Remember that knitted blanket I started forever ago?
2 weeks before Clara was born, I finished it!
….and fell in love with knitting all over again….and decided to actually add something to my ravelry notebook HERE.
The funny thing is, I could have knitted the whole thing in a couple weeks (rather than 4 months). It’s a pretty small blanket. But a knitting project feels like a good book. You love it so much you don’t want it to end…..so you knit real fast and then procrastinate the last 10 rows.
Are you that way too?
It’s good that I took my sweet time with it though because it made me more excited for this little girl to come.
Plus, what else can you do at night when you’re 9 months pregnant? Sit on the couch and keep your needles clanking.
Here’s how it came together….
I used the Chevron Baby Blanket pattern from the purl bee, where everything she does is lovely. I want to live inside her blog. For reals.
And I love the yarn colors she chose. But I went with girly pinks and purples instead.
I bought my yarn at a cute shop on South Congress in Austin called Hill Country Weavers. They carried the pretty Blue Sky Cotton yarn on the left which is what Purl Bee used. But I went with this Berroco brand “Vintage” wool/acrylic blend on the right because it can easily be washed in the washing machine. The yarn wasn’t cheap. I spent about $70 total on the skeins (which is less than what Blue Sky Cotton would have cost). But I really wanted to go all the way with the project and not skimp on the supplies. Kind of like making a real nice quilt. You could surely use lower quality yarns but I’m not sure what to recommend there.
With my yarns selected, my size 11 needles and I got busy (more info on my ravelry post). 
and busy.
The blanket went with me on the plane a couple times, to the park, the doctor’s office, and yes the couch. I got real good at counting stitches and unraveling messed-up rows. It’s not that the pattern is hard. It’s actually quite easy (and I’m a total novice—this was my 2nd knitting project). But it’s the kind of project that you can not do while talking. It requires you to count every 10 stitches. So it’s best to knit with a movie on in the background….rather than a playdate at the park.
Here’s the finished product: Molly’s blanket (left) and mine on the right. Her lines are much straighter but I’ll chalk that up to years of knitting experience.
The blanket is knitted with double strands of yarn so the finished product is chunky and a good weight. I would definitely recommend it to a beginnger, if you have someone to help you get started. Or…just consult youtube.com. I’m amazed at how many wonderful how-to videos are on there (such as “how to wind a center pull ball”, which you need to do before starting this project).
If you’re a professional knitter too you could easily have the blanket done a week tops.
Then grab your camera and admire the two sweet things you made:
Yay for blankets and babies with similar gestation periods!
And yay for my friend Katherine who helped me read the pattern and get the project started. She’s my go-to knitting expert. And when she’s not sure about something, we call her mom. It’s good to have a support system.
Check out the Celebrate BABY archives HERE.
