Hooked on Needles: Crocheted Candy Stripes Blanket ~ Finished!

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Crocheted Candy Stripes Blanket ~ Finished!

This crocheted candy striped blanket was so quick and fun to make! It is now finished and ready to ship down to Texas for my niece's new little baby who will be arriving sometime later this year. I have always believed that every baby should have some kind of handmade cuddly thing like an afghan or blanket or other snuggly item, so each of my siblings and now my nieces and nephews receive something handmade from me when they have their first baby. I'd love to be able to make one for each baby, but the list would be never-ending, so only the first gets one, and they can learn that valuable lesson of sharing very early in their life!

So here it is...

The diagonal stitching of this afghan made it start fast and get big fast...instant gratification!

The long sections of bright, fun colors in this yarn made for some fabulous chunks of color intermingled with chunks of bright white.

The texture created by this stitch will be perfect for little fingers to discover.

Don't you just love that simple scalloped border?

I surely do!

The perfect border can really make the blanket, and it doesn't necessarily have to be something big and fancy. This border is a simple double crochet scallop worked directly onto the edge of the blanket without even a round of single crochet to start. I think it wraps up this blanket perfectly!

You can make your own Candy Stripes blanket too! I ordered my kit from one of my very favorite online retailers for all things yarn, Mary Maxim!

Happy Stitching!

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Labels: baby blanket, baby gift, crochet, crocheted afghan, Mary Maxim

5 Comments:

Well done Mary Grace - love the colors. Bright colors are so visually stimulating for babies - i know your niece will treasure this blanket.

By annemarie, At April 3, 2014 at 8:29 PM
What a lovely blanket! I love the stitch pattern. I'd like to see it in a solid color so I could analyze how it was stitched, so terribly clever. I crochet a little, too, but I am definitely in the learning stages. Lucky babies. I am late to the party. I recently welcomed a niece (I already had 8 nieces and 8 nephews), and handmade something for the first time. I regret not having started a tradition early. I blame it on being the first on both my side and DH's side to have babies, so that by the time the first nephew came along I had nooooo time. First nephew arrived 2 weeks after my third baby, and I was working full-time as well. Oh well, regrets aside, there will always be more babies to make for, and perhaps in the next few years, a grandchild to pamper and spoil. Sorry to be long-winded, your post struck a chord with me.

By WendyBee, At April 4, 2014 at 10:14 AM
Looks like a simple diagonal box stitch WendyBee (or corner to corner). Simple.
Looks great in this bright color pattern with the scallop border.

By Anonymous, At April 19, 2014 at 12:30 AM
The stitch used to make this afghan is called the diagonal box stitch. I do not have a tutorial on my own site for how to do it, but I did find a few sources for instructions that look good for learning the stitch. It is one of those that most people will require SEEING worked in order to understand it, and the second link below is a pretty comprehensive picture tutorial.

http://crochet.about.com/od/learncrochet/ht/htdiagonal.htm

http://calosiknits.blogspot.com/2012/11/photo-tutorial-for-diagonal-box-stitch.html

Of course, using variegated yarn like what I used in the baby blanket makes it even easier because there is no need to change yarns frequently!

Hope this helps anyone who is interested in learning this stitch!

MGM

By Mary Grace McNamara, At April 19, 2014 at 11:54 AM
Fun and happy. I do love that scalloped edge. Something I want to try one day.

By Abby and Stephanie, At May 3, 2014 at 1:05 PM