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Thursday 29 May 2014
Jacob's Simply Stripey Baby Blanket
In the last few months I've finished two baby blankets with a square theme - Harrison's giant granny square blanket, and Jasper's dot in a square blanket - and both used the same colour palette of pale blue, oatmeal and white. I had another blanket to make, this time for my cousin's new baby, Jacob, but I wanted to make something different.
Time to sit down with a cuppa, some magazines and the laptop for a flick, a ponder and a browse for inspiration....
Oh yes! I remembered that I'd seen a stripey blanket by Heather of Little Tin Bird, and felt inspired to make something similar (*** see note at the end of this post :) I quite fancied using the bright blue again that I'd used in Little Miss' Beautiful Bright Bag but it wasn't sitting right with the other colours I wanted.
A more varied colour-scheme than my other blankets was in order, with several blues, a red, and beige. That combo looked okay, but something was missing, it needed a bit of a lift. The light green gave just the gentle zing I was looking for.
That was it decided then. It would be a simply stripey blanket, with 6 colours, and some kind of border to be decided at the end.
When I make anything worked in rows I always start with a foundation double crochet, instead of simple chains, as its a bit more stretchy and forgiving. I found this foundation double crochet tutorial, it was so hard at first I thought I would never get it, but I persevered and now I absolutely love it. It's definitely worth trying out.
I made my starting row as long as I felt it needed to be. A few rows in, out of curiosity, I counted the stitches - there were 99. Gah! I really wish it had been exactly 100! Somehow that would have pleased me more :)
Anyway. I crocheted my stripes all in half-trebles (UK htr that is), and each stripe was 2 rows, turning the work at the end of each row. This way every stripe had the same texture - one right side then one wrong side (or vice-versa on the other side).
This blanket was really relaxing to work on. Hardly any thought required at all, just half-trebling back and forth, forth and back, a great put-your-feet-up-and-watch-telly project.
As usual (for me anyway) I wanted the stripes to be random. Arrrgghhh.... because as usual - deciding the random order (does that even make sense?) proved tricky. I wanted a fairly even distribution, and my only "rule" was that I didn't want red next to green. I think I managed to achieve that. Look at all that random stripeyness ....
I finished up at about 45 stripes, or 90 rows. Poor thing was in need of some tidying up ....
So I gave him a haircut ...
... and Little Miss gathered up the ends for me. I save them for stuffing things ...
There, much tidier now....
Next thing to do was deal with all the ends and then decide on the border. Hmmm. A row of beige double crochet (UK dc) in every stitch all the way around, working one dc into the side of each of the stitches at the row-ends as well, and 3 dcs into each corner.
Then another border row of pale blue, again 1 dc in every stitch, and 3 dc in each corner.
Finally I did 2 rows of half-treble (UK htr) all around of kingfishery-smokey-blue, working 1 htr into every dc of the pale blue border row, and 4 htr into the corners.
I dithered about adding some kind of picot or scallop edging as well, but in the ended decided to stop here. It was the simplicity of the stripes that I liked, so it seemed fitting to have a simple border too.
And here is the blanket in all its simply stripey glory :)
Doesn't Ted look cosy ....
Check out those delicious stripes ....
And here's the finished simply stripey blanket all folded and ready to be wrapped and posted off.
*** Note: Now, I have to say at this point, when something inspires me I try reeeealllyy hard not to go and look at it again, so that I can make my own version and not just a duplicate. Having said that, Jacob's blanket looks pretty much like I totally made an exact copy of Heather's stripey blanket, even uses very similar colours, but I swear I didn't do it on purpose! The image of her blanket must have stuck in my head a bit sort of subconsciously. I hope this can be perceived as flattery though, as Heather's blanket is really lovely :)
It's beautiful, Jill. I'm sure it will be much-loved. My son had that same teddy bear when he was a baby. It's still around here somewhere. :)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLittle Tomboy bought that teddy the last time we visited my family Northern Ireland. She called him Baby Ted :)
Deletexxx
I like you striped blanket.. a long work ...
ReplyDeleteAnd I must confess that I am magazines addict too...
In fact we have common points as I could read in your last post about kids and staying at home etc..
Good to read you on the blog land.
Miss xx
Lovely to read your blog too Miss. Hope you enjoy reading and writing about Liebster ....
DeleteJillxx
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSuch a gorgeous blanket Jill and perfect for a wee boy :-)
ReplyDeleteTracey xxx
Thanks Tracey :)
Deletexo
It's amazing how a border finishes a blanket off. I love it every time. Looks perfect with the red ribbon too. Lucky recipient!
ReplyDeleteCheers :) I have to pop it in the post so won't get to see them open it personally which is a shame ..... but I hope they like it :)
DeleteAbsolutely beautiful blanket, perfect for a wee boy to snuggle into. The border is lovely and really finishes it off.
ReplyDeleteMarianne x
Thanks Marianne :) So hard to know when to stop though isn't it, border-wise I mean ....
DeleteIm a first time visitor perusing your blog and love it :)
ReplyDeleteI dont usually like stripes but this blanket catches me in a way i dont quite get yet and makes my fingers itch for a hook :) lovely work