Amanda's Knitted Baby Blanket

The best present you can give a friend who is expecting is a baby blanket! Especially if the baby is going to be a winter baby, as they will go through blanket after blanket when they are little. Those little hands have a way of spreading the diaper mess everywhere, and when it is cold outside, you can be washing and drying often. There is no better way to spread love and good wishes to your friend or family member than to take time to make a knitted blanket. I know, crochet seems to be the right solution, but when I began this project, I remembered why I love a knitted blanket-the tightness of the stitches keep a warmth and a quality that crochet loses. I promise, you will love the result! First of all, it is a baby blanket. Amanda and Luke are having a boy! So, here is a really nice blue baby boy blanket that is one row after another. The length is up to you, but I used two skeins of each blue, and added an accent navy blue in the middle to join them together. It was no more than three skeins of yarn, and it cost me no more than $15. What I spent in time, was given back to me in rest and relaxed knitting, which is a gift to any knitter who knows best. The most relaxing and calming activity I have ever come close to knitting, is yoga, but that involves only a brief few hours at best. You can knit all day if you need to find rest and relaxation! Take your mind of politics, off your worries, and any of your daily chores, and find a comfy chair and knit away. I love it so much!

Here is another shot of the middle, with the stripe change close up:

So, here are the instructions to make this blanket yourself. You can use any three colors, and if it is a girl, use pink, rose and a dark red. Or, to keep it simple and clean, try three grey tones. Beautiful! Start with a middle blue, and cast on 72 stitches on a Size 9 needle, 550mm. The yarn I used was the Patons Classic Wool, a Medium 4 Hand wash wool skein, that is easily found in most craft stores. The wool is soft, and comes in many colors. I used royal blue, color 77132, and new denium, color 77115, with an accent of Navy, color 00216. Use up the first color, and when you get to almost the end, start two rows of Accent color, and then two rows of the first color, and then two rows accent, etc, and then four rows accent, and two rows first color, and then 8 rows accent, two row second color, and then 4 accent, and then 2 second color, and then 2 rows accent, and then continue with the new color until the skein is complete. Now, you can finish by binding off, and then single crochet around the edge, and a little bit of a twist to create the curley edge. The end result is a small, but manageable blanket for mom and dad!