Baby Blankets... A Year (and a bit) in Review

Last year, furthmore known as BB... (Before Blog) my friends decided to procreate at the rate of rabbits, forcing me to knit baby blankets like a fiend. I've decided to recap the baby blanket knitting EXTRAVAGANZA here to record for posterity.

I almost hate to say this... but once the current baby blanket I'm working on is out of the way- I'm done.... finished... kaput for babies on the way. (Which, by virtue of having said this, 12 people will call me tomorrow to say that they are pregnant.) I'm still planning on knitting two more, a boy and girl blanket to have on hand for those last minute, "oh by the way I'm 9 months pregnant types" who like to spring surprises on me. (You want gifts? Tell me early!)

Most blankets, took about a month of hardcore knitting, except for the hearts, which took 2 and the blue and white checked blanket which also took 2. All of these blankets have been knit with Bernat Baby Softee, which if you ask me, (what's that you didn't? Too bad), garners the best result baby blanket wise- both washable and soft... a PRIMO baby combination.

Are ya ready? (obviously these are the close up shots only)

#1- The Blanket That Started It All. I knit this because I didn't have a baby to knit for, but thought it would make a nice gift if one were eventually born. Two days after I cast this bad boy on TWO people called to tell us they were pregnant.

#2- Summer Knitting- I knit this while spending my summer in Calgary- this pattern is cute, and mindless and while it's a bit slower to knit, (miss those yarn overs!), I didn't hate this pattern when I was finished. (So much so that I'm doing this exact pattern again for Tasha's blanket, only in different colors.)

3. The Mother-In Law Challenge. My MIL found this pattern on line and we both got stars in our eyes when we found the perfect yarn for it. This pattern was a PAIN to start, and I frogged a couple of times before I started for good, and I'm pretty sure my MIL does not want me to tell you how many times she frogged her version. Once you get into this pattern and get used to it, it's fine- but neither of us are "chomping at the bit" to knit this bad boy again.

4- Mother-In-Law Challenge Part Deux! (MIL finds the best patterns) In this case I coveted her finished blanket so much that I knit my own. What she failed to mention is that the pattern is rather MIND.NUMBINGLY.BORING. to knit and I thought I was literally going to die from boredom before I finished.

5. This blanket sits alone in the "More Than I Can/Could Chew" category. Yes. It's beautiful. Yes. It's cute as anything you've likely seen. No. I will never make another. I knit this with FIFTEEN mini yarn balls at a time. FIFTEEN. And don't even get me started on the sheer hell it was to sew in the ends. H.E.Double Hockey Sticks. This blanket is a testament to my sheer will, tenacity and love of knitting. This blanket, despite my rather weak baby aspirations, is the only blanket I've ever knit that I couldn't actually part with. I will keep this one forever and most likely request to be burried with it.

#6- OH MY GOD I'M STILL KNITTING BABY BLANKETS?!!! (What's sick is I've got another one on the needles right now that needs to get done before June!) This, as you may recognize, is the most recently finished, and shipped off baby blanket. Getting through this blanket was a bit of a slag... as you can probably guess... I'm kind of sick of baby blankets... but I also feel like I've set the standard for baby gifts and need to maintain. Thankfully this pattern knit up fast... (I yarn overs)-- but it curls, so knit it with something that will block flat!

Um yeah... that is a lot of blankets. I'm not really quite sure how I maintained my sanity through it all. On the upside... it makes for a colorful blog post.