Baby Blanket

This is the third project I have made from leftover jumbo yarn from my cable knit throw, although it was never intended to be used at all! I had some of this unusual yarn that I was really unsure how it would knit up. It's a Moda Vera Hue Bulky 12ply acrylic & wool mix yarn in the color 'Pastel Mix'.

I wanted to make a baby blanket for an expecting friend, who is having a girl, so I thought all the purples and pinks through this would keep this a girl friendly color without being typical plain baby girl pink.

I used a 4mm crochet hook and started making a basic granny square;  3HDC, CH1 along the sides and then 3HDC, CH2, 3HDC at the corners. To finish a round/start a new one;
CH4, 3HDC (this is the new corner) crochet round, when you get back to your CH4; 2HDC, slip st into 2nd chain, slip st into corner space.

The colours looked really cool, but I used up all the yarn really quickly before the blanket was big enough, so I decided it would be cool to continue with a really plain neutral colour. Luckily for me the Pastel Mix had a lot of stoney tones which matched the colour of the leftover jumbo yarn. When I changed over to the jumbo yarn, because it was thicker, I switched to 3DC instead of 3HDC. I continued in the new colour for a few rounds, then decided to block it out so I could get an idea of size.

Blocking made a massive difference, at this point the blanket was about 20"x20", which I still wasn't happy with, so I kept adding until the blanket measured roughly 30"x30".

I am really happy with the way the blanket has turned out, and I love the cool mix of colours with the plain neutral border to calm it down and stop it from being too garish.

As it is my first gift of 2015, I am using my gift tags for the first time; I think they add that perfect personal finishing touch! I can't wait to wrap this little package up and post it to my friend… in fact I can't wait to see her little bundle of joy wrapped up all snug in this blanket!