CogKnition » Blankets

Cobijita Floresita Baby Blanket

CogKnition — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:54:43 +0000

Pattern: Cobijita Floresita by Mia Zamora Johnson
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted, #180, 5 skeins, and #215, 1 skein
Hook: H 5.0mm

All the blanket needs now is a baby to sit in the middle and coo.

I have to say, I officially love crocheting blankets. It is SO FAST. This blanket is about 44″ across and I finished it in about two and a half weeks (including ripping and re-crocheting 1/3 of the petals).

This is a very nice beginning crochet pattern and a very portable project. The instructions are clear and there are lots of photographs to help you figure out how to assemble the blanket.

Although Encore is my favorite yarn for baby gifts because it is machine washable and dryable and comes in so many wonderful colors, I think this pattern would work best with a yarn that has more natural fiber.

The petals are a little cupped when they first come off the hook and need to be blocked flat. The edging around the center also wants to point towards the middle and it needs to be blocked to point towards the outside of the flower. I think I could have managed to block them entirely flat with a natural fiber yarn, but Encore doesn’t block that well and my edging is standing up like a tart crust.

Mmmm tarts.

The “wrong side” of the blanket is neat and tidy, which I appreciate a lot.

Now to wrap it up and give it away!

Other entries about Cobijita Floresita:

Stripy Throw

CogKnition — Sat, 09 May 2009 21:56:47 +0000

Pattern: Simple Crochet by Erika Knight
Yarn: Cascade 220, #8555 black, #4192 pastel pink, 2 skeins each; #7822 dark chocolate brown, #2413 burgundy, #8834 medium rose, 1 skein each
Hook: J 6.0mm

The yarn, she is no longer cursed. It loves being a baby blanket that is about to be shipped off to Afghans for Afghans.

The finished blanket is baby-sized, about 34″ x 46″. I used a different stripe sequence than what’s in the pattern to accommodate the amounts of yarn I had. Stripe sequence after the jump.

Continue reading Stripy Throw (70 words) »

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Pieced Throw

CogKnition — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 18:04:26 +0000

Pattern: Pieced Throw, from Simple Crochet by Erika Knight
Hook: G 4.0mm
Yarn: Lion Brand Baby Soft Solid in Bluebell, 2 skeins, and Pastel Blue, Pistachio, and Lemon Drop, 1 skein each

The finished measurements are about 42″ square.

I had misgivings about using a Lion Brand yarn (let’s just say it was a lot easier to find a Big Box Craft Store than a good LYS during my Thanksgiving trip), but I’m actually pretty happy with it. It doesn’t replace my most favoritest of wash-and-dry, baby-friendly acrylic blends, Plymouth Encore, but it will definitely do in a pinch.

I made two changes to the pattern that really made the project for me. First, I adapted the colorblock sequence for four colors. This wasn’t totally intentional—I had meant to use a different four-color pattern and bought yarn accordingly but then changed my mind at the last minute. But in retrospect, breaking up one of the 16-row color blocks into a 4-, 8-, 4-row sequence of two colors really adds a lot of visual pop to the project.

The second change was to make a three-row edging instead of the one written into the pattern. A one-row edging just looked and felt dinky and I thought three rows would look more proportional to the rest of the blanket and help stabilize the edge better.

Not to mention this project photo from the book:

That didn’t look like a one-row edging to me.

This project also re-affirmed my belief in blocking. I usually wet-block everything, finding that it makes a huge difference in the finished project while also giving the yarn a much-needed wash. But conventional wisdom says that acrylic doesn’t really block so I wasn’t sure if it would really matter in this case.

It mattered.

I threw the whole thing into a big lingerie bag and then into the wash. When I took it out, I did my usual, somewhat painstaking process of hands-and-knees, pins into the floor, yardsticks and tape measures to square corners. The blanket had been a bit misshapen due to wonky tension when it first came off the hook. But a good blocking evened everything up nicely.

I worship at the altar of blocking and will never doubt again.

P.S. Remember when I said I would be releasing a new pattern this weekend? Not so much! Get this…I lost the pattern notes, which means I have to reconstruct the whole thing from memory. I can do it, but well…maybe next weekend.

Other entries about the Pieced Throw:

Ombre Blanket

CogKnition — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 22:11:14 +0000

Pattern: Ombre Alpaca Blanket, Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Elann Peruvian Highland Wool; #2713 Aubergine and #100 Natural, 8 skeins each; #2124 Oxblood, #2055 Ruby, #1004 Pumpkin, and #7725 Freesia, 10 skeins each
Needles: Addi Turbos, US13 (9mm)

Doesn’t that look so warm and inviting?

I really love the colors, although there’s a certain retro feel to them. My living room has drab brown walls and even drabber grey carpet, so it does a lot to brighten up the room.

The finished blanket is quite a bit larger than I expected. I was aiming for a 4.5 feet by 5.5 feet blanket. What I wound up with is a blanket that’s 6.25 by 6.5 feet.

Obviously I was still in my “gauge swatch, schmauge swatch” phase when I started this project. Normally I wouldn’t check gauge for a blanket anyways, but considering that the pattern calls for sport-weight yarn on US11s instead of worsted on US13s, it would have been a good idea.

Continue reading Ombre Blanket (239 words) »

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