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Pregnancy nesting is a real thing. Like, for REAL! I now have single digit weeks to go before Baby #3 arrives, and the amount of stuff I am trying to get done in preparation is a bit insane. It’s not even the typical scrubbing of baseboards and building furniture (that stuff is already done), it’s craft projects like crocheting blankets and newborn hats and making art for the nursery…in other words, the important stuff!
I just started the newborn baby clothing laundry experience. Because we don’t know if we are having a boy or a girl, I am washing everything we have in the NB and 3M range and I’ve separated all the bigger clothing into boy, girl, and neutral to be unboxed later. Next will be bassinet sheets and swaddle blankets. Then there is the nursery closet organization (yikes), and one or two little decorative projects. That will complete the baby room, so I don’t feel too much pressure there. Then there’s the hospital bag, but as this will be a completely different kind of birth than with my last two babies, it won’t need to be quite as extensive. More about that later!
For each baby, I like to announce the birth with a beautiful picture of the newborn in the hospital bassinet wrapped in an Aiden & Anais swaddle blanket, wearing a homemade crochet lace hat, with a designer teddy bear for scale (Baby J had Burberry, Baby K had Missoni, and Baby #3 has Ralph Lauren), and with a homemade banner draped on the back with their first and middle names. I also like to take them home wrapped up in a homemade crochet blanket.
I have done this crochet hat and blanket thing for two babies now, so I am not brand new to crochet. But I am certainly not a crochet master! In fact, I find reading those darn patterns so difficult. Like, why do they have to be written in cryptic code without sentences or explanations? It’s like they make them as short and simple as possible at the expense of clarity and ease. I find it very frustrating and I make so many mistakes in the beginning trying to figure it all out that most projects are completely undone and redone numerous times before I get it right.
The blanket I chose for this baby is a really beautiful design of increasing square frames. I used three colours that match the nursery theme (full nursery reveal coming soon!). The pattern I followed was created by Heather C Gibbs, and if you’re not crochet pattern illiterate like me, I recommend you just go straight to her site and use her pattern. But if, like me, you need extra help, I’ve re-written a few of the steps in crochet ignoramus language below. It took me a long time to figure out what I was doing—not because there’s anything wrong with Heather’s pattern but just because I am a very novice crocheter…and even though this was called “Simple Baby Blanket” I definitely needed it to be even simpler!
I used yarn with weight #4 with a G hook, and I needed one roll of white, two rolls of dark grey, and not sure how much of the light grey because I used leftovers from the last baby blanket.
Rnd 1:
See original pattern by Heather C Gibbs here
Rnd 2:
See original pattern by Heather C Gibbs here
Rnd 3:
BEGINNING = do the following all into the same corner Ch 3:
[Ch 4, 1 Tr/Dc, Ch 3, 1 V]
BETWEEN THE CORNERS = do the following into each Ch 3 that isn’t the corner Ch 3:
[1 V]
CORNERS = do the following all into the same corner Ch 3:
[1 V, Ch 3, 1 V]
ENDING = when you return to your first corner, you will have just finished the last 1 V into a Ch 3. Now do the following:
Sl St into the 3rd Ch of the BEGINNING Ch 4, then Sl St into the next (CORNER) Ch 3.
Rnd 4:
BEGINNING = do the following all into the same corner Ch 3:
[Ch 3, 2 Tr/Dc, Ch 3, 1 Cl]
BETWEEN THE CORNERS = do the following between each V from the last round (so not inside the point of the V but in between two separate V stitches):
[1 Cl]
CORNERS = do the following into the same corner Ch 3:
[1 Cl, Ch 3, 1 Cl]
ENDING = when you return to your first corner, you will have just finished a Cl between your last two V stitches. Now do the following:
Sl St into the top of the BEGINNING Ch 3, then Sl St into the next (CORNER) Ch 3.
Rnd 5:
BEGINNING = do the following into the same corner Ch 3:
[1 Dc/Sc, Ch 3, 1 Dc/Sc]
BETWEEN THE CORNERS = do the following between each CL (so not into the CL itself but in between two Cl stitches; the chain lays on top of the CL and the Dc/Sc goes between them):
[Ch 3, 1 Dc/Sc]
CORNERS = do the following all into the same corner Ch 3:
[1 Dc/Sc, Ch 3, 1 Dc/Sc]
ENDING = when you return to your first corner, you will have just finished the last Dc/SC after the final Cl. Now do the following:
Sl St into the top of the 1st Dc/Sc, then Sl St into the next (CORNER) Ch 3.
Colour Changes:
Colour A (I used white): this is the first 5 Rnds which make up the little square in the middle. After this square is done, switch to Colour B.
Colour B (I used light grey): this is the next 9 Rows. So, you repeat Rnds 3, 4, 5 three times then switch to Colour C.
Colour C (I used dark grey): this is the next 6 Rows. So, you repeat Rnds 3, 4, 5 two times then switch back to Colour A.
Colour A: this is the next 9 rows. So, you repeat Rnds 3, 4, 5 three times then switch to Colour B.
Colour B: this is the next 9 rows. So, you repeat Rnds 3, 4, 5 three times then switch to Colour C.
Colour C: this is the next 5 rows. So, you repeat Rnds 3, 4, 5 then Rnds 3 and 4, then you do the Edging in that same colour.
EDGING: See original pattern by Heather C Gibbs here.
Oh! Now that the blanket is finished, I find that one of my right angles is not completely perfect; the side where you start a new colour is a bit curved compared to the other three perfectly square sides. And the middle white square doesn’t lay down flat anymore. I have NO IDEA why this is, I followed the pattern exactly…any ideas? The curved side can be corrected if I just stretch the blanket a bit in one direction.
I also crocheted two baby hats, purple for a girl and blue for a boy. The pattern for those is by Olga Poltava here. My only clarification for that pattern is that in Rnd 6 you ONLY do the big cluster of stitches [Ch 2, Dc3-tog, Ch 2, Dc3-tog] into the same Ch 2 space between the 2 Dc stitches and NOT in the Ch 2 spaces on either side of the Sc stitch.
Let me know if you have any questions—like I said, I’m no expert, but I did and undid and redid these a couple times so I feel fairly familiar with them now! As for me, off to do more teeny tiny newborn baby laundry!
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turquoise toffee 