Vita Apala’s first book of shoes, booties and sandals to crochet for babies has inspired even me, a childless crocheter with no friends who have babies, to crochet three pairs of baby shoes! That’s how cute the patterns in this book are.

The book features 30 gorgeous patterns for crocheted sandals, shoes and boots for sizes 0 – 6 months and 6 – 12 months. The cute factor in this book is very high. If I tell you Vita’s book also includes patterns for baby gladiator sandals (!) and cowboy boots (!!) you get the idea.

I made Vintage Bow Boots (sans bow), Baseball Boots and Cutwork Shoes. Aren’t they just the cutest little shoes?

In stead of a bow for the  Vintage Boots I chose to make the flower from the Daisy Chain Mary Janes pattern.

Other modifications I made was to leave out the crab stitch on the Baseball Boots. I also didn’t do curly ties for the laces, rather opting for a chain of 140 stitches.

I didn’t make any changes to the Cutwork Shoes. They are so girly and cute!

I found the patterns easy to follow, provided that you give it your full attention. On wearable items as small as these, every stitch you make and every word in the pattern matters, so read carefully. My top tip from own experience: don’t try to make your first tiny shoe whilst watching Downton Abbey and expect it to be perfect. No, you need to give the patterns your full attention.

I really enjoyed crocheting the two pairs of boots and one pairs of shoes from Vita’s book. Making baby shoes is a fun way to play with colourful yarn, challenge yourself a bit, and at the end you have extremely cute baby footwear. If you are in the midst of a friend & family Baby Boom, this book is going to be great for you!

Vita Apala is a textile designer who lives and works in Italy. Born in Latvia, she learned to crochet from her grandmother.  Vita specialises in creating beautiful crochet patterns for children. Her patterns and garments are for sale through her Etsy shop, Mon Petiti Violon. Vita blogs about her life and crochet love at www.monpetitviolon.com

The book is published by Apple Press and sells for £12.99 in the UK. You can buy it on Amazon here. The US version is coming out in March 2015.