Baby blanket

At the request of a fellow Meetup member, I am posting details of a baby blanket that I think is the PERFECT size for a giftie! At first, it may seem as though it needs to be bigger, but my friend Jo who knit it for me is the smartest gramma around, because she knows it is just what every mom needs. This blanket is the perfect size for carting back and forth in the car, just covers baby and his carseat, is the perfect size for folding neatly into the diaper bag for emergency cover-ups, and is the overall perfect size. Well, it's just plain perfect! It is about 27 inches square, although when I measured it, it was 27" wide by 28" long. I think it was a technicality - I'm pretty sure she was just using up scraps! Here it is:


As you can see, this blanket is actually crocheted, not knit. I have no idea what pattern or stitch this is, since I don't crochet more than a chain here or there! I have achieved just about the same size effect with a simple corner-to-corner blanket. Basically, to do this, you cast on three stitches, then begin by knitting, and as you go, increase by knitting in the front and back of the first stitch on every row until you get to the width you want (you will have a triangle), then begin decreasing on the first stitch of every row by knitting two together until you are back down to three stitches again. Bind off, and presto - baby (or anybody) blanket. You can find the actual pattern on About.com, I believe, but I don't think it is anything that is copyrighted! (I hope!)

I plan to try to knit one of these for my sister-in-law's (okay, former SIL) baby due in October!!! Hmmm, what yummy yarn can I use for this. . . By the way, the baby is being modeled by "Ruphie," my son's new friend from the Build-A-Bear Workshop! He's such a cutie (and apparently, he's French - note the spelling)!