It's something that I've been meaning to do for two years. It's something that only took me a couple of hours in the whole scheme of things. It's something that would have made my life a whole lot easier. And it's something that I put off doing until this past January. -- Making a couple of mini-blankies for my boys for travel or church or just being out and about.
And, what, you may ask, inspired me to finally get it done? Why, a trip to Florida with only carry on luggage, of course! Titus has never, ever liked a pacifier. Instead, he soothes himself by sucking on a corner of a crocheted blanket. So, I rushed to get the green one made for him before we left home. And it's a good thing, considering that I forgot to even bring any blankets for the poor kid. And of course since baby brother gets one, Antonin "needs" one too. So, the white and blue one was made after we return home.
The verdict: I don't know why I put off making these for so long! It has been very useful with Titus. We now take it to church with us every week. And it is so much simpler to get him to nap away from home and his familiar routine. If I'd had it for Antonin when he was younger, he would have gotten a lot more use out of it too. Now, he;s just using it for his baby. He may use it more on a trip, but we'll have to wait to see about that.
These are adapted from a pattern found in 63 Easy-To-Crochet Pattern Stitches called cross stitch, and an edging found in Our Best Baby Afgans. The 63 stitches book is the first one I got when I started crocheting and I have adapted from patterns in it for most of the blankets that I have designed over the years. This is a very simple blanket that I'd like to share the pattern for.
Chain (ch) 51 loosely in color of choice.
Row 1: Sc in ch from hook and in each ch across. 50sc
repeat row 2 until you get a square
Row 2: Ch 3 (counts as first dc), turn. *skip next st, dc in next st, working in-front of dc just made, dc in skipped st; repeat from * across to last st, dc in last st.
With one or two more rows until square, add on a contrasting colour. Complete square. Do not finish off.
Edging
Round 1: With right side facing, ch4, (dc, ch 1) twice in same st. * skip next dc, (dc in next dc, ch 1, skip next dc) across to next corner. (dc, ch1) 3 times in corner st. Work dc, ch1 evenly across side. Repeat form * until finished, joining with sl st to 3rd ch of beginning ch-4. (25 dc on each side, plus corner dc)
Round 2: (Sl st, ch 1, hdc) in first ch-1 space, ch 1; working from left to right, * work reverse hdc in next ch-1 space, ch 1; repeat from * all the way around. Join with sl st to first hdc. Finish off.
