Baby Blankets

My family has been blessed in the past year to welcome 2 very special babies.  Consequently, I have been busy knitting baby blankets!  I ventured out from hats and scarves in September to make my first baby blanket ever, and I even created my own pattern!  This blanket was made for my cousin's baby, a really sweet little boy with the cutest smile.

Since I knew this baby's name ahead of time, I was able to create a pattern with his first initial, A.

This blanket was very simple and I was able to finish it in a little over a week.  When choosing a yarn, I wanted something that was really soft but also easy to take care, a.k.a., machine washable and can go in the dryer.  The yarn I ended up using was Red Heart Soft Baby Steps, Baby Blue.  I tend to use a lot of wool and wool blends when making adult hats, but for a baby, it's really important to use something that is easy to care for, and this yarn is 100% acrylic.

When I knit this blanket, I used straight needles, but I would definitely use a circular needle next time.  The second blanket I knit, I used a circular needle and it made a huge difference, especially as the blanket got longer and heavier!  I have linked the instructions and pattern if you would like to make this blanket.

During the past few months, I spent a lot of time knitting a blanket for my new nephew.  Of course my brother and sister-in-law didn't have a name picked out ahead of time, so I couldn't make another initial blanket.  After searching through many patterns, I finally decided on this one from Bernat.

This is the blanket I knit on the circular needle.  The pattern was a lot more involved and called for smaller needles, so it took a lot longer for me to complete this one!  I highly recommend a stitch counter to keep track of the pattern.  I love how it came out, although I forgot to take pictures of the finished product.  Fortunately, these pictures (from my phone!) really show the pattern.  I used Plymouth Yarn Encore, Col. 1201.  This yarn is 25% wool and 75% acrylic and is also machine washable and tumble dry.

I really enjoyed making these snuggly little blankets for my baby cousin and nephew.  I am looking forward to starting some new knitting projects over the summer.

Cheers!
Jenn