Zigzag baby blanket :: ta-dah!

Hello my friends, and welcome to a rather sweet little Zigzaggy kind of a Ta-dah!

Ahhhh, doesn't that little messy pile of baby grannies look so endearing? Well I think so anyways, I think they're pretty sweet. I really loved making them very much :: loved seeing them roll one after the other so speedily off my hook, building themselves into messy little piles day after day.

Do you remember me beginning this blanket? I first posted about it at the very beginning of February,  but I actually made these zigzaggy borders before Christmas when I was very pregnant. I thought back then that I'd be able to finish the blanket before Bump24 arrived, that I would use it to snuggle my Little Baby in when I fetched him home from the hospital. I had all these thoughts running through my mind as I sat and hooked these little squares. Thoughts of baby snuggles, of new life and new beginnings. Those thoughts have made this blanket feel very special, very dear to me.

Of course I didn't finish it in time. Even if Bump24 hadn't arrived three weeks early I still probably wouldn't have finished it in time as it was a very Time Consuming little blanket this one. It took an AGE to make! The squares themsleves were quick and easy, but the putting-it-all-together took a long, long time.

These little "solid granny squares" were a pleasure to make, they really were. I used up my stash of Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino yarn (the same yarn I used to make this blanket). Its a beautiful yarn to work with :: soft and smooth, it slips very easily on the hook so that you feel like you can get some speed up. And the colours, oh the colours! They are truly lovely. Not my usual Brights, but very lovely all the same. I purchased a lot of this yarn cheaply in a clearance sale quite a while ago, so some of the colours may have been discontinued now. But in case it's of any help, these are the colours I used ::

In the picture above....

row 1 :: 006, 700, 602, 013, 014

row 2 :: 007, 700, 602, 013, 014

row 3 :: 010, 032, 032, 016, 016

row 4 :: 204, 031, 031, 002, 002

The idea for this blanket was to have the two zigzaggy bands at the top and bottom, with the centre made up like a patchwork :: a patchwork of little Grannies all tipped over onto their points, jostling Beautifully and Harmoniously together. So far so good, the idea is sound. Lots of squares all stitched together patchwork-style, yes it'll work, it'll be a Good Design. So after the zigzaggy top and bottom bands were made, I set about making a further 120 little squares for the middle, with 16 half-squares to fill in the sides.

And then came the business of joining them all together. How to spread the colours evenly? How to make them come together Harmoniously and Beautifully?

Shall I tell you how I did it?

Well in the above photo, you can see what I did :: I put down a stretch of lining paper and laid my little blanket out. Sat and fiddled and fussed with the squares, moved them about, attempted to place the various colours (12 in total) as evenly as I could. Making it all Balance. Creating the desired Harmony and Beauty.

And then I photographed it.

And I made a print of the photograph.

And this print became a colour-pattern for me to follow.....

 

.....see???

Pretty Nifty Idea hey??!! Ahh I'm not just a pretty face you know, I do occasionally have some quite ingenious solutions to icky hooky problems (she says modestly).

Most importantly, it worked a treat, this nifty photographic solution. It enabled me to begin assembling and stitching my squares together row by row, knowing exactly which colour should come next. And being confident that it would all eventually come together Beautifully and Harmoniously, just like the photograph.

I stitched all the squares together using simple whip stitch as shown above. I chose to use bright orange to do it (colour 023, which I think has been discontinued now) so that the stitching almost became a feature. Cos even though I stitched with right sides together, the stitches are still visible, and I like seeing the little specks of orange in amongst all the bluey-greeny-pinky-purples.

In the above picture you can see how the blanket came together:: I stitched the squares together into their zigzaggy rows first of all. Then I crocheted 2 lines of dc under each row which makes narrow zigzaggy horizontal stripes. This was a very spur-of-the-moment decision really as I hadn't intended to put zigzaggy stripes through the middle of the blanket at all.  It just sort of naturally evolved like that.

 

And it works don't you think?? The little lines of red and orange give a bit of zigzaggy zing to the whole thing.

I'm especially pleased with the edging. I think that this zigzag chevron type pattern looks amazing.

It was a devil to do mind you. It's worked in very narrow stripes of Double Crochet (Single Crochet in the US), worked in the back loops only. And it took sooooooooo long to do a row! Meticulous counting, tiny weeny stitches. I can't say I particularly enjoyed working it very much, I found it a slog to be honest.

But I do think the result is beautiful.

So.

Are we ready?

Ready for the you-know-what?

Ready for a bit of a reveal?

A bit of a Ta-dah?

OK...

Here

it

comes...

..

..

..

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do really love this neat little blanket, it's the perfect size to be folded in half and snuggled around my Little B when he's in his car seat. It's become our Out and About blanket, our Travel blanket, and it's already been much admired in the week or so that we've been using it.

But best of all, I love that this is a blanket with many Feelings and Thoughts and Memories attached. I love the fact that I began it whilst I was still pregnant, and I finished it with Little B layed by my side.

So..to finish off my Ta-dah posts, I do like to give you a few little Riveting Facts ::

Measures :: 60cm x 90cm

Squares :: 150 whole ones, 24 half ones

Time :: From December till March, with a break in between for Giving Birth.

Balls :: 13 colours, using up The Stash (Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, worked on a 3.5mm hook)

Weight :: 390g

Cost :: Stash yarn so effectively it was FREE (yeah right)

Mileage :: I'm very sorry but I am too tired to do the maths

Photo :: Yours Truly snuggled under the zigzags, looking a little tired it has to be said. Nothing like months on end of disturbed sleep to make one look a little Tired.

Blanket :: soft and gorgeous

Me :: happy

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ps..I'm really sorry that I'm not able to share the exact pattern for this blanket as it is not my own and I don't want to get all tangled up in Copyright issues.

The pattern came from a vintage crochet book which you may well be able to find on Amazon/Ebay/The Library, it's called "Granny Crochet Favourites" by Jean Leinhauser and Rita Weiss. You can see more of the book in my post here.

The little solid granny squares are a Standard Pattern I think :: I would love to make a tutorial for them at some point but am so pushed for time right now that I can't promise when this might happen. However, the lovely Heather has a tutorial on her blog for similar squares, which you can see here. She works hers slightly differently to mine, but the result is pretty much the same.

Hope this is helpful info xx

Comments

[Teri Sullivan]

So lovely Lucy, but I suspect extremely time consuming....

[Donna Boisvert]

What a gorgeous blanket for Little B! :)
Thank you for sharing it with us, Lucy!
I'm curious.... HOW do you make the HALF
granny squares along the side edges of the
blanket? This is not something I've seen
before... but I'm just a novice "hooker".
LOL! :)

[janine bonhomme]

i am so inspired by your work! this zigzag with blocks is so amazing... blowing my mind! I dream of putting colours together like that!

[Nannycuddles]

Lucy, thanks for the inspiration. Have just finished a sort of zig zag baby blanket using your photos as a rough guide. Slightly larger squares, three rounds instead of two and a double width zig zag between each two rows of squares. I love it and hope the recipient will too. No idea how to put a pic on or I would let you see it.
Thanks again for your help.

[Nannycuddles]

Hey, I love this blanket and will be trying to make it soon. Can you please tell me how you attached the zigzag edging top and bottom to the squares. It's driving me crazy trying to do it.

[Baby Blankets]

Perfect!!!

[Alise]

how do you wash your beautiful crochet blankets?
hand-wash or using a wash-mashine?

[Marcia Tomasi Rover]

Maravilhoso trabalho.
Parabéns.

[Lindsay]

I love how bright and colourful all the squares are. I, as yet, cannot crochet. I knit... but no crochet. One day. One day.

[valeria]

bella, bella, bella! Brava!! :-)))

[C Staude]

This is stunning!

[Sandy Lamont]

how much yarn do you need for each color. I know I will have to substitute some colors but would like an idea how much to buy. I am anxious to start! Love your colors and the pattern.
Sandy

[Elly]

I admire this blanket too. I noticed you did not keep to the original layout and did not reverse one end section to match the other. This is the sort of thing I would do and do. I would have been halfway through the main body before I noticing and then I would have unravelled it all and gone quite crackers.

[Karen]

Absolutely gorgeous - well done!! I really need to learn to crochet :)

[Lisa]

I just ordered the book, thank you for posting the title! I can't wait to get it and make this same blanket!

Merry Christmas

[amanda]

So pretty!
I'm in love with granny now ;)

[Double Glazing]

Try to choose a soft cotton or wool are easy on the skin of newborns. Also consider the lid with detergent before the child to wash back into contact with the sensitive skin of babies.

[ardani]

loved it,sorry i am so slow in knitting it will take me 10 years

its so beutifull!!!!1

[One Crafty Mumma]

Hi Lucy,
My friend Helen just finished a huge blanket based on this zig-zag design of yours and she has also used your bobble-shell tutorial for the edging. Helen doesn't have a blog, but I've shared photos of her blanket on mine. If you'd like to take a peek, here is the link:
http://melissagoodsell.typepad.com/day_to_day/2010/09/helens-zigzag-mini-square-blanket.html
Cheers,
Mel

[Miisa]

This babyblanket is just gorgeous, I love the colours and, well, everything about it. Just lovely!

[SS]

Wow, what a gorgeous blanket! I stumbled across your blog first thing on a Monday morning by accident and it made my morning and brought a huge smile to my lips. Thank you for sharing this!

As a knitter who is yet to learn the art of crocheting, any chance you might have a link to a knitting pattern for something similar?

Cheers!

[Emma]

Oh, how beautiful!!! =) I did something similar to my best friend's son. I started knitting it while she was pregnant and finnished it when he was a few weeks old. I gave it to him when he got baptised. Felt like a great gift! =)

Have to say that i LOOOOOOVE your website, both for inspiration, patterns but most of all, for just feeling good! =) it is a real "feel-good-page"!!

[Lara]

Gorgeous. I want to make one! :)

[nour suraya]

Wow..no word can describe this

[Sue]

Hi!! That's a lovely blanket.. :D .. What hook did you use for baby cashmerino? Looks awesome!! :D