Baby Crossover Booties - Done!

The baby crossover booties by Ceradka are finally ready and here's the result compared to the original from the pattern and my short review.

Image by craftcookie                                                      Image by Ceradka

To start with, I would definitely recommend this pattern.

The  instructions by Ceradka are very clear and the booties are easy to knit, once you find the right number of stitches to fit your yarn and the sole size you'd like to get (for example I had to go down from 34 to 26 and from size 3.5 needles to size 3.0 in order to get smaller sized booties).

The assembly and adding the finishing touches takes more time than the knitting, but what you'll have in the end is a pair of very beautiful and I'd say non-traditional booties, so the time investment is totally worth it. You can decorate the booties in any way you like - I tried different buttons and crochet flowers before I chose the ones you're seeing in the pictures.

So, if you would like to go for these booties, here are some more details:

Where to find it: Ceradka's Shop on Etsy
Price: $4.00
Time for the project: Between 4 and 6 hours based on my own experience (it will take you longer if you have to adjust the size)
Difficulty: Medium (beginners might find the re-joining of the yarn in some parts and the assembly a bit too difficult)

Adorable Baby Booties by Ceradka

A friend of ours is expecting a baby girl in the next couple of weeks and we thought why not give her something hand-made - a pair of knit booties and a matching hat to go along with them. So, for the past few days I've been scouring the web for the booties pattern, that would catch my eye - something cute, girly and different. And I found it - in Ceradka's shop on Etsy.

Katy, who is the shop's owner and designer is a stay at home mom from London, who's been designing knit and crochet patterns for the past couple of years. You can find all sorts of masterpiece patterns in her shop - from a sock monkey  to a gorgeous slouch hat and what's my favorite part - a great variety of crochet and knit baby booties.

Images by Ceradka

The baby booties patterns cost just $4 and you can even get a discount - you can buy any 3 patterns for $9, any 4 patterns for $12 and any 5 patterns for $15. Patterns are emailed as a PDF document with detailed instructions and some of them even contain pictures to guide you through the knitting/crocheting and assembly steps.

Images by Ceradka

I just got the Baby Crossover Booties myself and I'll keep you posted on my progress. And of course expect to see Craftcookie's Top 5 of free knit baby booties patterns very soon.

Related Books on Amazon: 

The Brioches Are Coming

We're sure you've heard the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside"... well we've just added two new stitches to our library to save you from the weather :)

Half Brioche - Front                           Brioche (same on both sides)            Half Brioche - Back
Images by craftcookie

The Brioche and the Half Brioche stitches are two of our all time favorites. Both of them create a rich, soft, warm fabric that simply invites you to cuddle in. They are also extremely easy and fast to knit and are the perfect fit for a scarf or a cozy throw.

So, if you're in need of a last minute present - for yourself or for someone dear to you - knit away!

You can use one or more colors (if you prefer to create a striped project); you can simply bind off or add tassels on both ends and the best part is you won't need more than two full days to create a long, luxurious scarf.

Here are the knitting stitch instructions:

• Brioche Stitch - looks the same on both sides
• Half Brioche Stitch - looks different on both sides, but perfectly reversible

And because it always creates a good mood - there's the song. Enjoy!

Top 5 of DIY Angel Ornaments

Continuing the Christmas decoration theme from my post featuring Amy Gaines' knit toys and ornaments we went out in the clouds looking for some lost  DIY angels and here's what ended up in our Top 5 List:

1. Dutch Blue's Angel - this is a very cute sewn angel by Dutch Blue and you can make a whole swarm of them just by using small pieces of different leftover fabrics and by resizing the pattern yourself.

Images by Dutch Blue

2. Earth Angel Ornaments - the instructions for these sweet angels were just published by Sweet Tidings.  Even though they're made of Hessian/Muslin fabric scraps and hemp twine you for a natural, earthy feeling, you could use whatever fabric and twine/yarn you have at the moment. You can find the instructions here.

Images by Sweet Tidings

3. Fabulous Flower Angel - that's without a doubt the most beautiful diy paper angel I've seen so far. The instructions by Lorraine from Paper Vernissage say you have to use the Fabulous Flowers stamp set. I did a bit of search and it turned out that the set was "retired". However we were able to find some used sets that are for sale online. If you're interested check out the search results here. Or here's another idea - if you have a printer at home, save the flowers image found here, enlarge it a bit and print it out on a suitable heavy paper. Then follow Lorraine's instructions to create your angel.

Images by Paper Vernnisage

Image by Anjie Davison

4. Pom Pom Angel/Fairy - we chose this one not only because it's sweet 

and easy, but also because of the shear fun of making it and because it's something kids can help with. You can use yarn in different colors and you can combine the pom poms with wings with different shapes and colors as well.

Anjie Davison from pompomemporium.com has made things even easier, by not only providing the angel/fairy instructions, but also by demonstrating how to make a pom pom.

Isn't that sweet :)

Image by Family Fun Magazine

5. Glittery Angel - this is a nice example of recycling your plastic bottles into something beautiful. You could use different sizes and create a golden or silver angel for your tree top or one to put under the Christmas tree.

In both cases kids can help too :)

You can find the instructions on the Family Fun Magazine's site.

Have fun and if you make any of these angels or one of your own, send us a picture at contact@craftcookie.com.