My partner and I found out on Christmas day that his brother and sister-in-law were having their second baby. I wasn’t around for the first birth so I immediately got planning for the second one’s baby blanket, my favorite newborn gift!

Picking a baby blanket is hard, especially when the sex is unknown during the color choice phase. I eventually landed on Ashlea from Hook Heart and Home’s Pique-a-Boo Baby Blanket Pattern which is free on her website! This pattern uses worsted weight yarn and a 5.5mm hook. So naturally, I used a lightweight (3 weight) baby yarn and a 5.0mm hook. I was torn on this decision throughout the creation of the blanket, and was worried that the blanket would turn out too loose, but it ended up working out.

The other exciting thing about this pattern was that I finally got to try out my new Furls Crochet hook. I have been eyeing these for years and finally caved on a purchase when I used my friend’s birthday as an excuse to buy two of them. I am a huge fan. They are beautiful and comfortable to hold. I found I didn’t death grip my crochet hook like I normally did.

What finally sold me on the blanket was the border. There is nothing cuter than a little scalloped border on a baby blanket, I don’t think! Except maybe the nephew in question sleeping away in the blanket I made for him, that might take the cake.

Extra Yarn?

I had a ton of extra yarn left over after this project. I have no future babies in my life (that I know of) but my brother-in-law let me know that the hospital was low on boy baby hats. While I see nothing wrong with boy’s wearing stereotypically “girl” colors, I know it can be important to some new parents to be able for their children to be distinguished. I used the extra yarn to make 14 baby hats. Newborn hat patterns are surprisingly hard to come by so let me share the two I used with you – My favorite was the 5 little monsters Top Knot Crocheted Baby Hat. The other one I used was the Okie Girl Bling n Things Baby Bear Hat. I didn’t end up adding the bear ears to the baby hats but I loooved the little top knot.

Hooking Hints

Biggest lesson I learned during this blanket – tension, tension, tension! This was a great blanket to work up mindlessly but make sure in order to keep the square shape and not get too many big holes you pay attention to the tension. Don’t crochet angry!

Happy Crocheting! – Emily