"The Hall" - Crochet Baby Blanket

Anyone who follows me on Instagram or Twitter will know that I learned to crochet last year. Along the way I've made blankets for friends, snoods, scarves, hats, snowflakes, but it was all leading up to this. A blanket for my own baby.

The trouble was that blankets take an awfully long time, and despite trying to do some every evening, it was seeming like the baby would be here before the blanket was ready... Well, I'm pleased to announce that at 38 + 1, the blanket is finished and packed for hospital, and the baby is still firmly inside.

The blanket is shell stitch in 3 rotating colours. I used the same yarn I used to make "The Alexander" blanket, Cotton Soft by King Cole. The colours are oyster, jade and wine.

I make my blankets big, and this is far larger than a normal sized baby blanket. I have used around 2 balls in each colour for this one although that's approximate as all of the colours I had from making other things and I supplemented with new balls! The easiest tutorial I could find online for Shell stitch was on My Rose Valley's blog. I then had to wing the final row to give a straight edge, filling the "troughs" with a tr, htr, dc, htr and tr before joining as normal at the top of the next peak. I then finished with a treble crochet edge in oyster. I used a 4mm needle for this project.

The shell stitch is a looser stitch, or certainly is for me, so I really advise leaving far longer tails that you can weave in further into the blanket, or leaving the tails unwoven until the edging is on and then weaving into the edge. It feels far more secure that way.

So maternity leave officially starts tomorrow, the blanket is made, the tiny clothes are washed. In the meanwhile, I'm afraid the end of pregnancy has hit my like a high speed train and sleeping is hard, walking is hard and this baby has dance moves to rival those of the figure skaters in Sochi. Just thankfully not the blades on the skates to match.

We are ready Baby H. Not long to go and we cannot wait!

"The Alexander" - Crochet baby blanket pattern

Back in July I learned to crochet. I've made a few bits so far, but I wanted a big project to work on... What better than a baby blanket for my lovely friend Charlie over at Learning Lessons in Mummyography's baby who is due in just a few weeks time! Charlie and I know each other from when we were pregnant with our daughters who were both born in March last year. She's been a great friend and a real inspiration both as a photographer and blogger over the last 18 months... And she's a sucker for a blanket.

Charlie doesn't know what she's having so I chose wool colours to match her nursery. They are James C. Brett Cotton On in CO12 (a sage green) which is a cotton acrylic blend, and CottonSoft by King Cole in Jade and Oyster which are both 100% cotton. I love the colour combination, it's really fresh and most importantly, super soft for that delicate new born skin. I love to support local, independent retailers, and all my wool came from The Laughing Yew in East Carlton.

It's far from perfect, but I've loved making it and mastering some new skills too. The product tester will have to report back when he/she arrives. I name it "The Alexander". Here's the pattern!

The blanket is larger than a baby blanket you might buy in the shop. I didn't use all my wool but to finish the project I needed:

2 x Jade

3 x Oyster

3 x Sage but I only just cracked into the last one!

Needle size 4.5mm

Chain 140, then double crochet (DC) for the entire blanket body.

• 10 rows Oyster
• 2 Sage
• 4 Oyster
• 4 Jade
• 4 Sage
• 4 Jade
• 10 Oyster
• 4 Sage
• 4 Jade 
• 4 Sage
• 4 Oyster
• 2 Jade
• 4 Oyster
• 4 Sage
• 4 Oyster
• 4 Sage
• 4 Jade - this is the middle of the blanket!
• 4 Sage
• 4 Oyster
• 4 Sage 
• 4 Oyster
• 2 Jade
• 4 Oyster
• 4 Sage
• 4 Jade
• 4 Sage
• 10 Oyster
• 4 Jade
• 4 Sage
• 4 Jade
• 4 Oyster
• 2 Sage
• 10 Oyster

This means that all your loose ends are down one side, all being well, so you can just nip up and stitch them in. 

After stitching them in, I ran a DC edging in Sage all the way around (this helped tidy up my sides which weren't always super straight!!) then went round again with a triple crochet (TC) edging in Jade, to finish it off.

It's a simple pattern, but I think it looks really effective, and of course you could substitute your colours - a super girlie version in a dusky pink and burgundy/wine with the Oyster would be divine, or tones of blue for a boy, or even varying neutral shades - coffees and toffees for example.

So this is off in the post to Charlie this week and it's pay day tomorrow... Which means it's time to start thinking about a blanket for my baby! Charlie and Baby A, I'm sorry this didn't arrive in time for your baby shower, but I hope you love it as much as I do and that it will keep you both snuggly on cosy days in and crisp journeys out this winter!

xxxxx