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| Baby Blanket Squares |
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| Yellow Rose Bush |
I seem to have set myself a bit of a challenge when I decided to use the yarn I had in my stash for the baby blanket! I discovered that I had a quantity of white yarn, some pink yarn, two shades of blue yarn and a dark red that had been bought for specific projects (sweaters), lots of leftovers in darker shades of blue and grey, some novelty yarn bought to make scarves, and not much in the way of neutral pastel shades which are suitable for a baby of either sex!
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| Granny Squares |
In general, I like to use mint green, pale lemon yellow, lilac, or the variegated baby yarn which has a mix of these pastel colors, when I am making baby blankets. I had enough of the pastel shades to make the granny square centers, each with a unifying yellow edging, surrounded by several rows of white. I made a total of six of these larger squares, each approximately 12 inches square. It is a good length, but it needs to be wider.
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| Long enough but too narrow |
I have been thinking of ways to make it wider - crochet a central band? Add a wider border on the two sides? Or, make three more 12-inch squares to make it a 36-inch square blanket (plus a border)? I have enough of the pink and blue pastel baby yarn to make the centers for them, but, I don't have enough yellow! Shall I introduce another color to the mix? I have some lilac colored yarn I could use in lieu of the yellow. I don't want it to look totally scrappy, either. Should I make those squares entirely white? Or...should I buy some pale yellow yarn for the purpose? What do you think?
In the meantime, while I ponder on what to do, I have been walking around the garden and looking at the roses:
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| Love to see them open up |
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| Each is a bit of perfection in itself |
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| Had to lift this up to photograph as it was too heavy for the stem! |
These past few days, I've been grateful for:
- My yarn stash
- Time in which to play with yarn
- Sunny and warm spring days
- Roses and fresh oranges
- Ladybugs on aphid control on the rose bushes!
My joyful activities have been crocheting, watching TV while I crochet, and gardening.
How is your weekend coming along? What do you think I should do to widen the baby blanket?
Hi Bless,
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely start to a baby blanket! I appreciate you trying to use up the yarn you do have! I’m hoping to do various projects with what I have as well, and it’s a lot! 😊 Do you have enough of one neutral color to do a one or two row connection between each of the white squares? I think it’s too much white and the centers seem a bit lost at this point. I also wondered whether you have enough of the various yarns, including the white to make 9 granny squares for each side. I think the granny squares as a side border would provide more color. You could certainly use some of the white in the granny squares on the side, but not too much. Anyway, those are my thoughts. Love to help audition yarn for a project! Good luck with this. Chris
All excellent suggestions, Chris! Thank you! I, too, wondered if it was too much white, but it's what I had the most of. I have small amounts of the other yarn, but not enough. What I did do was take myself to the yarn store and buy more yarn! Just what I said I wasn't going to do! LOL! I bought more pale yellow yarn and I will use that to make three additional white bordered squares similar to what I've already made and, maybe, crochet a yellow border around each square and around the whole blanket to pull it all in together. :)
DeleteI could almost smell those roses as I looked at the photos!
ReplyDeleteThe blanket is working out really nicely. The little coloured squares give a delicate touch.
We bottled over 10 1/2 litres of maple syrup yesterday! There was more sap boiling today. The weather is milder but we had some wind. No flowers in our yard of course but I have 3 tiny cilantro seedlings growing in a pot on the dining room window and I hope I can keep them alive until they can be transplanted or even just grown well and kept handy in the house.
Wow, that's a lot of maple syrup, Bushlady! How wonderful! I hope you are able to keep those cilantro seedlings growing! My parsley plant looked like it died, earlier, when it got cold, but, today, I noticed that it was growing again! Yay!
DeleteI think any way that you decide to do the blanket would be good. However, since it's a gift, I think you will feel best if you buy some more yellow yarn (I can't believe I'm saying that with all of your stash.) and make three more squares to look like the ones you've already done. Then you might have enough yellow to use for a border and/or join the pieces. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I did, Live and Learn - I bought another skein of yellow yarn! Yes, right after I had said I am not allowed to buy more yarn! LOL! But, for the same reason you mentioned - the fact that this is to be a gift (you know me well!) - I bought more yarn to make it look a little more planned and put together!
DeleteHi Bless, Your roses look gorgeous! I love Lantana. I would buy more yellow yarn with a coupon at Michael's. I've noticed that a lot of the young mothers are knitting dark colored blankets for their babies. It's so different now. I love the pastels, too. The women at our knitting shop were choosing orange, dark blue, bright green, and purple for their blankets.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Stephenie. Yes, that's what I did, this evening - I went to Michael's and bought more yellow yarn! I like the soft pastel colors for babies. Brighter colors are good for toddlers and little children, but, not for babies. I guess I am old fashioned that way. :)
DeleteI would have bought more yellow yarn too! As T-A-Soul says, many young mums are making darker blankets now, but pastels are pretty for babies. I'm wondering about using my wool stash up in Ripple Quilt. But Crochet is a winter craft for me, and summer's coming!
ReplyDeleteYes, I bought another skein of yellow yarn, Angela. I am old fashioned when it comes to such things as colors for babies! The ripple quilt sounds like a good way to use up your yarn stash. I tend to knit and crochet all year round, but you could wait until winter to start yours, if you prefer. :)
DeleteYour roses are gorgeous... are they scented? You seem to have solved your dilemma about the blanket and I’m sure the finished blanket will be perfect.
ReplyDeleteWell done on keeping up with the cleaning etc., but I don’t see any mention of walking!! 😂
Thank you, Eileen. The pink rose is scented, the yellow not as much. I have a double colored rose (which hasn't bloomed yet) that has a very strong scent. I am hoping the finished blanket will look nice. I always end up second guessing myself when it comes to these things!
DeleteHa, ha, that's because I haven't done any walking, yet! :D
Maybe those gorgeous yellow roses helped inspire you to make your choice. I am happy you decided to go out and buy some more cheery yellow to finish off the blanket. It is a very lovely baby blanket, Bless, and the young mother will be very excited by it.
ReplyDeleteThe last two baby showers I attended had a nursery theme of woodland animals, and the colour palette was tans and grays for both genders. Times have changed, but I'm sure your predominantly white and yellow blanket will fit into any theme. Great choice.
Maybe the roses did inspire me, Susan. :) Thank you, I hope the blanket will be well received. If not, I hope she will donate it. I'll be glad, either way. :)
DeleteYour roses are so beautiful. I've never tried growing roses. I think it's because somehow I got this idea that it is very difficult to grow them. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nil. I think you should try growing roses - they should do well in your climate. Happy New Year, by the way. :)
DeleteI don't know what to suggest for the blanket but I love what you've completed already. The colours are so sweet. X
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jules. I went ahead and bought a skein of yellow! I will make 3 more similar squares and attach them and put a yellow border!
DeleteHi Bless
ReplyDeleteYour blanket is going to be lovely. I was going to comment that whatever you decide will be perfect and then I saw you purchased some more yellow yarn. Lol.
I'm glad you got the yellow since it was obvious the other choices weren't really what you wanted to do.
(Although I liked the idea of the lilac:)
Looking forward to seeing the finished blanket.
Debra
Thank you, Debra. Yes, I did get more yellow to make the blanket a little more uniform. I shall post a photo when it is all completed.
DeleteI think a thin border all around would make it a good size. When is the baby due?
ReplyDeleteYes, I plan to put perhaps a 2 inch wide border. The baby is due in October, but, my cousin leaves to go back to Australia in 10 days, and I am planning to send the blanket with her to give to her daughter.
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