Crochet baby blanket
Our lovely dressmaking tutor, Sue Spencer, had a wonderful start to 2017 when her first granddaughter arrived. Obviously, we had to make the baby something! So Mandy decided to crochet a baby blanket. Here's a quick tutorial if you would like to make one too :)
First choose your colours. We chose 4 different ones, but you could have as many as you like.
We decided to use a 'closed' or 'solid' granny square pattern. More open granny square designs have lots more holes where little ones can get their fingers caught.
We used Stylecraft Double Knit yarn and a 4mm hook.
This is the pattern:
Abbreviations:
ch: chain
sl st: slip stitch
tr: treble stitch
sts: stitches
To begin :: ch 4, join with a sl st to form a ring.
ROUND 1 ::
ch 5 (counts as 1 tr + ch-2),
*3 tr's into the ring, ch-2*,
Repeat between ** twice more,
Work 2 tr's into the ring, sl st in 3rd ch of beginning ch-5 to close round.
ROUND 2 :: sl st into first corner space.
Ch 5 (counts as 1 tr + ch-2),
Work 2 tr's into first corner space,
Work 1 tr into each of the next 3 sts,
*(2 tr's, ch 2, 2 tr's) into next corner space, work 1 tr into each of the next 3 sts*
Repeat between ** twice more.
Work 1 tr into first corner space, sl st in 3rd ch of beginning ch-5 to close round.
ROUND 3 :: sl st into first corner space.
Ch 5 (counts as 1 tr + ch-2),
Work 2 tr's into first corner space,
Work 1 tr into each of the next 7 sts,
*(2 tr's, ch 2, 2 tr's) into next corner space, work 1 tr into each of the next 7 sts*
Repeat between ** twice more.
Work 1 tr into first corner space, sl st in 3rd ch of beginning ch-5 to close round.
Fasten off.
We made 49 squares and then arranged them into 7 rows of 7. This makes a nice sized baby blanket which is perfect for popping over the baby whilst they're in their pushchair or car seat.
You could sew the squares together, but we decided to crochet them using a double crochet stitch. This makes a little ridge, which we think is an attractive edging to the squares. You could have the ridge on the back if you don't like the look of it. Or if you choose to sew them together, you won't get the ridge at all. We crocheted them together into rows, and then crocheted the rows together.
For the border, we chose one of the colours and crocheted one row of double crochet and then 2 rows of treble. Then we changed colour and crocheted one row of double crochet followed by a picot edging.
This is the pattern for the edging:
Make 1 chain
Work 1 double crochet into each of first 3 stitches.
*3chain, slip stitch into first chain, 1 single crochet into each of next 3 stitches**
repeat from * to **
We hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and it has inspired you to have a go! If you need any help, please don't hesitate to contact us and we'll do our best to sort you out. :)
