Summer doesn't afford a lot of crochet chances for babies, especially when you live on the surface of the sun. I mean Texas.
Triple digit temps are the norm here, and having a baby wear adorable hats and booties is just mean. My babies have all been tiny space heaters, and prefer to spend the summer in onesies or tshirts and diapers only. Understandable, but a little sad since I have yarn and hooks hankering to make something for the new baby on the way. I considered a blanket, but it likely would only be a play blanket for a few months, so I put it off. I wanted something we could use right away.
So I chose a lovey. But I wasn't sure what to make. My oldest boy had a puppy lovey he adored, my younger son had a stuffed monkey in a sweater that he loved. New baby needed something different. We needed a shake up. So I poked around and around and around on the internet and found nothing. Same frog, puppy, monkey, bunny etc. But nothing new. I wanted new and different. I don't care much for super babyish stuff, and everything I found screamed BABY to me.
Nothing jumped out at me, so I kept thinking and stewing. Then last night, inspiration struck. My older boys were running around in Ninja Turtle socks "playing Karate" (as they say). They love all things ninja, and even have ninja blankets that I made for them on their beds. Ninjas and boys. Boys and Ninjas. It's a thing apparently. Here are my big boys blankets, I will post on those later as well, because they are the first sewn blankets I made. Squee!
So I opted for a ninja on a blanket lovey. Something snuggly for new baby to cuddle, but "manly" for his grown up side. No doubt I will not have much snuggly baby time before he is running, jumping, and fighting his brothers. So it seems the best of both worlds, we can snuggle and nurse while playing with his ninja, and later he can undoubtedly use it to throw at his brothers as though it were a weapon. Boys use everything as a weapon you know. Jackets, blankets, pillows, shoes. It doesn't matter. If it can be thrown, it's a weapon.
I started with the blanket, I wanted a fairly open weave since he's a summer baby, so I opted for a Granny Square. Pretty easy. I like the patterns here: Purl Bee Granny Square
I made mine with a G hook, and some red yarn I had floating around. Honestly have no idea what brand it is, as it was given to me in a lot. It feels like Red Heart soft, but I am totally guessing. It's bright red. Red and black makes a good ninja combo I think. Plus I only had scraps of black, so it'll be perfect for the Ninja head and embellishments, but not enough to do the whole blanket.
My square ended up 10 rounds and 12*12, that seemed like a good size for me, but it could always be larger or smaller depending on your feelings.
Then I made the ninja head. I kept using my G hook, as I find anything smaller makes me want to punch something when working at night time with black yarn. But you could go down a size and get a smaller head. It's up to you.
Here is the pattern I followed for the head:
Ninja Lovey
You can sew the ninja on now, or do the face first. I chose to crochet the face, though you could do it with felt if you felt (get it?) like it.
I did not follow her pattern for the blanket, and chose to make it first, then the head and sew together later. Either option is fine, it's whatever you prefer.
Sew your ninja head to your lovey. You could choose to be done here if you like, or you can add some embelishment. I like the idea of a Ninja star, and as it happens, my friend Corina at Stitch 11, has a great one: Awesome Ninja Star!
Make one or two of those bad boys and sew them on your lovey. Now give it to someone to cuddle, or in my case, put it in your "box of baby things" until baby comes in a few months
