In my circle of friends, 2013 is the year of the baby (not to be confused with the year of the cicada. Which, coincidentally, is also this year). I have 5 friends due to have babies between the end of June and the end of August.

My childhood friend Lindsay's son is due first - scheduled to make his arrival at the end of June. Her mom and aunt threw her a lovely surprise baby shower last weekend, so now that she's successfully received the blanket, I can post it. I never know who reads here (and how often), but I wasn't taking any chances. I didn't want to ruin the surprise of the blanket, but I really, really didn't want to ruin the surprise of the shower. And trust me, she was surprised!

I saw the Chevron Baby Blanket by Purl Soho sometime last year and fell in love. I was just waiting for a new little baby to knit it for. I knit it in KnitPicks Comfy Worsted. I used that for my daughter's baby blanket over a year and a half ago. It's holding up beautifully, despite being dragged around, played with, slept with nightly, and just plain loved. Comfy Worsted is a 75% Pima cotton, 25% acrylic blend, so it's machine washable and dryable, and super soft. It's my go-to baby blanket yarn. It doesn't hurt that I can knit a massive baby blanket for less than $40 (as opposed to $120 for the Blue Sky Alpaca recommended in the pattern). I used just about 1300 yards - I told you, it's massive for a baby blanket - approximately 36"x 48". Yeah, huge.


I opted to do 3 large stripes of color instead of the 7 called for. You can read more of my project notes here. If I was going to knit this pattern again, I would definitely cast on more stitches to begin with. This blanket came out pretty tall and skinny before blocking. I tried my best to block it into a more desirable shape, but I have no idea what it will look like after it's machine washed.


I hope this blanket sees lots of playtime and sleeptime. I hope it sees happiness along with the inevitable baby tears; I hope it's a source of comfort. I hope it gets used enough that it gets casually tossed on a chair or the couch instead of carefully folded and put away. Put away means it's never used. I want it to get dragged around, I want it to get dirty, I want it to be loved. I hope my dear friend knows just how much love went in to every stitch for her precious new baby boy. I can't wait to meet him.


Project Details: 
Pattern: Chevron Baby Blanket by Purl Soho
Yarn: KnitPicks Comfy Worsted in Whisker, Sky Blue, and Ivory
Needles: US 11 (8mm) and US 17 (12.75mm) for the bind-off