hi there!
those who follow me on instagram might have noticed i've recently become an auntie for the very first time! my brother and his girlfriend had a beautiful baby girl called Olivia two weeks ago! we were all so excited since the day we knew they were expecting! so, ofcourse, i had to make some stuff for the baby! :)
the first thing i want to share is the one i'm most excited about: i made a soft, light baby blanket in 100% merino wool.
why a blanket? i personally think (though i never had a baby) they are
very useful: they can be used for keeping warm, in the car or in the
crib, maybe even as a play mat or for lying on. or maybe just as home
decor if you don't use it in any other way. ;) it seems like a sensible, useful gift that lasts long and that they don't outgrow too fast.
i knew i wanted something in 2 colours (although i also love
multi-coloured crochet blankets) and i decided on blue and yellow. the yarn is Woolly by DMC creative, which is 100% merino wool. (and, if we can believe the website, "sourced from Australia and 100% natural and renewable) i thought it was important to choose a yarn that was made of wool because wool gives a lot of warmth and tends to be better for sensitive baby skin. this yarn was also really really soft and gives a very nice drape when knit up. definitely a winner for baby stuff!
for the pattern i was heavily inspired by this blanket by Lisa Kinoo. i made some swatches and decided on double moss stitch. i made some calculations and cast on a huge number of stitches and just started knitting away! after i knit a big rectangle (i aimed for a size of 140x80cm but it turned out somewhat smaller), i finished with some single crochet rows and finally a scalloped edge. (pattern found in some old thrifted crochet book.)
i also finally learned how to hold my yarn "the right way". i knit
english style and i used to "throw" my yarn, but without holding it over
my index finger. knitting this amount of purl and knit stitches was
very hard on my wrist, so i went to my mom for advice. she showed me how
to hold my yarn this way, which is much better for my wrists!
and finally, some details:
- i started knitting in september and finished in january.
it was my on-the-train-knit until it started getting too big to carry along everyday.
- i used 9 balls of yarn (8 yellow, 1 blue. i loved working with this yarn!)
- and some things i learned in the process:
1. i will never EVER again start a new ball of yarn in the middle of a row.
1. i will never EVER again start a new ball of yarn in the middle of a row.
2. i should keep better notes about the amount of stitches i cast on.
3. blocking really made this blankie look 4572x times better than when it just came off the needles. :)
