I recently finished this baby blanket for a friend at work who's soon to have her second child. When I say recently, I mean that I was darning in the ends on Thursday night ready to give it to her yesterday, on her last day. I am nothing if not motivated by a deadline...it was the same when I was a student, always writing my essays the day before they were due in and leaving things until the last possible moment.
This blanket was a dream to crochet, providing that elusive balance between being easy enough to work on without much concentration, but with enough colour changes to not be too boring. My friend was equally easy going, not minding what the colours were so long as it was neutral and with a preference for grey. (Some have expressed consternation about the presence of pink in a blanket that might potentially be for a boy and I'm afraid I have no time for this. Are we really still doing all pink for baby girls and all blue for baby boys in 2018?) So I was able to choose my favourite palate of colours; light and dark grey, white, blush pink and mustard yellow.
I worked the blanket in double crochet (UK terms) all the way through as I just love the subtle texture it creates, and the border is two simple rows of the same stitch
I worked this is cotton yarn which has quite a weight to it, so I didn't need to block this blanket. It has a lovely drape already and folds pleasingly. I'm hoping it be useful for baby to lie on in the summer months, and be wrapped up in as the weather gets colder. And being cotton, it's machine washable and can go in the dryer - very important!
The overall size is 70cm x 100cm. I worked a foundation chain of 100 stitches and then 36 rows in each colour, which was about two and a half balls of each. I used a 4mm hook and Drops Paris cotton DK yarn in the following colours: 16 White, 23 Light Grey, 24 Dark Grey, 41 Mustard, 59 Light Old Pink.
And yesterday I sort agreed to crochet two blankets for two more colleagues who are leaving and moving away at the end of term. Yes, two blankets in four weeks. It can be done, yes? I'm thinking throw size, chunky yarn, big hook. Stripes or ripples, but something without too many ends to darn in. Wish me luck.
I like to read your posts because of it's good quality.
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Lovely blanket, nothing wrong with pink for a boy. There was a time when only men wore pink and blue was considered a female colour. The SO stole my pink socks one day last week because he liked them so much.
ReplyDeleteOh I love this. And isn't it interesting how a border just finishes a blanket off properly. Like a full stop at the end of a sentence, it looks right. Love your colour combination.
ReplyDeleteI was told very firmly that son and d-i-l wanted to avoid any 'gendered' gifts. Not that I needed telling, I was a feminist long before either of them were born and still am.
Beautifully done, I do so love the texture of double crochet. Gorgeous colour combinations as well. My youngest was out and about in his pink t-shirt today, girls can't hijack a whole colour for themselves. The middle boy has a pink t-shirt as well. Good luck with the next two blankets, thick yarn is definitely the way to go. CJ xx
ReplyDeleteBeautiful colours, Gillian. I'm not surprised that you had extra requests. Chunky yarn all the way! xx
ReplyDeleteYour familiar colours worked beautifully. Lovely. Good Luck then... Jo xx
ReplyDeleteI do wish you luck! And I love this blanket that you crocheted, it is lovely.
ReplyDeleteThat is just lovely! I wish I could do that! Maybe one day I will! Thanks for the inspiration!!
ReplyDeleteLucky friends! The blanket is gorgeous and the edging just makes it perfect - it is so much nicer than ones I have seen in the shops.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is expecting again and as last time has no desire to know the sex of her baby - she wants a surprise and I am all in favour of that. So we buy things that will do for either but she is not into baby pinks and blues anyway perferring muted colours.
I must say though when you meet someone with a baby in a pram and you cannot easily distinguish whether it is a girl or a boy and you don't want to offend by getting it wrong - if the baby is dressed in pink or blue it is always an easy indication of sex and has got me out of a sticky moment a few times!!
It seems from your post that you work well under stress - I would fit well into your camp!
Happy crocheting.
Beautiful blanket... love your choice of colours. Oh my, that is a lot of crochet before the end of term - totally doable though!
ReplyDeleteLovely Gillian & your workmanship is so neat, I don't wonder you are in demand. As for the boy/girl colour thing, I'm sure most people realise that colour is in the eye of the beholder, whatever it is. We all have our own preferences & favourites. On my last post, I showed a quilt I made for my Doctor's first baby & somebody had said, did I know it was a girl, as it had pink in it. She hasn't found out what she is having and I just went with the flow from my stash & made it funky & not too bright with lots of colour picked from the background fabric. As long as it is used & loved, what the heck. Thanks for sharing & take care. BTW, my doc loves it.
ReplyDeleteI don't think pink was considered a 'girly' colour until the late C19th; before that it was considered to perfectly ok for boys or men to wear pink. In fact it was considered to be a cousin of red which was seen as a military and masculine colour due to the red coats that the British Army wore.
ReplyDeleteHi Gillian, I'm just catching up on your recent posts. Your garden is looking beautiful and I really love the table you and John built. I can see that you're constantly working toward a more beautiful home and it's really paying off, it's becoming such a lovely place. I adore this blanket you made, it's gorgeous! I love big, thick stripes like that, so graphic and bold. I'm sure your blanket will be much-loved. I hope you and your family are doing well and enjoying the end of school.
ReplyDeleteLovely! And sounds pretty straightforward so there's every possibility that I could manage to crochet something like this! Great colours - love it!
ReplyDeleteI never would have thought to combine the pinks and greys with mustard yellow but I *love* this blanket. In fact you have totally inspired me. Mustard yellow is my SILs favourite colour so I am making my twin nieces (due soonish) quilts inspired by your blanket, as I won't have time to crochet two before they're born.
ReplyDeleteI have also ordered some of the cotton yarn in pastels to do a colour block blanket for an expectant mum who favors pastels. I love the price too. I am in Australia and even with shipping from the UK it was cheaper than anything I could get locally.
Thank you for the inspiration!
Kate (a regular reader but infrequest commenter)