My best friend
Kristin, has two children. I knitted a baby blanket for each of them when they were born. This first one is a little ruffled at the edge, but it doesn't really show up when it is used as the main pattern is fairly stretchable. I should also mention that I learned the stitches from a huge library book from 1980... What else is there to do when you desperately need to knit something and your mother (who could have tought you) is in China for two weeks?? Of course, these days I learn stitches on the web. The blanket is unblocked, quite simply because I had never even heard of blocking then...
When the baby was born and it turned out to be a girl (some like it to be a surprise), I made a little pink flower connected to a braided pink band that runs along the edge.
Now this was a fun way to knit, I can tell you! All the squares were knitted separately and then stitched together. OK, so the final stiching and especially the weaving in of the ca 60 yarn ends (oh the horror!) was an endless boring task. But the knitting itself was super easy and fast. And extremely practical too, you never have to carry more than one skein and the square you are currently knitting. Whenever you've knitted so much that you can't immediately see that you've done a row or two, it is time to bind off and start a fresh new one where every row makes a difference. ;) Now that's good for the mind. The blue squares have a center with alternating knit and purl stitches. Unlike the other blanket, this one is fully reversible. I also made a crochet edge to give it a nicer finishing.
The idea of knitting a square blanket in the round seemed like an interesting concept, and I couldn't resist trying it. I've got a kind of ombre effect going on here, it starts light in the centre and darkens towards the edges. In a perfect world the transitions wouldn't be as distinct as they are - but that is determined by the yarn. Had I found yarns in more similar colour tones it would look smoother, but this isn't too bad. The centre is knit using two strands of the light pink, then one strand light and one strand dark pink is held together, then two strands of the dark pink, and finally the edge is done with one dark pink and one brown strand.
The pattern looks soo much more complicated than it is! There's a system for adding stitches in the corners, but everything inbetween is identical for every pattern row. And you still get this cool, graphic pattern. Go figure. I think it would work for boys as well as girls, and have some plans for a green version some time in the future.
I blocked the blanket to exactly 1m by 1m, because that't the size of my excercise mat. It shrunk down a bit afterwards, and the finished size is 90cm by 90cm. Details are, as usual, on my Ravelry page.
It's been ages since I finished this blanket and it's still lying in my closet waiting for a recipient... So I decided it was high time to blog it anyway. I've been wanting to take better photos of it, but I've had seven months to do it and it seems clear that's not going to happen, so here it is! It's not really blocked, but I did soak it and let it dry flat and it did even out the shape a bit. I started and ended with a white section, and did a row (or two?) of single crochets around the edge for better definintion and finished look. More details on my Ravelry page.
When the baby was born and it turned out to be a girl (some like it to be a surprise), I made a little pink flower connected to a braided pink band that runs along the edge.
