Anywho, I have a friend who had a baby boy 2 months ago. I decided to make him a baby blanket, out of that really, really soft "Baby Blanket Yarn", using a new stitch technique. I used the video tutorial here from Loomahat.com to make the blanket, using a stitch that goes around the pegs on the loom, and I used my longest loom. My friend also chose a Monsters, Inc theme for the nursery so when I found this yarn that's mostly white with the soft blue and green bits in there, I couldn't resist!
The results:
I love it!! The pattern that switches back and forth between purling one row, e-stitching the next, is such a pretty pattern and so easy to do!!
Then there's the edges. The way you wrap the outer edge pegs, forms this awesome rope-like edge that just looks so finished. It looks good head-on...
...and from the front!
I had to use 2 skeins of yarn, so there is the inevitable tie-off knot in there, and this is what it looks like up close, but you'd be hard pressed to just see it when you look at the blanket as a whole.
The only truly hard part I had was finishing the darn thing off. I will say, the YouTube video was pretty alright, except when she's showing you how to finish it. She accidentally goes off-camera with her hands and the part of the loom she's working on so it was a little difficult for me to understand (probably mostly with my limited knit and/or crochet skills) what she did if your row gets tight and you need to add an extra stitch here and there. I sort of figured it out towards the middle, but by then, it's really hard to recover and it got tight again, forming this little scallop part. Oh well, mostly it looks just as finished as the first row and the sides, and a friend I showed it to told me that babies like to nibble, so maybe that's what he'll do with the scallop point?
All in all, this blanket took me about 24 solid hours of work, and is 30" by about 38" or so long. I will be sending it out to my friend this week and can't wait to see what he and his fiance say about it! I really hope they like it!!
Now that I know the amount of time and effort that goes into this type of project, I want to start thinking about doing smaller squares and make an afghan for myself to use in the living room when I get cold. That means I'd have to learn the whole stitching-pieces-together thing, but hey, challenges are fun! Right? Right!!
Craft ya laters!!
I have to say, this blanket is definitely nice! Its sooooooo soft, and warm, I'm really jealous of my son. I certainly have to say, I wish she made one for me, too! The blanket has a bit of weight to it, which to me means that when it gets really cold outside, I won't have to worry about my son being cold.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the color combination is so cute! I love how there isn't an specific pattern that was followed, or certain design to the blanket.
I still can't get over the fact that this blanket is so soft!
Thanks BeadsByCelleste! I absolutely love this blanket, even though I won't get to use it. Haha
What yarn company is that yarn?
ReplyDeleteI am SO sorry! I didn't get a notification that I had a comment! The yarn I used ishttp://www.joann.com/bernat-baby-blanket-yarn-10.5-oz/zprd_10220564a.html#q=baby+blanket+yarn&start=2 in "funny prints" color.
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DeleteHow many pegs did you use to get it this width?
ReplyDeleteI apologize, I didn't realize there was a comment on my blog....
DeleteI don't exactly recall how many pegs I used, but I believe I may have used all of the pegs on the largest straight loom, going around using that pattern, or maybe there was a peg or two skipped at the edges.
I'm working on a blanket with the dame yarn. I'm doing single knit, wrapping around one end of the loom. I saw that "scallop" developing on my project. I resolved some of the problem by knitting the peg at the center of the end first then knitting the pegs on either side of the center peg giving the yarn a slight extra tug. Doing this on only a few pegs on either side will do a lot to keep a straighter edge. I do the same thing on a couple of stitches at the beginning and end of the rows also. I hope this helps on your next project.
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