Patchwork Quilt Afghan

Here’s another baby blanket I made just before Joey was born that fits his crib perfectly.  I have since lost all motivation (and spare time) to knit…or do anything else, for that matter.

I wanted the blanket to be colorful and interesting for a baby to stare at, yet functional.  So, I got a bunch of durable (but soft and washable) cotton blend yarn in different colors – all the same blend so the blanket would act like a solid piece when washed, dried and drooled on.  I collected various patterns that were interesting and could be easily adapted to a square form, then started knitting away.

I didn’t concern myself too much with the size of the squares.  I figured I could plug gaps in size with smaller strips of a different pattern.  The squares were all blocked before being whipstitched together in black.  The blocking is important so that the pieces fit together as well as they can.  I finished the top and bottom with a black braided cable border.

The thing is a little wonky on the left hand side, but overall I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.  The patterns work well together I think, and it was a lot of fun to make.  Sewing the pieces together was nice too, and since I didn’t have a big blanket to lug around until the very end the project was super portable.

The picture is not great, but there's a cool embossed turtle, a squirrel, an eyelet horse, honeycomb, a few different climbing vine patterns, and other various patterns that are fun for little fingers to feel and little mouths to explore (there's one with big nubbins sticking out that he particularly likes).  Definitely a cool idea for keeping the little one snuggly while developing the brain at the same time.  I pilfered most of these patterns from other more talented knitters, and there are a lot of them, so I'm not going to post any of the stitch patterns here.  If you're interested, post a comment and I'll direct you to the correct place to access the pattern you're looking for.