Baby Blanket

It's baby time in Charlottesville! I have just completed a baby blanket for my good friend Nora. The theme of the baby's room is farm related, so I thought, what better than to put farm animals on the blanket? Also, Nora loves cows, so a cow had to be included somehow.

I thought about doing four different squares and knitting animals into the fabric, but then Debbie had a great idea- knit up the blocks fast, seam them together, and then duplicate stitch the animals on. Well, it worked great! I made it all up and it's totally easy. All you need is four skeins of Heirloom (washable wool) in different colors. Cast on 65 stitches on a size 7 needle. Garter stitch eight rows and then on the 9th row, knit all 65. On the 10th row, knit 4, purl 57, knit four. In other words, a stockinette square with a garter stitch border. Continue this until you're almost out of yarn and then do your 8 garter stitch rows and cast off.

Then, block the squares a la Jane Slicer-Smith. Fill a bowl with lukewarm water and put a washcloth in (white if possible to avoid any color running issues). Squeeze out excess water from the washcloth and put on your fabric. Then put a hot iron on top of the washcloth. This will produce lots of steam, so be careful. When you've ironed the entire wash cloth, you'll have to put it back in the water and let it sit for about 30 seconds. It can get really hot, so again, be careful! Repeat the whole process until the square is flat.

Seam squares together and voila! I duplicate stitched animals on and my blanket was ready to be wrapped. Thank you, Liesel, for wrapping it. That's an art that I haven't mastered yet.



little lamb...



Mama duck and ducklings...



piglet...



and the cow!