my.lovey.is.a.blanket

I have had this little blanket I call Lovey since my baby shower. Well technically, since I was just a freeloader at my shower, it was given to my mother, and then to me. I still have her (yes, her) and it may or may not still be in the vicinity of the bed. I carried this thing everywhere for years and once it was even left in a hotel room (for shame!) and my mother made sure they didn’t throw it away, and even had it shipped UPS back to me. So of course, when I found out my pal Jeni was expecting another little one I had to make a duplicate Lovey for the new bebe.

I’ve known Jeni forever. We joke that we pooped our first diapers together, and it’s not really that far from the truth. Her grandmother babysat us both from the time I was less than a year old, until middle school, and we have stayed in touch all the way through. I was even the maid of honor at her wedding (the speech was amazing – I didn’t even swear). So she is very familiar with Lovey as I definitely dragged it around with me whenever we would play as kids. As you can see, her son Robert’s version (on the right) is in much better shape than mine (on the left). It’s the same yarn, same pattern…but a little less mileage, for now. Nothing like such a long history to get me off my duff to give a go at my first baby blanket. And to tell you the truth, it was a great project to keep me busy after the fire (I actually thanked her for having another child just to save my sanity. A little funny?)

I just finished another fun version for a set of friends that are expecting, and am excited to hand it off before they move far, far away. This version was a bit smaller and easier to work than the first attempt and is a lovely emerald green (this way when wasabi lands on it, it will blend in?) It’s a fantastically easy pattern that yields smart results.

• Cast on a multiple of 18 stitches + whatever you want for a border, but at least 1 stitch on either end.  Assuming 1 stitch at each end, work the following 4 rows until you reach desired length:

• Row 1: knit
• Row 2: purl
• Row 3: k1, * k2 tog 3 times, (k1, yo) 6 times, k2 tog 3 times * repeat from * to * until last stitch, k1
• Row 4: knit
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