I Heart My Hearts And Stars Blanket
After a very long wait, my nephew has arrived. Six months ago I set out to do what any good auntie would do: make a baby blanket.
Hearts And Stars Blanket from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits For Tots
Yarn Misti Alpaca Worsted in Pumpkin (about 5 hanks, I think...)
NeedleU.S. 6 (again, I think... memory fading)
Mods Gauge, since the pattern calls for a DK cotton. Because of that I did five rows of pattern repeats rather than seven. Since the pattern is intended as a family blanket, not crib blanket, I think I would have modified the size even if it knit up in the recommended gauge.
So, there you have it. My amazing mother-in-law made this same blanket for the baby of a family friend a couple of years ago and I noticed that she paused when I told her I was planning it for the baby and that I'd already dove into it. She later confessed that it was a very long knit. I'm glad I went for a bigger gauge and less repeats, because as fun as the bumpy purled hearts and stars were, this was a looooooong one. I worked on it fairly regularly and it ended up being about five months of knitting. But I think it looks great. The yarn is like butter -- it's so soft and beautiful. I just hope that the baby isn't a particularly messy little thing, otherwise my sister-in-law is going to have to rename me "your Auntie who seems to think that it's okay to knit a hand-wash-only blanket for an infant." But, I just couldn't resist the yarn and I've successfully convinced myself that as a heirloom item, handwash yarn is okay.
Loads of more info and pictures (and auntie love) over at my blog.
posted by Elizabeth at 8:20 PM
6 Comments:
LOVE the blankie! And the color!!
It's really beautiful. Well done.
I'm a mother of five. In my experience, car blankets don't receive as much wear and tear and require much less frequent washings. I would sell the blanket as a car blanket, so it gets used all the time, and doesn't end up being washed as much as the blankets in the crib, ending with the mama hating you for the handwash wool. :)
Really beautiful!
BEAUTIFUL WORK!!! I love that pattern but the DK cotton put me off a bit - much nicer to knit in wool or alpaca when you're knitting something that big, so I think your worsted mods are wonderful. I might have to knock one up myself one of these days. The hat is just adorable too. Oh, and by the way, as a Mum who received a handwash only shawl for my bub, handwash yarn is PERFECTLY okay for an heirloom item, even if they milk spill ocassionally. So much nicer than many machine washable yarns. My SIL also received a similar shawl (her bub was 3w older than mine and the first time grandmother was very busy knitting for us while we were baking babies). She wasn't too keen on the washing as she was worried she would ruin it (I found it easy though as I am used to washing handknits of my own)so MIL happily took hers back each week for washing. That's another option if your sister is worried about washing.
Great job! The blankie looks luscious, and the pumpkin hat is all kinds of adorable.
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