Not So Secret Baby Items

Heirloom Bonnet & Booties

I can now reveal some of the "Secret Baby Items" that I have been making during the year.

It truly has been a year "of bonnets and booties, bibs and 'blankies'."

I am so excited to welcome so many new babies into the world this year.

Congratulations to the proud sets of parents L+R, K+D and N+L!

Most live on the other side of the country to me so I have been busy making baby items that are easy to post.

This Heirloom Bonnet & Booties set is made from two separate patterns.

Heirloom Booties

Christening Bonnet
Pattern by Margaret Metcalfe

The bonnet is a traditional pattern from the Australian Women's Weekly magazine. The booties are from a pattern by Melody Griffiths in her book "Crochet in No Time". 

I modified the decorative trim on the booties to match the picot trim of the bonnet.  I was tempted to also add some Irish roses to the booties as well, but felt that the roses would dwarf the tiny booties.

This set was completed in August and sent over for a September baby shower celebration.  The mum-to-be is an artist and loves bright, modern colours, but she also has an old-fashioned streak so I am sure she will appreciate the traditional style.

Heirloom Bonnet Detail

In fact, both new parents are artists so to satisy their colourful personalities, I made some bright striped booties as well.

This pattern is a free pattern from Lion Brand using their Bonbons acrylic yarn.  

I was very lucky to have a generous friend send me some Bonbons to try, all the way from the US of A. 









Stripes are great stashbusters too!  These booties have been stuffed with cotton wool to hold their shape while in transit.

The most fun projects have been a bunch of animal bibs (more free patterns from Lion Brand).  Their bright colours and googly eyes make me smile.  

All three are based on the same basic bib with different appliqués and embroidery to create the characters.

The bibs themselves and the appliqué pieces work up extremely quickly but it takes me ages to do the stitching. 
I am not very agile with hand stitching.  









Nevertheless I do love these patterns because of their versatility.  I already have plans to modify them to create my own characters.








So that's bonnets, booties and bibs; "But what about 'blankies'?" I hear you ask.  That is yet to come!  I have a pattern in mind but I wish to interpret it in a particular way and have not been able to get the yarn that I want.  

In the meantime, have a Merry Christmas, baby!

Pattern Details

Christening Bonnet: 
Yarn: Cleckheaton 'Baby Yarn 3 Ply Nylon
Pattern: Christening Bonnet by Margaret Metcalfe, Australian Women's Weekly, Australia 1997.
My copy of the pattern was given to me by a friend many years ago, having been torn from a book or magazine. Either the publication or the chapter is called "Treasures for Tiny Tots". I am sorry I have no other information.

Heirloom Booties: 
Yarn: Cleckheaton Baby Yarn 3 Ply Nylo
Pattern: Heirloom Bootees by Melody Griffiths, Crochet In No Time, ISBN-13 978-1-906525-31-6, Cico Books, www.cicobooks.co.uk, imprint of Ryland, Peters & Small Ltd, 20–21 Jockey's Fields, London WC1R 4BW, United Kingdom, 2009.
This book also offers an "Heirloom Bonnet" pattern by Melody Griffiths. That bonnet has a scalloped edging.

Striped Booties: 
Pattern: Candy Color Booties, free pattern #L20323, Lion Brand Yarn Company, 2014
Yarn: Lion Brand 'Bonbons' 100% acrylic
Colour set: 620 Pastels (Lavender, Yellow & Medium Blue)
Link: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/L20323.html?noImages=

Animal Bibs: 
Yarn: Moda Vera 'Beetle' 50% cotton 50% acrylic blend DK 100 g / 188 m per ball.
Hook: G6 (USA) 4.25 mm acrylic
I don't have many American hooks. I found that my 4 mm hook was too tight and the next Australian size (4.5 mm) was too loose. Usually one or the other suffices but in this case, it had to be the G6–4¼ mm hook.  The acrylic hook was smooth against the acrylic blend yarn and easy to work.

• Pig Bib free pattern: 'Cotton-Ease (new) Piglet Bib', #90158AD, Lion Brand Yarn Company 2009: 
• Light Pink #10 lot #14631 used 22 g/ 48.4 m
• Dark Pink #02 lot #14807 used 3 g / 6.6 m
• Navy #14 lot #140408
• Link: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/90158AD.html?noImages=
• Owl Bib free pattern: 'Cotton-Ease (new) Owl Bib', #90157AD, Lion Brand Yarn Company, 2009.
• Yellow #144 lot #131203 used 8 g / 18 m
• Purple #09 lot #1109218 used 6 g /14 m
• Red #77 lot #14635 used 2 g / 5 m
• White #31 lot #1109222 used 3 g / 7 m
• Link: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/90157AD.html?noImages=
• Frog Bib free pattern: 'Cotton-ease Frog Bib', #90160AD, Lion Brand Yarn Company, 2009.
• Lime Green #41 lot #120513 used  14 g / 31 m
• Purple #09 lot #1109218 used ball < 1 g / 2.2 m
• White #31 lot #1109222 used  2 g / 4.4 m
• Link: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/90160AD.html?noImages=

Related Posts

"Secret Baby Items (of bibs and blankies)", 4 September 2014: http://lupeyloops.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/secret-baby-items-of-bibs-blankies.html