Woodland Friends Baby Blanket

Prior to COVID during one of Mary Maxim's sales I bought some of their crochet baby afghan kits and put them away in a closet thinking at some point I'd need a baby blanket and while I have patterns sometimes getting the yarn to match can be time consuming. I pulled out the Woodland Friends kit found here last Spring and started working on it a few rows at a time. In July I realized finishing for an expected August baby required more commitment so I pushed ahead and finished it and mailed it off.

I ended up using a J hook to make guage for this blanket. I used yarn bobbins that I pick up when I can find them at local craft stores or online when I need those last items to make free shipping. They are stored in a plastic child's pencil box which are really inexpensive to find this time of year if you shop the back to school sales. I have lots of my crochet items stored in those little pencil boxes as they are easy to transport and cheap to buy if you get them in the fall.

This kit uses Mary Maxim's Starlette yarn and I've had mixed experiences with this yarn. The yarn tends to shed and I may have just received a few bad skeins but some of the yarn split making it more challenging to use. I've used Starlette for some of their doll kits and an ami kit and its been fine which is why I mention it could just have been a run of the yarn.

The directions are chart for this pattern were great. Despite my comments about how much easier it is to have the yarn provided I'd prefer to shop for the yarn for this project and find a brand I know won't split.

Dragon Lovey

I was blessed that a while back during one of the Crochetville wishlists I was gifted a Dragon Lovey pattern you can purchase here. As I mentioned in a previous post one of the challenges of getting donations done this year is the blessings of babies on both sides of the family this year. These dragon lovey blankets were made for twin girls due this month, but the shower of course was at the height of my doll production. Family first and it was nice to be able to give something a little different from what is being shown in the baby stores right now. While there are lots of lamb lovey blankets being sold out there, mine were the only dragons at the baby shower. So a thanks goes out again to the Fairy Godmother at Crochetville who made my gift special.

The twins are not going to be identical and we were told not to push the alike stuff which worked for me because I prefer not to repeat when I don't have to and using different colors makes it easier.

Rainbow Block Afghan

One of the dogs' groomers was expecting a baby boy and I wanted a fun and quick blanket to work up. I started one, but it just didn't work for me. Then I came across an e-pattern at Leisure Arts for the Rainbow Block Crochet Afghan. I liked the pattern and it worked up quickly. It appears to have been a hit with the gift recipient when DH dropped it off when the dogs got groomed in October. Yes, I admit this time of year I get incredibly behind in posting projects. This year has been particularly crazy.

However, at least I am still finishing projects, even if I'm slow to get them posted.

Circus Star Baby Afghan

This pattern comes from B Is for Baby from Annie's Attic. I keep finding useful patterns in this book that I had not noticed before. Realizing I needed a baby blanket pattern, I started searching through my printed patterns and my books. I was looking for something that was not a rectangle shape. The ends can sometimes be challenging to keep straight. The star pattern seemed a great alternative.

The primary colors were also an attraction. They create a bright and cheerful blanket. These colors also have the advantage of making a blanket that is easier to keep clean. While the pastels are more traditional for babies, they tend to stain easily making them more challenging to keep clean.

This blanket will be headed off to a family friend soon. However, it has inspired me to think about looking at some crayon afghan patterns.

If you arrived her looking for free baby blanket patterns please check out:


Baby Blanket Page

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