The instant I saw this purl soho baby blanket on pinterest, I knew I had to make a similar blanket for Laelia. Not only that, but it sparked the inspiration for a new color scheme in this room, going from a more pastel set of primary colors used in her nursery (aqua, pink, yellow), to a cleaner more bold set of colors; navy, bright pink, a fresh clean blue, yellow and gray.
I did not follow the pattern directly, because I knew I didn’t want to create a crib blanket (I have already knit Laelia a crib blanket), and a garter stitch blanket is so straight-forward. I think I cast on 120 or 150 stitches, and each stripe is 40 rows high. It took me almost exactly one year from start to finish, and I started the blanket six months after I bought the yarn! I knit in the car mostly, and when I watched TV and more often after Luca was born. It came out much larger than I expected, but I’m glad for it–it will certainly keep her warm even when she is grown! I deliberately wanted a colorful machine washable yarn, and it also had to be affordable. Although I would have preferred the color selection to be a bit more vibrant and less pastel, I chose Martha Stewart’s Extra Soft Wool Blend and I was very happy with it. Its warm and soft and squishy, it has great stitch definition, and I can throw it in the washer and dryer! I ended up having to buy a second skein of each color after I started the blanket, and unfortunately the lot dyes vary pretty greatly… if you look closely on the right of the above picture you can identify where I started new rows.
It felt great finishing this blanket. Knitting is an excellent tool to reinforce the idea that each step forward, no matter how small, is another step forward to accomplishing your goal. It felt like I was never going to finish it! And when I did and Laelia was finally able to use her blanket to sleep with, she was so happy. It is her “special-warmest-blanket-ever-that-mommy-made-me” (*dries eyes*).
This blanket is really lovely. Do you remember what size needles you used?
I believe I used a size 10 needle to give it a bit more spring and make it a bit more open weave!