BYU Baby Sneakers

Everytime I turn around, another friend is having a baby! I'm very behind on the homemade baby gifts, but I just finished these BYU high top baby sneakers.

All the Christmas Projects

I don't even know how to coherently relate each item to the next. We have from penguins to ballet slippers, I've been busy making them all!

Christmas Orders

Time to catch up on all the completed projects.

Triceratops Hat, Tail, and Shoe Covers

Once upon a time, I was in college and had a huge crush on my brother's room mate. One day, we were with a group of friends and we were discussing our favorite books. I kid you not, in unison, the room mate and I said "Jurassic Park". Well, fast forward 6 years. Now married and with a kid of our own, we are still big Jurassic Park fans. So this year for our local comic con, we dressed up as Dr. Alan Grant, Dr. Ellie Sattler, and a triceratops.

See? Hardly any difference, except we don't have a sick dinosaur, but a healthy, albeit slightly grumpy, dinosaur.

We had the outfit already for Emmy (the shirt says "T-Rex tours" and she was originally get a safari hat and badge) but I REALLY wanted her to be a dinosaur. So I made up some accessories.

The hat was a gamble, since Emmy hates wearing them usually. She put up with it for a few photos here and there, but largely kept it off. I don't really blame her. I made a half double crochet beanie and made the frill separately. I just crocheted in rows till I had a decent height, then changed colors and did a shell edging. Three crocheted cones later, we have a horned dinosaur hat.

The shoe covers were made the morning of the convention. I didn't want her in crocheted booties on the convention floor/in the parking lot, so I completely winged some covers to go over her sandals. Note--crochet does not like velcro. Ugh. But they were pretty cute!

The tail has a chain as a belt to hang on her hips. It was stinking cute to see her running around with that tail flapping behind her.

We had such a great time at the con and were recognized by a few folks. More people remembered Dr. Alan Grant's name than Ellie's. I'm the gal who sticks her arm into the giant pile of dinosaur dung, remember?? No??

I'll have to do a follow up post with all the loot we bought and all the great crafters we met there. Not to mention we saw some fantastic costume construction and design--wish I had taken more photos, but I was chasing Emmy around half the time.

Want a triceratops hat/tail of your own? Email me thecraftzilla@gmail.com or message me on my Facebook page. I'm also on tumblr, but that gets a little random at times. :)

Crocheting gifts and working on patterns!

I'm in progress with a new aspect of crochet--writing patterns. I've been amazed at how much harder it is to write down and explain a pattern than to just go go go and make something. I hope to have a Valentine's themed amigurumi up by next week, and then a cute spring critter after that. That Valentine's one is KILLING me though--I have three prototypes that are looking at me sadly from my crochet bag with wonky parts and pieces. But I'll keep trying, because I sketched it up and thought it was cute :)

Here are some projects I finished:

Another Toadette! My sister asked me to make her one for her birthday. I think it turned out alright, but now that I've seen Toad's Treasure Tracker, I wish I had made her in that cute khaki outfit! Her feet have been weighted so that she can stand on her own.

A friend of mine had a cute, chubby baby in the fall and I made him a hat and shoes. Unfortunately, I gave it so late I don't think he could wear it... Oh well, it's the thought that counts! I also used a "crab stitch" for the finish. I like it, but it took me forever to figure it out!

Alright, alright, those Valentine headbands DO come in traditional colors, too.
And I forgot to post this proof that Emmy WILL wear some things I crochet!! Don't mind that I'm holding her hand away from pulling it off. :)

Back to the drawing board.

No more cold feet!

You know what is really sad? Cold baby feet. They can't tell you they need a pair of socks, pronto! Or that the blanket doesn't quite cover their toes. Which is why crochet baby footwear is one of my favorite gifts to give to new babies. Also because they take a lot less time than blankets to make.

These shoes were made for crawling~

What's cuter than little baby feet?

Nothing!
But adorning them with soft mock ups of shoes just enhances their natural cuteness.
And what's shoes without accessories?? Ok, so I can count the pairs of shoes I own on one hand, and I'm not that trendy, but when it comes to dressing up babies I turn into dream house Barbie. (I'm like an onion, I have layers--most of them are nerdy but there is a girly girl layer too!)