Crochet and exercise...

If you Google the health benefits of crocheting you will see many articles that say crocheting is good for you. That is if you don't overdo it...and you know that's often hard to avoid. If you have 3 hours leisure time, you might be crocheting all that time away. Surely you get satisfaction and fun from working on your project, which is good for your mental health. But you might end up with poor circulation, back and joint pains, stiff neck and other physical symptoms related to your sitting down for hours and concentrating on your project. Just be aware of this and take a break every hour or so. Do a bit of stretching exercise, shake your arms and legs, drink a glass of water, take a little walk, get some fresh air and sunshine - all these won't take up much time and you'll feel better and healthier.
If you want to stay in shape, to be physically fit even while staying indoors, there are many activities to choose from. There's no excuse now, since its free and available on the internet. For me, I found the best exercise - the basic belly dancing moves. You don't even have to sweat to benefit from it.

Shades of Purple Crochet

I'm currently working on 3 shades of purple projects. At this time of the year these colors seem relaxing and inspiring to work with. It's great for fashion items too! Besides, I didn't have much to choose from in my stock of cotton threads ;)

That's my model, Divvy (from Divisoria, Manila) looking good in purple!

Those are two projects/upcoming designs that I'm working on.

Crochet Mini Booties Souvenir - free pattern

Mini Booties Souvenir 
by Mimi Alelis, copyright 2011

Materials
You will need only a few yards of thread for each bootie. I used Cannon cotton thread, size 8
Crochet hook: 2mm or 3/0
Safety pin or marker
Yarn needle for sewing and weaving in ends
Optional: Magnet, or keychain attachment
Finished measurement: 1 1/4 inches in length at the sole.
(Gauge doesn't matter much for this pattern)
Special Stitches:
hdc/dc together - yo, insert hook into st, pull up loop, leave the 3 loops on hook, yo, insert hook into next st, pull up loop, yo, and pull through 2 loops, yo, and pull through remaining 4 loops on hook
dc/hdc together - yo, insert hook into st, pull up loop, yo, and pull through 2 loops, leave the 2 loops on hook, yo, insert hook into next st, pull up loop,  yo, and pull through all 4 loops on hook

Bootie
Rnd 1: With pink thread and 2mm hook, ch 7, sc in 2nd ch from hook and on each of 4 ch across, 4 sc in last ch, turn to opposite edge of starting ch, sc in next 4 sts, 3 sc in last st, sl st on the 1st sc to join. (16 sc)
Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in 4 sc, hdc in next sc, 2 hdc in next, 3 dc in next, 2 dc in next, 2 hdc in next, hdc in next, sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in each of next 2 sc, join. (23 sc)
Rnd 3: Ch 1, sc in the back loop only of each sc around, join (23 sc)
Rnd 4: Ch 1, sc in 5 sc, hdc/dc together (see explanation above) on the next 2 sc (mark this st if making the right bootie), dc in next sc, 3-dc together on the next 3 sc, dc in next sc, dc/hdc together on the next 2 sc (mark this st if making the left bootie), sc in next 5 sc, (sc together the next 2 sc) twice, join (17 sts)
Leave 10 inches tail, fasten off pink thread.
Strap and edging 
Right bootie
Working with yellow thread, insert hook at left side of bootie in 2nd sc from st marked, pull up loop, ch 7, sc in 2nd ch from hook and on each ch across, sl st on same st as the beginning; sl st in each of the next 7 sts at the front part of bootie, sc in the remaining sts of rnd 4, sl st on the same st as the beginning, sl st on next st. Leave 18 inches tail, fasten off pale yellow thread.
Left bootie
Working with yellow thread, insert hook at right side of bootie in 2nd sc from st marked, pull up loop, ch 7, sc in 2nd ch from hook and on each ch across, sl st on same st as the beginning; sc in each of the next 9 sts at the back part of bootie, sl st in the remaining sts at the front part, sl st on the same st as the beginning, sl st on next st. Leave 18 inches tail, fasten off pale yellow thread.
Bottom edging
Weave in yellow thread to the back and bottom of bootie. With top of bootie facing you, pull up thread on remaining loop from rnd 3, sl st in each loop around, weave in end.
Assembly and finishing
Weave in pink thread to where the strap should close, sew the strap in place, then weave the thread to the back and bottom of bootie. For a fridgie, cut off remaining thread, glue the bootie onto a magnet (sample used is one-inch square). For a keychain attachment, make a chain (ch 10) with the remaining thread, weave the end back into the chain, then attach the keychain ring.
Step-by-step photos are here on Ravelry.