Click on the "Read More" link to find all the pattern info + the story behind this heirloom piece.
Lace edging pattern: Around the Corner Crochet Borders, #147
Faux suede tag: Maple & Rose
Hook size: 4.5mm
Yarn: Rico Baby, Classic DK
Colour: 028, Dye lot: 160535
50% Acrylic; 50% Polyamide
Approximately 7.5 balls (50g, 165m each)
The yarn for this baby blanket was purchased on a clearance sale at our LYS several months ago. Possibly up to a year ago, or even further back. It was bought in the hopes that it would match paint we had previously purchased. Turns out, it was almost an exact match. :)
I can't tell you how many hours I've put into this blanket, but...it was a lot. I never knit or crochet with dk weight yarn. I barely even bother with worsted weight anymore. So, this was a challenge to power through. I really wanted the body to be knit, + then planned to (probably) crochet the lace border if learning to pick up stitches + knit lace turned out to be too hard under a time constraint. Three/four balls into the knitting, I switched to crochet, + then motored through the blanket in probably half the time it was taking to initially knit it.
Crocheting the body took a while (obviously), but because it started out from a corner, it was easy to get a good start on it the first few hours I put it. Getting to the halfway point was a helpful goal to set, because after that, each row decreased + worked up quicker than the last.
The crocheted border was actually pretty fun to do. It worked up quickly, + looks beautiful now. It's probably my favourite part. I used the same size hook for everything, + stitching into the body edges was pretty easy, as all of the edges' stitches were evenly spaced. That's one really, really nice aspect of doing a corner to corner project. You don't have to deal with trial + error stitch counts for the different edges. I was pleasantly surprised when it worked out perfectly on the first go around. I also added 4-5 rows of single crochet between the body + the border. I wanted the beige border to be thicker, but I didn't want to deal with tweaking the lace pattern to accomplish that extra width. Next time, I'd use the moss stitch instead of single crochet, I think. It would have a bit more give around the edges. But still. I'm very happy with the finished product.
And, of course, I needed to add a tag in the corner. I don't want this blanket ever ending up at a thrift store or being given away years from now. I declare it a family heirloom piece from the moment it was finished. An important part of this blanket is that the crochet hook that was used to make the lace border belonged to the great grandmother of the baby who will snuggling the blanket for the next couple of years.