crochet blanket

Edith’s crocheted chevron baby blanket

Katy R, , 1 Comment

While I was getting my post on the giant granny square blanket ready, I realized that I never got around to posting photos of Edith’s crocheted chevron blanket. This one has been done for quite a while, I can’t remember exactly but I *think* that I finished it up sometime last year. It’s really been a blur! I started this one when she was a baby and chevrons were THE hot thing. Now they’re a little past the peak of stylishness but I still love her blanket.

Crocheted chevron baby blanket on the Permenet Riot blog

I used a super simple ripple afghan pattern that I found on ravelry and my favorite part was choosing the colors of yarn. Back when I first started the blanket, we were living in our old house and Edith’s room was a pale buttery yellow. I knew that I wanted to use that and that I also wanted to mix in some bright colors to keep it from being too baby pastel. I wanted it to be a blanket she could grow into. She had an arrangement of photos in bright blue frames so I pulled in a similar blue yarn and also picked up a few of the colors from her rug and striped changing mat as well.

Crocheted chevron baby blanket on the Permanent Riot blog

Now we’ve moved and she has a peachy orange room instead of a yellow one (I replicated the mural I’d painted in case you were wondering) and she doesn’t really use her changing mat anymore (potty training, yikes!). Being older and much more opinionated than she was as a baby, Edith has also now vetoed her pretty pink simple sheets in favor of some Winnie the Pooh ones, but oh well, at least the blanket still goes with her rug.

Crocheted chevron baby blanket on the Permanent Riot blog

I didn’t set out a repeating pattern (or any sort of a pattern) before starting work on this project, the only thing that I decided on in advance was that there would be less blue than any of the other colors. I just sort of added in stripes willy-nilly as I was going along, I thought it would give a more spontaneous look to the blanket (the variations in thickness are random as well) but in reality I just drove myself crazy over-analyzing which color should come next when it came time to switch yarns. If I had it to do over I would probably pre-plan the stripes.

Crocheted chevron baby blanket on the Permanent Riot blog

The blanket is big enough to completely cover the whole mattress in her crib (which she is also very soon to outgrow) and she gets tucked in with it every night. I love the projects that end up being put to daily use. They’re always so much more satisfying than the ones that are just for show. Just look at that sweet face… snug as a bug in a rug. Or hand crocheted chevron baby blanket. You know…

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Edith’s crocheted chevron baby blanket

19. finish and donate a blanket to project Linus {30 by 30 list}

Katy R, , Leave a comment

This one has been on my to-do list for ages. Since about September of 2008 to be exact. Project Linus is a charity that collects blankets from volunteers (they can be crochet, knit, quilted… pretty much if you can make it they will take it) and distributes them to children in need of some love and comfort. From the Project Linus website :

As Charles Schulz’s Linus character from the PEANUTS® comic strip was comforted by his blanket, Project Linus strives to do the same and more for children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need. The blankets our nearly 400 chapter coordinators collect from thousands of “blanketeers” (volunteers) across the United States and then distributed to these children provide love, a sense of security, warmth, and comfort.

When Paul and Amelia were born they spent 2 weeks in the NICU. The first week and a half of that was spent in isolettes, little plastic baby bubbles where they wore only diapers and were hooked up to all sorts of beeping, buzzing, glowing machines. Once they reached a certain size and were able to take their food by mouth rather than tube they were moved into an open crib. When we walked into the NICU to find them in open cribs it was pretty much the happiest moment of my life. They finally looked like they were snuggly and cozy, just as babies are meant to be. Part of it was that they weren’t in their isolettes anymore, but a lot of it was that they were also covered up by beautiful handmade blankets given to them by Project Linus.

Ever since that day I have had blanket making on my to-do list. It made me feel so comforted and loved to know that someone out there took the time and effort to make blankets for my babies. I knew I needed to do the same for someone else who was going through a rough time. Paul and Amelia actually still sleep with their Project Linus blankets every single night.

I started this blanket sometime in 2010 and have had it mostly finished for almost a year now. I was just dragging my feet on weaving in the ends (I don’t like that part) and getting it mailed off, but I’m proud to say it’s on its way as of this morning. Hooray! I finally finished my blanket! Now to make a second one…

projectlinus5

For those curious about the how-to on this blanket… it’s pretty much the easiest crochet project on the planet. All you need to know is chain, single crochet and double crochet. I believe it’s actually this shell stitch pattern from the Project Linus website, but almost all the shell stitch patterns I found were basically the same idea. Three cheers for finishing a project!

One more item checked off my 30 by 30 list, hooray!

19. finish and donate a blanket to project Linus {30 by 30 list}