The Baby Cozy - The Complete Free Pattern from Wind Rose Fiber Studio

Materials:
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 for which you'll need two skeins.
Chain 38
Row 1: Half Double Crochet in 3rd stitch from hook and all the way across. Equals 36 sts
Rows 2-86: Chain 2 turn, half double crochet across
Row 87: Ch 2 (counts as first hdc of the row) turn, 2 hdc in first st (first corner made), 34 hdc across, 3 hdc in last st (second corner made), do not turn, continue down the side of your rectangle, work 1 hdc in the end of each row to equal 86 hdc, 3 hdc in 1st st of beg ch on bottom edge (third corner made), 34 hdc across, 3 hdc in next st (fourth corner made), now continue working down the other long side of your rectangle once again by working 1 hdc for each row to equal 86 sts, join with sl st to top of beg ch 2.
Row 88: Ch 2 (counts as first hdc of the row) turn, hdc in next 87 sts (be careful not to crochet into the small space that almost looks like a st at the base of your ch 2), 3 hdc in next st (corner), hdc in next 36 sts, 3 hdc in next st (corner), hdc in next 88 sts, 3 hdc in next st (corner), hdc in next 36 sts, 3 hdc in next st (corner), join with sl st to top of beg ch 2.

With the right side of the cozy facing you, fold up the bottom edge to form the pocket. You should have 37 hdc rows for the pocket leaving 17 rows unfolded for the head. Now it's time to place two markers where we will join the front and back of the pocket. Find your upper right and left corner stitches. Place a temporary marker in them if you like. There should be 40 stitches between the two corner stitches. From the upper right hand corner stitch, count down 19 stitches counting the corner as 1. Slip a marker through that 19th stitch and do the same for the other side. You will also need to slip the marker through the two top corners of the pocket. After you place your markers, be sure that there are 40 stitches between them on the top edge of the pocket.

Row 89: Ch 2 (counts as first hdc of the row) turn, (The side facing you now is the right side of your cozy) hdc in next st (again, be careful not to crochet into the small space that almost looks like a st at the base of your ch 2), 3 hdc in next st (corner), hdc in next 38 sts, 3 hdc in next st (corner), hdc in next 90 sts, 3 hdc in next st (corner), hdc in next 38 sts, 3 hdc in next st (corner), hdc in next 88 sts, join with sl st to top of beg ch 2.
Row 90: Ch 1, do not turn, sc in the next 2 sts, 3 sc in the next st (upper right hand corner made), sc in next 40 sts, 3 sc in next st (upper left hand corner made), sc in next 17 sts (you have reached your first marker and will now be working through two layers, the front and back of your pocket), sc in next 37 sts, 3 sc in the corner (lower left corner made), work 40 sc evenly across the bottom edge(see pictures below for a close up look at a corner and the bottom edge), work 3 sc in next corner (lower right hand corner made), (To be sure to place your next stitch correctly, I recommend counting down from your marker 37 sts) sc in next 37 stitches to the marker, sc in next 15 sts, join with a sl st to beg ch 1.

The body or center section of your cozy is now complete! You can remove the stitch markers and weave in your ends. If you look at the upper right hand corner where you just finished, it tends to have two small gaps from your previous turn rows. I like to close these up a little while I'm weaving in the tail end.

Right Side Flap
This is the flap that will fold over first and then we'll make the left side that will go on top. Remember to switch to the color yarn you chose for this piece.
Row 1: With the wrong side of the body facing you, join new color yarn in the upper right hand corner. Sc in same st and in next 57 sts. Equals 58 sts.
Rows 2-3: Ch 2 turn, hdc across
Row 4: Ch 2 turn, hdc in next 56 sts, hdc dec over last two sts, equals 57 sts
Row 5: Ch 2 turn, work hdc dec over first two sts, hdc across remainder of row, equals 56 sts
Rows 6-21: repeat rows 4 and 5 consecutively. At the end of row 21 you should have 40 sts.
Row 22: Ch 2 turn, hdc across, equals 40 sts
Row 23: Ch 2 turn, hdc dec over first two sts, hdc across, equals 39 sts
Rows 24-35: repeat rows 22 and 23 consecutively, and the end of row 35 you should have 32 sts.

Finishing
Ch 2, do not turn, hdc across the bottom edge of your flap by working 1 hdc in the end of each row for a total of 34 sts, sc in the end of the next row, join with a sl st to the corner of the body (the very next st after the 58th st of the first row of this flap)

Ch 1 turn, sl st in sc from previous row, sc in next 34 sts, 3 sc in ch 2 space from previous row to form a corner, sc in next 32 sts, 3 sc in next st to form the second corner, work 1 sc in the end of each row going up the flap towards where you began for a total of 34 sc, sl st in the end of the last row, sl st in the same space as the joining st of row 1. Finish off weaving in loose ends.

Left Side Flap
You make this left flap with your third color choice.

Row 1: With the wrong side of the cozy facing you, join with a sl st in the lower left hand corner of the cozy. (When I say lower left hand, I mean the lower left corner of the piece when you are looking at it from the front.) sc in same st and in next 57 sts. Equals 58 sts
Rows 2 and 3: Ch 2 turn, hdc across, equals 58 sts
Row 4: Ch 2 turn, hdc dec over first two sts, hdc across, equals 57 sts
Row 5: Ch 2 turn, hdc dec over first two sts, hdc across to last two sts, hdc dec over last two sts, equals 55 sts
Rows 6-38: repeat rows 4 and 5 consecutively, row 38 will have 7 sts

Finishing
Ch 1, do not turn, crocheting along bottom edge, work 1 sc into the end of each row for a total of 37 sc, sl st in the end of the last row, sl st in the same space as the joining space of row 1.

Ch 1 turn, skip first sl st space and sl st into the next st, sc in the next 35 sts, 3 sc in next st (corner made) sc in next 5 sts, 3 sc in next st (corner made), crocheting along the top edge, work 1 sc in each row for the next 37 rows, sl st in last row, join with sl st in same space as the last st of row 1. Finish off weaving in all loose ends.

Making The Tie
The only thing left is to make a cute little tie for the side. You can really do this a number of ways. I think it would be pretty to find a nice silk ribbon and sew it on. On my prototype cozy, I joined the body colored yarn to the end of the top flap, chained to the length I wanted and then worked sl sts back down the chain and joined it with a sl st to the same space I started in. Then I carefully knotted the yarn on the underside of the flap. I attached the same kind of chain to the side of the body where the tie would naturally meet.

I like this look, but when I made my next cozy, I decided I wanted to make the tie more understated. With this in mind, I have started making plied yarn ties. I use my spinning wheel, but you can create a plied effect with your hands. Cut about a 30" piece of yarn. Pinch one end between your fingers to hold it in place while you twist the yarn counter clockwise. The Patons yarn we are using for this project has a clockwise twist so at first you will see it untwist and then it will start to ply in the opposite direction. Keep twisting it until, when you release the tension, it wants to back spin or twist up on itself. At that point, holding your piece of yarn carefully so it doesn't unwind, thread it through the end of the left flap. I like to go up from the underside, skip about three sts and then go back down. Still holding the ends of the thread, make sure the flap is in the center and then bring the ends together. Holding the ends together, get the ply started by turning them counter clockwise. You will see that the tension in the twist will make the yarn want to ply together. Then I just tie a neat little knot in the end and trim the tips to make them even. You would repeat this to make the other tie attached to the body. Once you try it, you see how easy it is.

Reference Pictures: