Dove in the Rock

Three years ago, a friend learned how to add crochet edgings to fleece when I gave her newborn daughter a blanket like Bug’s. She’s since learned to make adorable hats to match, and now has a dandy little side business making the sets for babies and children. She loves the hobby and is thrilled that it is more than paying for itself. I warned her that crochet can be a “gateway craft” to many other fiber arts (sewing and embroidery for me). After admiring her stock of ready-made sets and burying my face into the softness of the hats created with eyelash yarn, I was inspired to begin a new crochet project:

I have been visiting the Crochet Garden site for awhile, but never purchased any of the patterns because I’m always fighting my “stashing” tendencies. (This is the compulsion to purchase materials, patterns and books for “the stash” simply because they’re beautiful or soft or a terrific color or on sale… even if I’m not intending to use them in the near future.) But now I finally purchased her Afghan of the Sandman pattern, because I loved the decidedly not-girly baby blanket. Here was a blanket I could happily wrap around a baby boy without worrying it would be too feminine, like so many crochet patterns. It is working up quickly, because the blanket body is one stitch motif repeated and the turning at the ends is super-simple. I’d classify it with “mile-a-minute” patterns. I’m making the child’s size, with Caron Simply Soft worsted weight in light country blue and an H-hook.

Haven’t decided if I’ll give it to Doozer, or to the next friend who has a baby boy, or save it for the next time we have a boy.

(Confession: I did also buy the Fairy Rainfall afghan pattern and the yarn in which to work it, so I could make a feminine blanket in case our next kiddo is a girl. )

Updated: Finished blanket here, and another blanket of the same pattern but embellished for a girl here.

Posted on July 20th, 2007 by Dove
Filed under: Domestic Arts