Friday, September 19, 2008

The Baby Cozy: A Crochet-Along



Good Morning! It is still morning here in Arizona, just barely. A lot of people stopped by yesterday after I posted my latest Baby Cozy. Since I'm about to start another, I thought you might like to crochet along with me! I'll post my progress each day and give the instructions as we go. In a few days, I'll have a new cozy for my new little niece or nephew and you'll have one for the baby in your life, or for your gift closet.








Materials:

The picture shows everything you will need. (Normally, I use three colors, but I'm going very neutral on this one because I don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl.)

Scissors
Hook: Size H or 5.5mm
Large Eye Needle: for weaving in tail ends
4 skeins of Patons Classic Wool: I like using this because it's soft and I like to steer away from synthetics for baby. You will need two skeins for the body, and one for each flap. The flaps actually take a little less than a skein, but if you are working with three colors, you will want to pick two skeins of one color for the body and one skein of a different color for each flap. See the pictures above.

Body
We'll start with the body. It's the middle part that you'll need two skeins for. I'll be using the peach color above.
Chain 38
Row 1: Half Double Crochet in 3rd stitch from hook and all the way across. Equals 36 sts (not counting the beginning two chains)
Rows 2-86: Chain 2 turn, half double crochet across

Well that's the beginning. It starts off simply really. It just takes some time to crochet 86 rows! I'd love to hear from you if you decide to join in. I'll be happy to answer questions along the way. Click on this link if you need a
Stitch Guide. It's a great one by DMC.

The Baby Cozy ~ Part I
The Baby Cozy ~ Part II
The Baby Cozy ~ Part III
The Baby Cozy ~ Part IV
The Baby Cozy ~ Part V
The Baby Cozy ~ Part VI

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the look of this pattern. However I will need to substitute the yarn. Could you give me an idea of the dimensions of the finished cozy? I am thinking gauge need not be exact but having no babies handy I would like it to make sense. :-)
Thank you for sharing the pattern.

And I will be on the lookout for the shawl. I have a granddaughter in Florida who is asking for a light shawl ....!

Alida
paulastruz@yahoo.com

Jenn said...

Hi Alida,

The finished cozy measures approximately 21" x 13". The yarn I used was a medium weight (worsted) often denoted as a size [4] weight yarn. It's a fairly common weight, so you should be able to find a comparable yarn without too much trouble.

Please let me know if I can be of any more help.

Jenn

Unknown said...

so in this first part the ch 2 does not count as a stitch right???
ch 38, hdc in 3rd chain will give you 36 hdc
if chain is counted 37
sorry, just a bit confused
thanks

Jenn said...

Hi, You have it right. By working your first hdc in the third chain from your hook, you are skipping over two chains. That means each row will have 36 hdc.

I think you make a good point, I should add that I'm not counting the chain two as a stitch. If so, it would be 37 stitches per row. I'll have to make a clarification.

Thanks for your comment! :D

Unknown said...

thanks dear
I am not done with this part
I was in row #81 and when I counted my stitches I had only 34, had lost 2 along the way somewhere, had to rip it down to row #34
now I am ready to move on to the second part :o)

Cheryl said...

I was so excited to find this pattern, as my daughter is due to deliver in 3 weeks. I have made 3 so far and love how quick and easy they make up. I have now making extras to have on hand to give out to friends as shower gifts. I would like to up load a modified cozy I made (the body is in stripes) and not sure how to up load the picture to you so you can view it!

Jenn said...

Hi Cheryl,

It's so exciting to have a new life enter the family! Congratulations! I'm thrilled you like the cozy pattern.

Blogger isn't set up to let you upload a pic into your comment. You can send it to my email:

j.pedersengiles@gmail.com

I'd love to see your new design!

Jenn :D

Jo said...

I don't suppose you have a pdf file of this pattern? I'm going to be traveling in the next few days and would love to be able to print it out.

Unknown said...

This is an awesome pattern! Thank you for posting it. I searched and searched different baby cocoons and this seems so much better than the cocoons I found that were no more than an elongated beanie. Quick question though, I'm using a super bulky baby yarn, and I was glad to see someone had the same question I did about the dimensions. However, as I'm stitching I got to 38 chain stitches and mine still only measures 11 inches wide. So i'm a little confused. I would think it would end up being wider than yours even with the same number of stitches.

Jenn said...

Hi Shelby85,

If your width measures 11", that's just right. The final three rows of the body (Part 2) are worked around the entire piece and increase the width up to 13".

This was one of my very first crochet-alongs and when I look back at it, it's easy to see possible improvements. I should have given a gauge and dimensions from the start. It may be that my stitches are a bit more loose than yours and that's why it's taking a similar number of stitches to create the same width even with a heavier weight yarn.

If I can be of any more help, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jenn :D

viajerajulie said...

Hi there!

Could this be used as swaddling? Like a baby burrito? Or is this more just a loose blanket?

Thanks!
Julie

Jenn said...

I kind of designed it with that in mind, but it's not quite as tight as a baby burrito.

Ellie said...

I found your Pattern a few days ago and made my yarn trip yesterday. Just finished part one! I hope to have it done by tomorrow morning for a baby shower gift!!

CrazyAim said...

Hi there would there be a way to do this as a knitted piece? I'd love to try it! Dudiee68@outlook.com ................ Thanks!