For expectant mothers, pregnancy is a time of excitement, wonder, awe, worry, fear, and every emotion in between. Maybe that’s why we shower them with gifts before baby arrives–a party to let them know that no matter the emotion, there is something to look forward to. Babies are God’s perfect gift and they deserve to be treated as the precious gift they are.

A few weeks ago, our church had the opportunity to shower two young mothers, each in the process of moving, each expecting their first child. It was a joyous time of silly games, fun food, and wonderful fellowship. We took the time to pray over the mothers and babies. It was precious.

Of course, I wanted to give each baby a special blanket, but I only had a month to make both. Let me tell you, it came down to the wire!

The first baby is a girl and will be named Ruth. I decided to try my hand at an original pattern. I won’t tell too much about it because I plan on turning it into a pattern that I can sell on my Etsy shop. What I will tell you is that I had yarn in the perfect colors in my stash. Yarn I had gotten for a steal a few months back. As I soon found out, the reason the yarn was on sale was because it was discontinued! Not what I wanted to hear as I worked on a deadline.

I used Schitt’s Creek Yarn in the mauve and beige. The white yarn began as Schitt’s Creek and then became Yarn Bee Soft and Sleek because a website told me it would be a good substiute. It wasn’t a perfect match, but it worked. The blanket is worked in the corner-to-corner (C2C) method from a graph. (Some people call that a Graphgan.)

The end result was a cuddly, soft blanket that I hope the baby will love. Mom loved it when she opened it and Grandma took a nap with it later that afternoon!

The second baby for the shower was a boy! He had not been named yet, but a quick glance at Mom’s registry showed me that they were going with a woodland theme. I searched online and found the perfect pattern. But then I had to search some more because it turned out to be a mash up of two different patterns.

The original pattern by Sweet Potato 3 is the Sleep Tight Teddy Bear Baby Blanket. I have seen patterns by Sweet Potato 3 before and they are detailed and unique. I used her pattern as written for the blanket and the two teddy bears. This pattern used techniques that were new to me, but the result is a great textured blanket that baby will love. This would make a great tummy time blanket, too.

The woodland animals were appliques. I purchased the pattern from The Yarn Conspiracy here. The instructions are detailed and the purchase can be used for many different patterns. The Etsy store has many different applique patterns from animals to letters to sea creatures. I chose to use the beaver (we live in Beaver County), the moose, and the raccoon.

This is the most well-received baby blanket I have ever made. People online and at the shower totally fell in love with it. The versatility of the original pattern allows for personalization on many levels. I used Loops & Threads Soft Classic for this blanket. There were many color options and as a Michael’s brand, I could easily get more yarn if needed (it’s the closest yarn store to me).

As a crocheter, do you gift blankets? How much lead time do you usually give yourself?

Peace out,
Heidi