As always, with an impending baby due in my circle of friends I started another baby blanket. I am nothing if not consistent. My bestie was due in March with her first baby (and has since birthed a beautiful 9lb baby boy) so I turned to a cotton yarn this time to be a bit more breathable, as they also live in a more northern hotter climate than us in chilly Gippsland. I also didn’t know the gender of this baby so stuck to a neutral base, with simple stripes in rainbow colours – red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.
I wanted the blanket to be quite chunky so I used two strands of yarn instead of one, and one of my favourite stitches which creates a bumpy textured finish. Basically it’s a single crochet and half-double crochet in the one stitch, skip one stitch and repeat. At the end of each row I’d only do a single crochet though. I hope that makes sense! I use this method for cotton cloths also to give the texture I want. I finished the blanket off with a single crochet border, three times around.
The blanket was an absolute labour of love, as always, and I hope it keeps Hunter warm and snug through his babyhood and beyond. Projects like these can’t have a price put on them, I put far too many hours into them, many evenings hooking away on the couch, ordering more yarn, but I love making them and knowing the little babes born into our circle of friends and family have a handmade blanket to snuggle into.
Of course, I couldn’t just leave things there though…once Hunter was born I got a little overexcited and got cracking on a little cardigan for him too. Because: baby boy cardigan!
Thankfully a very quick project in a newborn size, I am now wanting to make one of these for our own Winter babe in a cream. Two handmade gifts to welcome a precious little boy into the world, another little one to love and guide and watch grow, bloom and keep snug in Aunty Emma’s crocheted bits and pieces. Babies, babies, crocheting, crocheting! Never ending.
Rainbow Stripe Baby Blanket
Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mill’s cotton in latte, pomegranate, peach, daffodil, honeydew, light teal and regal.
Hook: 5.5mm (using two strands of yarn)
Newborn Baby Cardigan
Pattern: Paw Print Cardigan (free on Ravelry)
Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mill’s luxury in koala.
Hook: 4.5mm (pattern states to use 4mm)
Meridith says
Beautiful blanket! I haven’t crocheted with cotton before so I am looking forward to this…really enjoying the baby blanket size though as it crochets up nice and quickly and is a great gift! Thanks for this beautiful example of stitch and ideas for colour.
Grace says
Oooh one of my favourite crochet stitches is “grit stitch” which is very similar- a single & a double into the same stitch, skip the next stitch, & repeat… so easy/ mindless once you get the hang of it, and love the texture it gives… but I think I love the look of your single & half double combo even more!
Am currently about 10 rows into a square of grit, as one of a patch work / mixed pattern crochet blanket (funnily enough all in BWM luxury in Koala too, but with duck egg blue accent/ joining) to give my mum for their farmhouse. Slightly tempted to pull out and re-do with your half double combo instead!!
Kathy says
Your crocheting is amazing……
Emma says
Oh thank you! Hardly amazing, very self taught!
Anne@GritandGiggles says
So cute!