The Crochet Baby Hearts Blanket was a gift. One fine day my sister-in-law asked me to design a baby blanket for her. We decided on colours and hearts and I got to work designing. I guess you could say this is one of my very first, very own blanket designs and I am pretty pleased with how it turned out!
Baby Hearts Blanket
This crochet baby blanket is one of my first designs ever and it took some trial and error. After deliberating what colours to use (according to my sister-in-law’s wishes, of course) I could move on to the fun part: buying yarn (using someone else’s money, ha ha).
Planning the Crochet Baby Hearts Blanket
After purchasing the desired yarn, I started this crochet project by making a sketch, using the selected colours. With white, blue/green and dark grey I drew the colour scheme. And so the concept was born. When an idea is formed inside your head, you need to try and translate it into an actual project. And that’s where it gets interesting.
Trying out Stitches
The next phase had everyting to do with figuring out the stitches and the dimensions of the squares. I used bobbles to make hearts on the grey squares, and the half double crochet stitch*, double crochet stitch*, and single crochet stitch* for the different squares. The border I made using the front post double crochet stitch* and the back post double crochet stitch*. In the end I sewed the squares together using the mattress stitch.
Measuring, Crocheting, Frogging
When I decided on the different stitches for the different coloured squares, a lot of crocheting, measuring and frogging had to happen. The use of different stitches results in different dimensions, so a different number of stitches is needed to get the same measurements. It took me a while to get that right. But it was smooth sailing from there on out.
Find other blankets: Temperature Blanket, Zoodiacs Blanket, Crochet Baby Blanket with Squares.
Just Keep Stitching, Just Keep Stitching
The designing part was (largely) over. All was left at that stage was a lot of stitching. Soms squares took longer than others (’cause, bobbles versus half double crochets). There isn’t much to say about that: I just had to put in the work. After I finished 8 green squares, 9 grey squares and 8 white squares it was time for the next to final act of the play.
Oh, but first I used the grey yarn to crochet some single crochets around all of the squares, with two chains in the corners. That way all of the squares had a nice grey border, which I could then sew together.
Sewing the Squares Together
As soon as all 25 squares had a grey border, it was time to sew them together. I used the mattress stitch to do that. Using long strands of grey yarn, I set to work. The great thing about the mattress stitch is you can’t even see it’s there. So, all squares appear to be attached seemlessly. Awesome.
Last but not Least … a Border
For this Baby Hearts Blanket I decided on a border using the front post double crochet* and the back post double crochet*. This creates a sort of 3D effect. With two or three rounds using those stitching, you will have a nice wide border. And voilà, the Crochet Baby Hearts Blanket was done!
*I have used US crochet terms
An Overview in Photos of the Crochet Baby Hearts Blanket
(click to enlarge)
If you are interested in a pattern for this blanket, or if you have any questions or remarks, drop me a line in the comments!