baby blanket – Bead Yarn & Spatula

A Blanket, a Runner and a Scarf

I recently completed a few crocheting/knitting projects – one was sitting on my needles a little longer than I had hoped, one came together rather quickly and another was semi-done but just waiting to be sewn together.

Up first a baby blanket that was a cinch to make. This is actually the third baby blanket I’ve completed this year – I previously made a Violet V-Stitch Baby Blanket and a Baby Blue Basketweave Blanket. Every time I make one I try to find a completely different pattern to follow and for this one I opted to use the Spring Ripple Baby Throw pattern from the Lion Brand Yarn website. At first I wasn’t seeing the ripple pattern come through but midway through it became clearer. I’m really happy with how this blanket came out and I loved the yarn I used – Loops & Threads Snuggly Wuggly in Doodle Dots. It wasn’t too heavy or too light which is perfect since the baby it’s meant for is due in late spring.

And next a crochet project that I actually started late last year… the Crochet Shapes Table Runner, once again a pattern from the Lion Brand Yarn website. I liked this pattern even before I knew how to crochet because of the different motifs it consisted of. I had crocheted all the motifs but needed to stitch them together, unfortunately I got sidetracked with other projects before doing so. I ended up putting the motifs away but it was always in the back of my mind that I needed to finish it and I recently found the time to do so.

The table runner consists of six motifs: Octagon Star, Granny Stitch Hexagon, Circle in the Square, Octagon, Six Petal Flower & Flower Center Circular.

And when all of these pieces are stitched together you have a unique and customized table runner.

Finally, a scarf that I began when a fellow blogger, For The Knit Of It, ran a knit-a-long back in March. The pattern chosen was the Bosc Pattern from Robin Ulrich. And yes, Bosc as in pears. If you look closely at the scarf you can actually see the curves of pears in the pattern. I loved the pattern and was excited to work on it, but, getting it started was such a task. Just getting to this point – the first 10 rows of the pattern – took me about 10 tries.

The reason… the pattern consisted of numerous yarn overs and I kept missing them and would ultimately have to start over. (Knitting is not as forgiving as crocheting.) To combat that I actually typed of the pattern and then marked where the yarn overs would be so I wouldn’t keep missing them. Once I did that working on the pattern was a piece of cake. Unfortunately for myself it wasn’t the type of pattern that I could mindlessly work on while watching television so it took me a lot longer to complete it than I had hoped. I am happy though that I didn’t give up on it and am looking forward to wearing it next winter.

Baby Blue Basketweave Blanket

I started this blanket a few weeks ago after I finished the Violet V-Stitch Baby Blanket. I should say though that I started this blanket quite a few times before I got it right. From the get-go I ran into stumbling blocks to get it done.

To make this blanket I used Lion Brand Pound of Love Yarn and size 10.5 circular knitting needles . The pattern I was planning on using called for two strands of the yarn to be held together so I decided to take this huge skein of yarn

and unwind it

and then wound it up into a ball – which was no easy task since I ran into a few tangles along the way. Once I got to this point I was happy and ready to begin knitting. But, my joy was short-lived.

The pattern I initially wanted to follow is called the Seed Stitch Baby Blanket from the Lion Brand Yarn website. Unfortunately I had a hard time following the seed stitch* pattern on circular knitting needles. So, I had to scratch that idea and look for a new pattern. I opted to go with a basketweave pattern since I had made a blanket following the pattern once before with the same yarn. The pattern I semi-followed is the baby blanket from the Simply Perfect Baby Set** also from the Lion Brand Yarn website. I knew I had to make modifications to the pattern though to get the blanket to be a decent size; when I made this before I ended up following the pattern exactly and ended up with a fairly small blanket (approximately 18 in x 24 in). To make the blanket larger I ended up knitting four mini blankets and stitching them together. I didn’t want to do that this time so I decided to modify the original pattern.

So, the original pattern called for casting on 88 stitches, but I opted for 90 stitches and added the two additional stitches to the side border of the blanket. All was going fine until I realized that somewhere along the line I had added on an extra stitch, so I was working with 91 stitches as opposed to 90, and unfortunately knitting isn’t as forgiving as crocheting. It’s possible to hide a stitch while crocheting with no one being the wiser but when you are knitting it’s not so easy. (If anyone has figured out how to do so please share!) So, I had to start over.

On my second go at it I noticed that my rows for the basketweave weren’t as wide as I remembered them to be from the first time I made the blanket and I immediately realized it was because I was working in intervals of six rows as opposed to twelve rows. So, I started again.

But, a few rows into the pattern I decided that it looked better with the smaller intervals so I took what I had done thus far off the needles and decided to start AGAIN! I also noticed that the blanket wasn’t going to be very wide so I opted to cast on 100 stitches instead of my original 90.

I figured at this point I was good to go, but, I had one more hiccup to overcome. With the original pattern the basketweave is created using an even number of blocks in the rows, but, when I added the additional ten stitches the basketweave pattern was now going to be created over an odd number, nine to be exact. I should note that that didn’t even cross my mind when I decided to add the additional ten stitches; it was only when I finished my first row and wanted to follow the pattern that I realized it wasn’t going to work. Thankfully the solution came to me quickly. Essentially with basketweave you are knitting the purl stitches and purling the knit stitches as you go along to create the illusion of the weave – basically a version of seed stitch. So I just needed to do that as I went along and I was good to go. From that point on the blanket was a cinch to make. Sometimes the most simplest things are the most difficult to make.

And here’s the final product that measures approximately 29.5 in x 31.5 in.

Here’s the pattern I ultimately used:

Basketweave Blanket:

Cast on 100 stitches

Knit 10 rows

Row 1: Knit 5, *knit 10, purl 10; repeat from * to last 5 stitches, knit last 5 stitches

Row 2: Knit 5, *purl 10, knit 10; repeat from * to last 5 stitches, knit last 5 stitches

Rows 3, 5: Repeat Row 1

Rows 4, 6: Repeat Row 2

Row 7: Knit 5, *purl 10, knit 10; repeat from * to last 5 stitches, knit last 5 stitches

Row 8: Knit 5, *knit 10, purl 10; repeat from * to last 5 stitches, knit last 5 stitches

Rows 9, 11: Repeat Row 7 Rows 10, 12:

Repeat Row 8 Repeat Rows 1-12 twelve more times

Repeat Rows 1-6 one time

Knit 10 rows

Bind off

*Seed Stitch (over an even number of stitches)

Courtesy Lion Brand Yarn

Row 1: *K1, P1; repeat from * across

Row 2: P the knit stitches, and K the purl stitches

Repeat Row 2 for Seed Stitch

**Simply Perfect Baby Set Blanket

Courtesy Lion Brand Yarn

Cast on 88 stitches

Knit 10 rows

Begin working in pattern stitch as follows:

Row 1: knit 4, *knit 10, purl 10; repeat from * to last 4 stitches, knit last 4 stitches

Rows 2-12: Repeat row 1 Row 13: knit 4, *purl 10, knit 10; repeat from * to last 4 stitches, knit last 4 stitches

Rows 14-24: Repeat row 2 Repeat rows 1-24 five more times

Knit 10 rows

Bind off

Violet V-Stitch Baby Blanket

After two weeks of crocheting I completed the baby blanket I’ve been working on. I followed a simple V-Stitch pattern and ended up with a blanket that measures 34×39 inches. A little bigger than what the pattern I followed suggested it would be (33×36 inches) but I also used a different kind of yarn (Red Heart Soft Baby Steps yarn as opposed to Lion Brand Babysoft yarn) and added a different border to it. When it comes to blankets I don’t think it hurts for it to be a little bigger as long as it’s proportionately correct.

The pattern called for adding a border around the perimeter of the blanket. I was a little unsure of how to do it from reading the directions, but, as I suspected once I started I immediately got the hang of it. To do so I first worked single crochets around the outside edge of the blanket and then in the second round added the decorative border by working into those single crochets. The pattern called for creating a picot edge. I decided to check out videos on YouTube to see how to make them and after a few attempts I couldn’t get the hang of them myself so I decided to go a different route and added a scalloped edge instead. To create the scalloped edge I worked a half-double crochet, double crochet, treble crochet, double crochet, half-double crochet into every third single crochet.

And here’s the final product…

Next up… Another baby blanket – a Seed Stitch Baby Blanket – which I am sure will take me a little longer to make since I will be knitting it on circular knitting needles.

This is the pattern that I used as a basis for creating the blanket.

V-Stitch Baby Throw Pattern

Courtesy: Lion Brand (www.lionbrand.com)

Throw

Ch 148

Row 1: (dc, ch1, dc) in 5th ch from hook (V-St made) *sk next 2 ch, V-st in next ch; rep from * across to last 2 ch, sk next ch, dc in last ch – 48 V-sts at the end of this row

Row 2 – 78: Ch 3, turn, V-st in ch-1 sp of each V-st across, dc in top of turning ch. Do no fasten off.

Finishing

Border

Rnd 1: Do not turn, work sc evenly spaced around entire outside edge of Throw, working 3 sc in each corner st; join with sl st in first sc.

Rnd 2: *Ch 2, sl st in 2nd ch from hook (picot made), sk next sc, sl st in next 2 sc; rep from * around.

Note: As you near the end of Rnd 2, count your remaining sts. If necessary, you can sl st in 1 or in 3 sc (instead of 2 sc), in order to end the rnd evenly.

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Abbreviations:

ch – chain

dc – double crochet

sk – skip

st – stitch

sp – space

sc – single crochet

sl – slip