Come fly with me...

Well, despite getting completely sucked into the completion of my Lego Indiana Jones video game this week, I did manage to also complete my latest baby blanket, yay!  

A side note to you gamers or friends of gamers--if you're playing Lego Indiana Jones and aiming for %100, do the bonus levels as soon as you've unlocked them, don't leave them for last--they are kind of lame compared to the rest of the game and make finishing it something of a letdown.  Or at least do the Warehouse level before Ancient City.  Just sayin.

But back to crochet.

The once "Jungle Fun Baby Blanket" has been rechristened as the completed "Dragon Wing Baby Blanket."   In between the pattern I ended up choosing and the contrast in colors of the border to the main body, it just reminded me of nothing so much as a dragon wing, so that's what it became.  

Despite my rocky starts with this thing I am actually really pleased with how it turned out.   Hopefully baby girl will enjoy it as well.  It's not huge, only 32" square, but I still think it's a good size.  This will probably be a put on top of the baby's other blankets to keep her warm or lay down on the floor for her to sit on or a stroller blanket, rather than a truly functional blanket.  Mostly because while it is machine washable, thing ain't going near a dryer.

Here is a shot of the finished product:

And here is a closer shot of the corner so you can get a better idea of the colors and see the patterns of the border and body a little bit better:

I tried to do a really cool texture thing with the border where I did a back loop only or front loop only row every few rows, but it didn't really turn out like I thought it would.  I guess that only works if you alternate them every other row, sigh.  Still, I am pretty happy with it nonetheless.  

As for the primary body of the blanket, it is something of a granny square with a twist.  Instead of doing the square in the round, I did it side to side from corner to corner.  It was pretty easy and looks really nifty.  To get that effect, here is how I started it:

1. Chain five.
2. Three double crochet in fifth chain from hook (first chain space).
3. Chain 1, double crochet in same space.  This gives you a chain three (serves as first double crochet), a chain space, a three double crochet, a chain space, and a double crochet.
4. Chain four and turn.
5. Three double crochet in first chain space, chain one, three double crochet in second chain space, chain one, double crochet in third chain of chain four.
6. Chain four and turn.
7. Repeast steps four and five, making three double crochet in each chain space across, until blanket is the desired width along sides of triangle.
8. To decrease:  Chain four and turn.  
9. Skip first chain space, three double crochet, chain one, in each chain space across until you get to the end.  Do not three double crochet in last chain space.  Double crochet in third chain of chain four.
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 until you only have one three double crochet on the row.
11. Chain three, slip stitch to fourth chain of chain four.

And that's how I got the body.  The border is just a simple single crochet.  Three sc in each space along the sides and five in each "corner" space for the first row.  Then one single crochet in each single crochet around, with three single crochet in the center single crochet of each corner.  Row four is front loop only and row seven is back loop only.  Nine rows of single crochet then the last row is double crochet all the way around (three in each corner).

It's actually a pretty simple blanket to make, if you just sit down to do it.  

For the yarn I used Lamb's Pride Super Wash for the body (four skeins) and LB Collection Cotton Bamboo for the border (one and a half skeins).  Both have the same washing directions, but each has a totally different texture which gives the blanket a neat flare.

On deck for this week is my May sister swap square (I'll probably go whip that up today).  Then I have yet another blanket I want to make.  I really thought I was done making baby blankets.  Nope, totally not.  I saw a cool pattern in my Lion Brand newsletter last week and it just kind of stuck with me.  Yesterday I bought the yarn.  It's the Bright Eyes Baby throw over at Lion Brand's website and it uses their Homespun yarn.  I've never made anything with Homespun before, but I like how it feels.  It is a bit chunkier than I usually like my yarn to be, but we shall see, I guess.  I have chosen to use the color Lagoon rather than the one called for in the pattern (of course).  

And after that I swear I am going to make that Amigurumi giraffe.  I swear.  I am just dreading assembling all of the pieces on that one.  Also, would like to reiterate--that will be for my baby's room as purely a decoration.  It is not actually a toy for her until she's old enough for the safety eyes to be safe.  It will be placed in some nice out of reach location to just look pretty until then.

Okay, that's me for this week.  Hope you all have a great one!  Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!