A bumper bundle of baby blankets

Baby blankets are one of my favourite things to make, and probably always will be.  They're quick and so there usually isn't enough time to be bored with the project, they're bright and colourful, and they get sent to appreciative new homes!

Earlier this year Vikki asked me if I wanted a new knitting/crochet project, as they were expecting Baby Bird the Third.  Always happy to oblige!

I chose a harlequin stitch pattern from a book of crochet stitches, and chose a rainbow palette from my collection of Stylecraft Special DK (perfect for baby items - it stands up to a lot of use, and washes well).  Vikki and I have often chatted about how difficult greens and yellows are in terms of making a rainbow - and this blanket I've named the Pistachio Baby Blanket as I had such a hard time working out which green I had used.  I needed to order more, and thought I had the right green, but didn't, so had to order even more, and I now have pretty much every green Stylecraft has produced.  I've paid a lot of online postage to get these!  Lesson learned, I should make a note of thing as I go along.

The blanket starts and ends with red rows, and the border is a round each of trebles and doubles.

I love how this blanket has turned out, it's bright and bold and looks impressive (even if I do say so myself) but it's not one I'll be repeating any time soon.  The pattern is quite hard to memorise (there are about five rows, all of which are ever so slightly different) and you need to ensure the ends of each row are perfectly correct in order to keep the shape of the diamonds.  On several occasions I had to take a number of rows back as the edges weren't straight and the blanket was getting bigger with each row!  But it does look good and I'm pleased I persevered.

A former housemate was expecting her first baby in May, and I wanted to make a blanket to match the one I made for their wedding.  It's a gorgeous pattern, lots of octagons and squares.  It's a bit fiddly because there is so much sewing up (and so many ends!) but I think it looks pretty good.  

A friend of mine commissioned me to make a blanket for one of her friend's in Australia.  This is the Attic24 Moorland pattern, rows and rows of lovely waves.  I liked making this more than I like the ripple pattern, there is no increasing or decreasing, just the use of taller and shorter stitches, so there is even less counting to do.  

Earlier this summer I found out that one of my friends from university was expecting her second baby.  It's a friend I don't speak to very often, and she isn't very active on social media, so I didn't know she was pregnant until she'd reached about 36 weeks.  But I wanted to make a blanket for the baby as I'd made one for her first (who apparently still sleeps with it every night) so I set myself the challenge of crocheting one very quickly to be posted off to the family before the baby arrived!

I chose the Attic24 Cosy Stripe blanket pattern - as always, her patterns are well written and have fabulous step-by-step photo tutorials.  This blanket is also made in Stylecraft Special DK - I emptied by bag of stash out on the sofa, picked out all the started balls and organised them into a vague sort of order.  I wanted bright and colourful and that's what I got.  The pattern is easy to memorise and I finished in no time at all.  It did arrive before the baby (just!) and his big sister opened it for him - apparently she recognised it as being 'the same' as her blanket, which is cute, even if they're nothing alike!

The third blanket I've made recently is for Gemma who is expecting her second daughter early this autumn.  I made a blanket for her first daughter (which matches the blanket I made as a wedding present) so it was inevitable that I'd make another blanket!  I asked what she wanted, any colour preferences, and she said no, so I took that to mean bright and colourful!  

Again, it's Stylecraft Special DK, this time using the classic Attic24 Granny Stripe pattern and her Spot On edging.  This was another case of 'empty my stash on the sofa and look at what I have'.     

I've just realised why these photos look a little odd, and it's because I've hung it upside down on the washing line and so the stitches look different.  I've not made this edging before, and I like it a lot - it was incredibly satisfying to see come together and I love the pink 'spots' in between the turquoise.

This now holds the blanket record for finish time - I started it one Saturday afternoon and finished the following Thursday evening!  It helped that I had no plans for that weekend and sat and crocheted whilst listening to podcasts.

I didn't make a note of information such as how many stitches I chained to begin with - I just made a foundation chain that seemed about right, and then went from there.  Also, most were made solely using stash yarn so they were (sort of) free and they're also contributing to all the decluttering Ben and I are trying to stay on top of.  Hurrah!

All of these are now in their new homes - I hope the babies (and families) enjoy them for many years to come.