Weekend Crochet for Babies. Sue Whiting

not much else you need! A pair of scissors will obviously be useful for cutting the yarn, and a tape measure will help you check the crocheted pieces are the right size. You will probably have to sew up a few seams, or darn in a few yarn ends – so you’ll need a blunt-pointed needle with a large eye. Like those used for tapestry or sewing up knitted things, this sort of needle is not only easy to thread with a thick yarn but also the blunt ‘point’ slips between the strands of yarn and makes sewing up neat and easy.

       SIZING

      All the designs in this book can be made for babies from newborn up to 18 months old. Although approximate ages are given, it’s a much better idea to choose the size you want to make by measuring the actual chest size of the child. If you are still unsure what size to choose, compare the actual measurements of the garment – given at the start of the pattern – with those of a something you know fits the child well.

       CROCHET HOOK CONVERSION CHART

METRIC	IMPERIAL (OLD UK)	USA
2.00 mm	14	B1
2.25 mm	13	B1
2.50 mm	12	C2
3.00 mm	11	D3
3.25 mm	10	D3
3.50 mm	9	E4
3.75 mm	–	F5
4.00 mm	8	G6
4.50 mm	7	7
5.00 mm	6	H8
5.50 mm	5	I9
6.00 mm	4	J10
6.50 mm	3	K10½
7.00 mm	2	–
8.00 mm	0	L11
9.00 mm	00	M13
10.00 mm	000	N15

       YARNS

      Almost any knitting yarn can be used for crochet but, when making items for little ones, you need to bear a few things in mind. Children can be very fussy – and messy – things and a baby’s skin is delicate. Because of this, you’ll find that a lot of the yarns featured in this book are machine washable. And they are soft too so they won’t irritate the skin of your little treasure – or monster!

      Colinette Jitterbug 100% merino wool, 291 m/318 yd per 110 g (4 oz) hank, machine washable (cold wool cycle), tumble dry (low setting).

      Colinette Banyan 49% cotton, 51% viscose, 102 m/112 yd per 50 g (1¾ oz) hank, hand wash.

      Colinette Prism 50% wool, 50% cotton, 120 m/131 yd per 100 g (3½ oz) hank, hand wash.

      Rowan RYC Cashsoft DK (and Cashsoft Baby DK) 57% extra fine merino, 33% microfibre, 10% cashmere, 130 m/142 yd per 50 g (1¾ oz) ball, machine washable (wool cycle).

      Rowan Pure Wool DK 100% superwash wool, 125 m/137 yd per 50 g (1¾ oz) ball, machine washable (wool cycle).

      Rowan Wool Cotton 50% merino wool, 50% cotton, 113 m/123 yd per 50 g (1¾ oz) ball, machine washable (wool cycle).

      Rowan Tapestry 70% wool, 30% soybean protein fibre, 120 m/131 yd per 50 g (1¾ oz) ball, hand wash.

      Rowan Handknit Cotton DK 100% cotton, 85 m/93 yd per 50 g (1¾ oz) ball, machine washable (wool cycle).

      Rowan Calmer 75% cotton, 25% acrylic microfibre, 160 m/175 yd per 50 g (1¾ oz) ball, hand wash.

      Rowan All Seasons Cotton 60% cotton, 40% acrylic microfibre, 90 m/98 yd per 50 g (1¾ oz) ball, machine washable (wool cycle).

      Rowan Kid Classic 70% lambswool, 26% kid mohair, 4% nylon, 140 m/153 yd per 50 g (1¾ oz) ball, hand wash.

      Rowan Kidsilk Aura 75% kid mohair, 25% silk, 75 m/82 yd per 25 g (1 oz) ball, hand wash.

      Rowan Cocoon 80% merino wool, 20% kid mohair, 115 m/126 yd per 100 g (3½ oz) ball, hand wash.

      Rowan Big Wool 100% merino wool, 80 m/87 yd per 100 g (3½ oz) ball, hand wash.

      Twilleys Freedom Spirit 100% wool, 120 m/131 yd per 50 g (1¾ oz) ball, hand wash.

       ABBREVIATIONS

      All crochet patterns are written in a sort of shorthand – all the ‘technical’ terms are shortened, or abbreviated, to just a few letters. These abbreviations are standard to almost all crochet patterns and here you’ve got a full list of all the ones you need for the designs in this book. Sometimes there will be a special stitch, or stitch group, used for one particular design only – if this is the case that special abbreviation will appear with the pattern it’s needed for.

       TENSION (GAUGE)

      The size of a finished piece of crochet is controlled by how big, or small, the stitches and rows are, and the term used to describe this is the ‘tension’ (‘gauge’ in the US). Because the tension governs the size of the finished item and the amount of yarn you will need, it’s really important you crochet at the correct tension.

To check your tension, make a small square of crochet in the stitch used for the garment, using the yarn and the size of hook given in the pattern. Make sure this tension swatch is at least 15 cm (6 in) square so that you can easily count the number of stitches and rows on it.

      Once you’ve completed the crochet square, mark out with pins the number of stitches the tension section of the pattern states there should be to 10 cm (4 in). Measure the distance between the pins – if this measurement is 10 cm (4 in) your tension