What cute, not too big, things could I crochet for my new baby?

[MassiveBumperlicious]

I'm in the middle of a massive blanket for the new baby (due in 7 weeks) but am after smaller projects to break it up, and some good patterns if you have any? Not knitting though, I'm a crap knitter!

How about a cute little animal. Google for "amigurumi" and you'll get loads of ideas and free patterns

hmm, actually google for "crochet amigurumi patterns"

How about some of the old-fashioned/classic clothes, like matinee jackets and leggings with feet on them, or even a hood/bonnet? I inherited some that my siblings and I had worn, and they were brilliant for my autumn-born babies. (Plus I had lots of compliments on my dcs' retro gear -where had we bought it? )

Try googling baby matinee jacket crochet pattern, or similar.

baby bibs
here is one from Crochet Spot whihc is a really good resource for free patterns, this one good if you use dummies
It may sounds weird to crochet bibs but if you use cheap acrylic (it won't touch their bare skin much) then you can put one on over their clothes as a drool bib without it looking like boring and white like a normal bib and then just chuck them into the machine.

hats and booties, these are cute and the high ankle makes them less likely to be flung off. these converse are depsertaely cute
traditional bonnet

a list of misc stuff including washcloths and toys.
this loopy toy is really handy, all babies I have made it for have loved it
butterfly mobile

lots more from crochet pattern central and also join and have a mooch round lion Brand site, they have some easy amigurumi for babies.

Whoops, the last para went weird, will try again
lots more from Crochet pattern central which you will get lost in for hours, sorry. also try [[http://www.lionbrand.com/ Lion Brand which has a lot of free patterns for babies.
I agree with matinee jackets or ponchos as they are very handy for autumn babies.

Can't believe it's only 7 weeks btw!

BTW you mght want toconsider backing the crocheted blanket with a light fabric, eg sheeting, if it is particularly lacey. My mum and sister crocheted me two gorgeous blankets. One I barely used because the babies' fingers and toes were forever getting caught in the holes and fancy stitching, the other - the backed one - was used every day for each dcs' first 12m.

Thanks for all the tips. Are any of these patterns tried and tested? I spent hours last night hunting for mitten and bootie patterns, but want ones that are actually going to turn out nice.

Bibs are a good idea too.

The blanket isn't thin, it's this one although I have made it pretty big and so three hours is a pretty optimistic estimate! More like 3 months! Hadn't thought about fingers getting caught though, it's pretty dense so should be ok. If I line it it's going to be really heavy.

I'm making some hats, have a plan for some with bear ears and mittens with paws (god, I love torturing babies!) but haven't made any proper clothes with crochet before. My fear is they'll be grown out of it by the time I finish! Hopefully my MIL will whip up some cardies again with her knitting.

Am going to check out all those links, though I spent all last night dreaming about crochet patterns after spending so long looking for them!

I have made the converse booties, the traditional bonnet and the loopy toy a few times but never bothered with mittens.

Am just ordering yarn to make a stripy romper suit for a friend, but that's from a book, it looks like this one but another MNer is having issues with that pattern...otherwise I just made cardies, ponchos and hats. I like ponchoes as it's just a chain for the neck, joined and done in the round with an increas on the front and back, nice and easy!

Ilythia my baby had those Converse booties too, in red. My friend made them and they were so cute, even nicer than they look in the picture. He wore them nearly every day until he grew out of them!

That looks fine. The blankets my mum and sister made were the sort made up of many lacey squares.

But 3hours? I don't think so!

You could make another, similar, blanket as a buggy or carseat snuggle. I've not seen a pattern, but it's apparently easy to adapt. You make a blanket but work a hole about 1/2 - 2/3 of the way along one diagonal. You crochet a triangle across the top of the opposite corner (like the hood on a baby's bath towel). The blanket then lies in the buggy or carseat, with thecritch-strap going through the hole.

When you put the baby in the carseat the hood goes over their head, the straps do up, and the blanket wraps over the straps. That way you can wrap/unwrap without dusturbing the baby.

And of course you can use the blanket in thc regular way as well.

Hi Massive found you!! Hows the blanket coming along then? Bring it on Monday to mine??