Most of the time I make my little Solid granny square baby blanket for friends and family and colleagues who are expecting a baby. But just every now and then I get the hankering for making a traditional granny square baby blanket like the one my mother made for my eldest son. She had started making one for me for my second son but never got to finish before she passed away. It did get finished by another relative in the family and has now been passed on to my little grandson.
They are so easy to carry about if you are out and about and like to take a project with you. For most of us, myself included they are the first baby blanket you learn to make carrying on from learning how to make a basic granny square and you can find details of that here. Depending on how big the blanket needs to be, some only want a blanket that will fit over the pram or pushchair whilst others want one large enough to use for a christening.
The one I recently made for a colleague at work was made up of forty rounds which will normally take 400g of wool plus an additional 300g to fringe and measures approximately 42" x 42" / 107cm x 107cm without the fringing and approximately 52" x 52" / 132 x 132cms with fringing.
When I'm making a traditional baby blanket I tend to stick to either white or cream DK wool but if the intended recipient knows the sex of their baby then they may choose to go for baby pink or baby blue and for the most part I use Woolcraft Faircroft Junior Shades DK yarn. The reason being that it comes in 500g balls so no need for starting a new ball. Now although I usually favour a 3.5mm hook for my blankets when it comes to this one I use a 4mm it keeps it to a nice tension and creates nice neat treble. The average cost to make one of these gorgeous blankets is around £14 or $18.
Once you get going you can actually make your blanket as big as you want it to be and there is nothing stopping you changing colours along the way, whatever takes your fancy. If I am going to use more than one colour then I use either Woolcraft babycare DK or if I want a bigger colour range then Stylecraft Special DK
Once I have completed the amount of rounds to complete my blanket I finish off and sew in any ends. I then work on the fringing and I have added a how to add fringing to your blanket in the Hints, Tips & know how or by you can just click here .
and once I've finished adding all the fringing and trimmed all the edges to the same size then I put my finishing touch
a little personalized label
&
I love these little hands aren't they cute
So far I have made three of these blankets this year already, I wonder how many more baby blankets I'll be making in 2019.
Mx
Beautiful! I made a blanket for Charlie, my sister-in-law's first grandchild, but I didn't fringe it. The fringing really does make all the difference. Best, Jane :)
ReplyDeleteIt’s time consuming Jane but certainly finishes off the blankets.
DeleteMx
Great blanket. My old neighbour (old as in where we used to live!) made a baby blanket for my eldest and I still treasure it. xx
ReplyDeleteI still have the ones made for my own children except for my son who had the baby and I have passed his onto them. There are a lot of blankets around with my name to them but I have always enjoyed making them.
DeleteMx
It's a lovely blanket Mitzi, nice also that you've got a pattern that can be made time and again. I've kept the 2 blankets that were made for the boys, one was crocheted and suitable for pram, pushchair and laying on the floor. The other was a 3 ply delicate circular blanket that I folded in half to wrap the baby in. It was lacy but very soft. Cathy x
ReplyDeleteThank you Cathy. My mum made me a circular one too that was more Lacey that one is still wrapped up and stored away.
DeleteMx
It's beautiful, very traditional with the fringing. I couldn't crochet when my two were babies but I'd been knitting since before I can remember, but still, I never made a thing for them as babies, I really regret that now.
ReplyDeleteMy mum taught me to crochet but I was more a knitter and I made them quite a lot. I thought i’d make more for Freddie but I haven’t made as much as I thought I would although i’ll Be onto Adan’s for him soon which I prefer. I didn’t crochet for mine but i’m making up for it now they’re adults they’ve all got blankets.
DeleteMx