear flaps that provides the trendy chain mail helm look :)

Hats are the easiest to crochet - two ways to do it: from crown to brim or brim to crown. For kids I prefer brim to crown so I can start at the brim and check if the starting chain fits around the head fine and then size it from there.

I don't like doing gauge swatches - it makes perfect sense to do it, of course, but it is a pain. And that's one of the reasons I love crochet (as opposed to knitting) - I can adjust and size as I crochet along whereas knitting needs to be a bit more precise (at least for me).

Crochet: Baby Sweater

As I noted in my earlier post, we did have two new baby girls arrive in our midst just a few months apart. I didn't know if I was going to be Periamma (Aunty) to a little girl or a little boy as I was looking through my stash of Rainbow Blouclé to settle on something cute for this sweater.

This again is a simple pattern I've used for crocheted sweaters, with many thanks to Julie. Her Kimono sweater pattern is easy to follow.

But, I do meddle with it a bit each time I use this pattern - using finer yarn than thick soft chenille, adding a few rows here, changing the gauge, making the neck-hole a bit different, flaring out the sleeves as needed, finishing the edges differently and so on. Nothing major, as it is a very straightforward pattern, but enough to make each sweater unique.

I like Rainbow Bouclé™ yarn for baby sweaters as it is soft, light and yet plush enough. I ended up making the sweater very big. Typically, I like to make sweaters and things a bit bigger as babies can grow into it. No point in putting in all the effort to make a fitting tiny one that babies outgrow in a few months...

I like the way it turned out - simple and elegant, no fuss, unisex.

Crochet: Baby Girl Sweater

After four boys among nephews and first cousins once removed (?)... well, wait a minute... I've always considered my first cousins as my siblings so their children are - from an emotional attachment factor at least - much my nephews. Hmm... relationships are so much easier and clearly categorized in Tamil - I am an Aunty for sure but in Tamil I am Atthai (aunt via brothers) and now a very happy Periamma (aunt via sisters - particularly, am the older sister)!

Well, technicalities aside, we've had two beautiful new baby girls arrive in our family recently and I got to work making sweaters for them. For some reason, when I get wind of a new baby either on its way or well happily arrived, my hands start to itch and I find myself involuntarily reaching for the crochet hooks and yarns in the house.

This sweater here is a simple standard pattern I use for crocheted sweaters. I like Rainbow Bouclé™ yarn for baby sweaters as it is soft and plush, but featherlight.

Started at the bottom and went in double-crochet rounds till armpit where I split the work, finished front right, then back, then front left; joined at the shoulder seams; then picked up at the armpit and finished the sleeves.

I love the way it turned out. The hardest part is to wait for the picture of the baby girl wearing it, now that I've sent it to her! And, perhaps a close second is trying to get a good picture of the finished sweater by itself before sending it - the lighting is awful, and no sense of perspective so for all we know the sweater is huge enough to fit an adult... but, c'est la vie.

Crochet: Lacy Afghan

This lacy afghan, my very first large afghan project, was a Christmas present for D almost 8 years ago. He doesn't wear scarves or hats or sweaters for that matter and does not care for knit socks either. Just a nice warm coat in winters, that's it. Perhaps that's why he likes the Inverness I made for him, even if it is not terribly fancy or warm.

Anyway, nothing complicated about this pattern - being my first I went with the easy-to-follow instructions I found on the back of the yarn label. Promptly lost it so this remains one of a kind.

Now that winter is around the corner I was looking to get the quilts and warm blankets out and found this... and to my surprise, I had never gotten around to posting this. (Pictures shows the afghan spread out on a queen size bed - so, a fairly large afghan, and sadly, I have not patience or time for such large projects anymore).

Crochet: Adjustable-waist Girls' Skirt

Even after the Infant Sweater and Little Girl's Short-sleeved Jacket, I had enough Bouclé yarn leftover to crochet a skirt for Ana.

Nothing fancy, just a simple short skirt with cotton fabric lining. It is a slightly asymmetrical skirt and I'd like to claim it is so by design :)

The one element I've had in my mind for a long time but didn't get around to adapting for the kids' clothes is the adjustable elastic waist as seen in many ready-made children's wear pants: a simple system of buttons and elastic with button holes cut in the elastic at regular intervals which can be pulled tight or loose allowing for full stretch and good fit.

Now that I've started adding this feature to Oggie's pants and Ana's skirts/pants/shorts, it takes the stress out of trying to get a good fit as they grow. Some of Ana's skirts from India are perfectly good but cinch the waist with too-tight elastic. Just replacing the waist band with adjustable waist elastic+buttons design has prolonged their lives.

Anyway, the crochet skirt is simple: a sort of trapezium-shaped piece when folded in the middle on the long-side. This gives it the slightly asymmetric slant.

Now, on and off, perfectly fantastic fabric remnants are on sale (50% off, which makes them quite inexpensive and worthwhile) and with a splurging budget of 10$ a month on fabrics, I manage to stock up. Since I also get 10$/month "allowance" for arts and crafts suplies, this seems reasonable.

So, as I was rummaging through my stack, I found this green and white batik-style fabric I had bought a while back, and decided to use it as the lining.

Leaning strongly towards mix-and-match school, I wondered if Ana will wear the matching short-sleeved jacket and skirt together, but when she did, I managed to click right away :)

Crochet: Little Girl's Cropped Bolero Shrug

I had enough yarn leftover from the Baby Set I had crocheted for baby D sometime back. I was working on a black crochet shrug for Ana, but, didn't like the medium weight worsted yarn I was using for it - made it look too bulky... I might finish it before next Winter... however, this Bouclé leftover yarn seemed to beckon me :)

I wanted something cropped, yet long-sleeved, rather chic yet light jacket, as an extra layer for Ana now that we are getting closer to warmer weather.

As usual, no specific pattern - simply started off with my usual yoke, made it a bit larger than Ana's measurements for a fitted-yoke as I wanted to gather and tie at the neck for the ruffled look. Mostly double crochet. Finished the edging with ruffles and added a pink button of Ana's choice to fasten the neck/chest part.

This project was quite relaxing as I didn't have to set any deadline... a few rows at a time, and soon it was ready. Just in time for her birthday.

Crochet: Little Girls' Short-Sleeved Jacket

Sensations Bouclé yarn™ is one of my favorites. It is not the easiest to work with, but, the results are pretty stunning. I prefer crocheting with it, rather than knitting.

I had bought a large skein of this yarn as it was on sale. After using part of it to make an Infant Sweater, I had enough left to make something for Ana. I was toying with the idea of making something for Oggie, but, he has so many hand-me-down store-bought sweaters from his nephew that I didn't want to add to his already bulging winter-wear... besides, he is pretty rough with his clothes and this bouclé yarn will probably not withstand his abuse.

As usual, this is a made-up pattern in that I did not follow any published pattern. I wanted to make a fun extra layer for Spring that is not too heavy and is fairly stylish and unique. And, I wanted to get it done quickly so am not sitting with it till next winter :)

The sweater/jacket starts out with a standard yoke I like to use - the only one I can make on my own without referring to any pattern - and continues on till bottom in a very simple double crochet stitch.

I added a couple of rows of detail midway to allow for a chic belt. I flared it a bit from midriff to the bottom to give it a girlie look.

Since Ana was nearby, I could just size it as I was making it, and get her input as to the look and feel. She insisted on short-sleeves. I went with it as it is less work. The buttons were Ana's choice - well, among the ones I had in the sewing cubby that is... Anyway, looks like she likes it, judging by how often she chooses to wear it as an extra top layer.

Crochet: Baby Bolero (short-sleeved) and Afghan

For 16 years, going on 17, ever since we met in Ohio as green grad students with stars in our eyes, this young lady has amazed me with her thoughts and accomplishments... And, when she shared the news of her niece's birth, I was pretty excited, for two reasons: One, well, naturally a new baby makes my heart leap with joy; Two, she'll be in my neck of the woods more often to visit this niece, and so, hopefully I will get to see her more :)

Anyway, it took me a while as usual, with 30 minutes here, an hour there to crochet the baby afghan and the cropped, short-sleeved baby bolero jacket.

Afghan: is simple enough - a rectangle about 30"x36" or so, roughly, in textured stitch, with a nice shell edging.

Baby Bolero Jacket: this is a made-up pattern - starts off with my favorite yoke and flares at the bottom end, very short sleeves, with shell edging to match the afghan. Crochet buttons with eyelets make this fairly chic and baby-friendly.

As always, this is "one-of-a-kind" creation as I didn't write down the exact pattern for the bolero jacket, making it up as I went along... I am sure I can make another one, but, no guarantees that it will match this one exactly :)

Crochet: Infant Sweater

When I got a phone call late last year announcing the birth of this bonny little boy, I couldn't resist making a teeny sweater to send my wishes...

As always, took me a while to complete this simple sweater, wrangling 20 minutes here and 30 minutes there, over a few weeks.

The pattern is my favorite - Julie's simple one - that I meddle with a bit for each project, adding a few rows here, changing the neck opening a bit there, and flaring out the sleeves when I feel like it...

I like Rainbow Bouclé yarn for baby things... Since I am a bit allergic to wool (makes me itchy, nothing bad, just some irritation - only certain kinds of wool, though), I prefer making baby things out of acrylic yarn.

Now, of course, natural fibers like cotton and wool are bio degradable, but, it is not clear to what extent (what types of) acrylic yarns are bio degradable. Something to think about...

Meanwhile, I am very happy to make little baby things - the planning, the pattern, the stolen moments trying to finish it, the joy at the finished product... all make it very worthwhile and rewarding.

And hopefully, the recipients like it as well.

Crochet: Baby Sweater, Hat, Booties

One of my virtual friends was expecting a baby girl and as soon as she told me about it, I was too excited to settle on what to make to welcome the little one.

And, somehow, when I went yarn-shopping with Ana and she pointed to this purple bouclé yarn, I knew I had to make something cutesy and girly.

The pattern is sort of made-up as usual - borrowing ideas from some of the other patterns I found in my collection of books.

Sweater: This is worked from yoke down to bottom hem. The yoke is my standard one I like to use for baby sweaters where we start at the neckline and allow for armholes and continue down till finish; then pick up at armholes and finish the sleeves.

Hat: I wanted to make a sort of old-fashioned bonnet. Didn't have any pattern handy, and didn't want any ties/strings to bother the baby, so, this is just an extrapolated hat pattern - starting at the brim/forehead end and working up, decreasing towards the crown; finally finishing the open end with a ruffle edging.

Booties: Standard booties pattern, ruffles and ties make it sweet :)

20 minutes here, 30 minutes there over a couple of weeks added up and before I knew it, it was ready to be on its way to welcome the sweet little baby - I like to call her baby D!

Crochet: Hats, Scarves, Neck-warmers

I was sorting through the closet to get the winter gear in order and found a bunch of hats and scarves I made last season, plus one of my old favorites that I didn't have the heart to part with.

D, in my tropical mind, is a Polar Bear. He has no need for coats and hats and layers to bundle up in. He also has a deep-seated dislike for scarves. Scarves for men, that is. The nice long argyle black-and-grey crochet scarf that was supposed to go with his dashing black sweater and hip blue jeans was rejected without mercy :(

So, I bundled it up along with a few other scarves and hats and coats to give away and dropped them off last week.

The cute little winter hats for Ana and Og are fun to whip up.

I sew a few fleece hats as it is faster than to crochet hats, but the crochet ones here are probably the quickest and the easiest to make...

Sizing is usually an issue when I make hats for others, but, not when I have the kids handy. I prefer starting at the bottom edge (forehead) and working up to the crown even though many nice hat patterns suggest to start at the top and shape it down to the brim.

A while back Nana had knitted a very cute hat and a pair of leg-warmers for Ana - now that she has outgrown it, it seems like a perfect hand-me-down for Og.

Ana at about 1½ to 2 yrs didn't mind wearing a hat. Og, at 1½ now will only wear a hood attached to his jacket - an unattached hat just gets torn off his head and tossed away before I can even finish putting it on.

I guess we are well-covered this season with hand-made hats, scarves and neck-warmers even after dropping off a few coats and accessories for those in need.

Crochet: Wearable Shawl

I made this for my mom half a dozen years ago. She leaves it here with me so she can use it when she visits. She has no need for winter wear in Madras :)

This is another of those made-up patterns that has to remain one-of-a-kind... haven't made any other like this. I liked the stitch patten in this and I think I used the same pattern for an afghan - probably the one I made for my mum-in-law, will have to call her to find out if she still has it...

Now, even simple acrylic yarn has gotten quite expensive over the years... a few of my friends are allergic to wool and so am I - it makes me itchy - sheep's wool I think - haven't tried alpaca's... anyway, so, to play it safe, I usually use acrylic yarns which is considered safe even for kids - the softest fingering and worsted weight yarns at least...

And, when there is a yarn sale, I stock up. Which could be a smart thing , but, not for me. Coz, I end up buying just a few skeins of them before even I know what project to use it for and then when I start a project in my favorite color, I end up short and have to start improvising...

Anyway, I found this in the suitcase when I was looking to pull out the winter wear and quilts for the family and thought I must post it here :)

Crochet: Little Girls' Off-Center Sweater

This crochet sweater is another project I started last Winter for Ana, as a Christmas present. It was "mostly done" and remained unfinished till a few days ago :)

The pattern is inspired by Julie's baby sweater pattern which I have adapted for many different baby sweaters.

I just made a few changes, adjusted the gauge, sized it large enough to go over Ana's clothes, and used chunky chenille yarn as it works up faster and is very warm.

The little touches I liked adding were: made the sleeves flare a bit at the wrist as I think it is very cute and girlie; and made the neck a bit of a rounded-square (if it makes sense) to give it a classic look; added the edging in Ana's choice of purple bouclé yarn.

Ana chose the buttons for this sweater - it was jarring my senses a bit, but she wanted the large red round paisley pattern button with the gray cat one, and I couldn't refuse. After all, she's going to wear it.

I know it sounds evil, but, before I decided to add the touches I did to make this girlie and to Ana's liking, I was seriously considering making it a unisex sweater so it can be handed down to Og next Winter...

And, according to D, Og can still wear it. Just not in public :)

There's barely enough daylight these days and when I remember to get a picture of Ana in the sweater, she is not wearing it;

and when she is, she is not in the mood for pictures...

...but, I managed a quick indoor shot as soon as I brought her home from school a few days ago :)

Crochet: Little Girls' Skirt

Mid-Autumn through Winter and early Spring, I feel incomplete if I don't do some crocheting or knitting.

If I am not in the middle of a crochet project by Thanksgiving each year, I feel restless... something about the chillness in the air, the shorter daylight hours and limited outdoor activities make this a very Zen-like pursuit for me - a way to stay centered while a zillion things pull me every which way.



I started this project last Winter but never got around to finishing it.

And thanks to a brief spell of flu-ish symptoms that forced me to stay home and not spread the germs at my office, I got to finish it.

I am basically lazy and impatient. Once I start a project with full gusto, I get caught up in life's many demands and end up wanting to finish it as quickly as possible. Which makes me take many inadvisable short-cuts, then try to 'fix' the project as I go along... but so far, they've all turned out fine, even if one-of-a-kind :)

I have no pattern for this - just made it up as I went along - basically started at an approximate waist measurement needed for Ana, and kept increasing at every row until the desired height for the skirt. I kept the tension rather loose which allows for some stretch needed for the waist.

Mostly double crochet (dc), alternating 3 dc and 5 dc with 2 chains in between, staggering it from row to row. I like the airy lacy pattern as it gets done faster, and uses fewer yards of yarn.

I do love textured bobbles and popcorn and seed stitch and clustered stitches for baby afghans as it adds warmth and doesn't have 'holes' where baby fingers can get caught.

Anyway, back to the skirt: when crochet was done, it looked like a skewed dolly afghan - open and almost like a trapezoid seen via magic mirror.

All that was left to do was the lining and waist. I used blue cotton flannel for lining and finishing. Then, sewed up the side seam to make the skirt.

The toughest part of this project was getting Ana to pose for the picture :)

Knit: Baby Cardigan

I started this knit cardigan back in April 2008 when Oggie was one month old and my mom was here helping out. It took me a long time to finish, but, am glad I managed to finish it by Fall 2008. I had sized it for 9-12 months per the pattern I found on the web, and didn't want his first winter to go by before I managed to get it done.

It is a standard cardigan pattern I found at Lion Brand website, except, I faced my usual problem of picking up the sleeves and knitting to finish. So, I crocheted the sleeves, and finished the edges with crochet as well.

I used Red Heart worsted weight acrylic yarn which is fairly soft but plenty warm, and size 9 knitting needles. Plus stitch holders which comes in handy for dividing and working on parts of the sweater while other stitches are held safely till ready to be picked up and knit.

Instead of doing the back and fronts and piecing them together, I knitted from bottom hem to armholes, divided at the armhole and did the neck shaping on one front, then the back, then the other front. Then joined at the shoulders, and finished the sleeves and edge with single crochet.

Knit: Baby Sweater and Hat Set

I liked the pattern for raglan sleeve baby sweater and wanted to try it. I am partial to crochet, but, I love the finish that knitting produces. Usually, I start my knit projects with super gung-ho and then somewhere around row 2 when I drop stitches accidentally, lose count, and try to improvise on the pattern, I get terribly frustrated and look for ways to take the short-cut and finish the project with my trusted crochet skills.

This sweater is no exception.

It is knit from the bottom up to armhole, then divided, and the neck shaping for the two fronts and the back are done. Then, the sleeves need to be picked up and knit. That has always been the challenging part for me - patience-wise as well as skill-wise. So, I ended up crocheting the sleeves which is so much easier for me.

The hat is a made-up pattern - sort of wanted the London Bobby look, even if the color is wrong, so, I just went along with what I thought might work. It looks like a conical hat, or maybe more like a pointy bell, but then again, I started to knit the hat and realized my pattern-making skills are not as good for knitting, so switched to crochet towards the end... explains the funny shape, doesn't it?

Anyway, I made this a while back when I was still expecting my little one, and now that I see it on him, it is not too bad... the hat looks sort of like a pixie or elf hat, and the sweater seems to keep him warm.

Crochet: Baby Sleep Sack

Sleep sacks are a neat alternative to blankets in winter-time, especially for infants who are not too busy rolling around in their cribs, or trying to crawl around a lot within the confines of their bed.

I had sewed a few fleece sleep-sacks for Ana when she was little as I was paranoid about blankets accidentally suffocating her - especially when she started sleeping alone in her crib.

Now that Oggie is at a stage where he needs to sleep by himself in his crib, and likes to pull his blanket over his face somehow even if I wrap it around him to prevent that, I figured it is time to get a few sleep sacks ready for him for this winter.

This is a made-up sleep-sack pattern that I crocheted a while back for Oggie. Basically, it starts out as a sweater from neck down and then instead of stopping at sweater length, I extended it all the way down to accommodate a 32-inch long baby, with room to spare. Oggie is not yet 32 inches so am sure I can get enough mileage out of this till next winter.

The sleep sack opens at the bottom and down the front so it is easy to get on and off. It is held together with large buttons down the front and at the bottom, large enough that it cannot be easily swallowed by tiny mouths should they manage to rip it in their sleep.

As long as he doesn't roll around too much in it, I am sure it gives enough freedom of movement at bedtime. Also, the stitches are not too dense and so it seems quite airy and breathable. Naturally, he will be wearing his fleece winter jammies underneath so this sleep sack is only an extra layer...

Knit: Baby Sweater

I wanted to knit something with the little scraps of yarn that I didn't have the heart to throw away, especially considering how pricey yarns have become these days, even just acrylic baby yarn.

The pattern is sort of made-up - extrapolated from crochet pattern I usually use for sweaters. I am essentially a crocheter, knitting is only a secondary thing for me.

I didn't plan on using any color scheme, just joined the next color as one color got used up. It is done sort of like the kimono sweater that I love to crochet - starting at the back bottom, working the back, sleeves and neck and the fronts - except rather than overlapping fronts to make the kimono style, I left it like a cardigan. The whole sweater is done in simple garter stitch with a size 12 or so large needles. I sewed the seams and finished the edges with crochet.

It is the beginning of August, supposedly the middle of Summer, but it is pretty chilly here that I decided to put on this scrap-yarn sweater for the wee one so I can let him sit out in the patio and enjoy the backyard wildlife...

I made this over the Christmas/New Year Holiday season when I was in my third trimester, so overcome with nesting instinct that couldn't sit still. It is approximately 12-18 months size, so, it is a little big on my soon to be 5-month old, but, he wears it well I think :)

Crochet: Poppy Flower Afghan

This is one of my favorite afghans I made 5 years ago. I saw the pattern on the web for poppy flower granny squares. And I sort of extrapolated the squares and changed the gauge to make large squares and joined them together to make this afghan.

Being my favorite, it stays safely in the linen closet and rarely sees light of day, but, I thought it would be nice to air it out once in a while and took it out a few days ago...

crochet: infant sweater and hat set

I went yarn shopping with Ana and hovered near the Bernat Softee yarns that were on sale. On a whim, I asked Ana to pick a color to make a sweater for her baby brother and she picked this seen here :)

It took me little pockets of time - say about 20 minutes a day - for about 3 weeks to finish this sweater and hat set... it was tough choosing between catching up on sleep and crocheting, but, I was a bit driven this time: I wanted to make a baby sweater for my wee little 5 week-old boy.

My preferred pattern is to start crocheting the fronts and back and go around till armhole; then divide the work there to finish left front, back, and right front, shaping the neck as I go; then pick up at the armhole and finish the sleeves.

Usually, I prefer to make the sweaters bigger as babies grow fast and won't need it till their first real winter, but, since the wee one was handy, and since it is bloody cold here now in Spring, I just measured and tailored it to fit him now. I can always make more as he grows (assuming I have the patience and time).