Wednesday, November 20, 2013

A New Baby, New Blankets

A new great-niece (or is it grand-niece?) will be added to our family in March! It's baby project time at my house!

This little crocheted blanket is one of the items still in progress. Does any crafty person have only one project going at a time? I certainly don't know any who do.

Back to the crocheted blanket. It's been in the works for months! I started in September because I knew it would take forever to finish. The pattern is lovely, but works up very slowly, and I only crochet when I can squeeze it in between other things. Lots of other things! This is what I've accomplished so far. I love this crocodile stitch! The blanket is thick and soft and warm. I'll post a photo when it's totally finished.



With baby on the mind, my newest pattern is another baby blanket. What else?


Babies love the feel of smooth satin, and flannel is soft, warm, and lightweight. I have made many little satin bound flannel baby blankets over the years, and moms are constantly telling me, "This is the one." This is the one that the child wants to cuddle with; it's the one that gets dragged everywhere and becomes tattered; it's the one that can't be replaced and causes tears when it has to be taken away just for washing. 

I've always wanted to make a pieced blanket with satin ribbon, and this just seemed to be the right time to experiment. I really love this one! I took it out to the park behind my house and took a ton of photos!  In fact, I love this blanket so much that I'm having a hard time with the thought of sending it to California. I've already put aside a few items for a future great-grandchild (well in the future) and I do want to put this one into that pile. I might have to make another. Oh my! Heaven forbid! More sewing? (giggle, giggle)

There were some scraps left over and I had an extra package of binding, so I cut a 15" square and bound it with satin to make a little snuggly. The snuggly is small enough to stuff into a diaper bag when there isn't room for a big blanket and it may solve the washing the blanket issue. I may make a bib or two as well, and I can use leftover ribbon to create a taggy. This could turn into a whole set of odds and ends.

Check this one out at my pattern store. The pattern is truly loaded with detailed instructions for every single little step and tons of photos. I tacked on the tutorial for binding with satin as a little (10 page) extra. 

Now, off to the next project. I think that January silhouettes are calling my name!

Happy Stitching!