I have crocheted the Granny Stripe blanket from Baby Afghans and I'm so thrilled I can barely stand it. I love it. I love it. I love it!
After a bit of a false start with the wrong hook, I tried again with some more worsted weight yarn (Caron's One Pound for the brown and Red Heart Super Saver for everything else) and the pattern's recommended J hook at my weekly knit night. And then I made the body of the blanket. Yes. That night. And I still went home early. Yes. Even after getting a bit lost and having to count out loud for my beginning chain during the middle of an interesting story. It's a rookie mistake and that's why I normally get my projects started before going to knit night. But still. I crocheted the body of this little blanket in one evening with a break for supper. And then I crocheted the border on an hour-long car trip!
This is fast! I am a golden god! I even wove in all my ends!
[Laughs maniacally just remembering the experience. WHAT A RUSH!]
I'm just very excited about this baby afghan! It has shells, which I'm an absolute sucker for. I used easy-to-care-for acrylic, which is going to wash and dry beautifully. It's a little over 2' wide and nearly 3' long, which means it can be wrapped around a little baby perfectly this winter. And it can cover a little baby in a car seat next winter. And it can cover a little toddler's legs the winter after that. And on and on and on. I dearly love the sweet baby girl I made this for even though I don't know her yet (no one does. She's not even born!) because I dearly love her mama. I'm so thrilled to be making little baby items for my friend, and it's doubly exciting that I liked this pattern as much as I did.
And it's going to be soft and lovely when I give it to my friend because I'm totally washing this before mailing it out. If she ever sees that I placed this blanket on several surfaces on my parents' farm, she might get a bit panicky! Plus, I want this to feel completely ready to be next to a little person's skin. It's going to be great. I don't know what else I'm going to make for this little girl, but I'm very glad to have made such a sweet little afghan for her.
I'm going to have to track that pattern down. That looks like my kind of baby blanket. I too have to start my projects before going to the groups because I can't listen/talk and focus on the challenges of correct counts. I try to bring something that is obvious when the count is off.
It was pretty much perfect, working-wise, and I loved how it turned out. It's a winner!