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.

Baby Crochet

Meet my 2nd grandniece, born last March

So cute!

I haven't actually met her though, and would seldom see her since she lives outside of our city :p But when I saw her pictures I really wish I could make something for her...
I did volunteer to make the christening souvenirs, though it was a bit late. I didn't have time to experiment with other designs, so I just played safe and picked a Japanese pattern for a mini bootie. I modified it a bit, and minimized weaving of ends, (which takes up a lot of time since I needed to make 60 pieces of booties!). I planned to make 30 pairs, but fell short by 4 pairs.

Maybe I can share written instructions for these, later.

Btw, I got the free printable gift bag template here. I reduced the size, to print 2 gift bags per sheet. And the souvenir item fits perfectly in it too :)

And here are some of the baby crochet designs that I made a while back. It isn't much, so I hope I can add to it. Also its very warm here, and most booties, hats and mittens might not be of much use.

Crochet Flowers

Lots of inspiration on the web for crochet flowers and lots of free patterns too!!!
You can find most of the free patterns available online on Crochet Pattern Central...here are the Flowers.
You can also easily find what you like on Ravelry, with the photos included in the list of patterns. Try this search for free flower patterns.

And, you might want to check out my free flower patterns too :)

Flower Accent

Tropical Flower Pin

Little Flowers with Leaves

Flower Choker

Loopy flowers

Appliques for Baby Items

To knit or not...

I recently got a surprise in the mail from U.K., its this Let's Knit magazine.

Thanks so much Sis!!
I still haven't knitted anything for the past few years...and there are some yarns in my stash that are wanting to be knit ;) I just had to prioritize my crochet designs - with the limited crafting time I have. Besides, I have to relearn the basics of knitting. Good thing, this mag has very good knit instructions for beginners. Then again, it would have to wait :p
There's one adorable crochet project included though, its the Dionne tunisian crochet clutch.

Oh, and this magazine includes 2 skeins of designer yarn called Cookie!

 Actually, that's what made my sister decide to buy this issue for me :)

Summer Crochet and a free pattern

Its summer here and the schoolyear has just ended. Its a given I have more time to crochet, but it seems I'm not so inspired. Its just too warm at times, to even do anything. And though I would love to have made some new stuff for the beach or for summer fashion...its not happening yet. I might not be able to finish up my WIPs designs till May or June :p

But here's a little something that I fancied making, inspired by the colors of the material itself. I found some of my stash of embroidery floss, and the multicolor Anchor brightened up my mood to make some crochet accessories.

Here they are in action ;)
I also had fun editing my photos and it was so easy! I just uploaded the photos on my picasa album, clicked on edit, and it brought me to picnik.com site where there are plenty of options to edit and create cool photos :)

For the free pattern, you can find it here in my facebook page, and if you go look, you might want to click on "like" too :)