It’s almost time for little man’s arrival. I just managed to get this finished in between packing hospital bags, working on my French for the hospital, and trying to get the house and children ready for me to be gone for a little while. (The average French hospital stay after giving birth is four days. What will I do? Not sure. I might go crazy from the lack of yelling and general hubbub, or it might feel like a silent spiritual retreat to only have one child around that sleeps the majority of the day.)
In any case, this texture lap blanket is done. And here are the details!
Yarn Used
Stylecraft Bambino DK – Mellow Yellow, 800 grams
Cost
15,6 Euros (approximately $17.20 )
Time it Took
Began project on October 23, 2019. Finished January 23, 2020. Completed more than 30 smaller projects between, so not as much of my time was completely devoted to this blanket. Hard to estimate.
Final dimensions
42″ x 39″ (106 x 99 cm)
Pattern notes and changes
I used the Yarnspirations Caron Crochet Texture Lap Blanket pattern; however, I changed the size significantly and also altered the border. For the border, I used a front post double crochet/back post double crochet repeat for three rounds to create a ridged look.
For other blankets (like this one!) or tah-dah posts that I’ve done recently (man is it hard to track down decades of progress photos!!!), you can either look at my Ravelry profile or in my finished objects category.
Now that the blanket is done, I just need to wrap my head around what life with a newborn will look like again. I find myself googling phrases like “newborn schedule” and other things that came intuitively the last time, which was five years ago. Ah well. It’ll all shake out, and little man will be so loved.
For Christmas, my daughter received the IKEA Dukvig doll bed. It was sturdy and affordable (things that are handy when you work in the nonprofit sector and have a lot of kids.) It did come with a little “quilt” and mattress as well as something that functions as a pillow (which my little girl soon replaced with an infinity scarf she designed last year.)
However, my little girl has a birthday VERY soon after Christmas, and she always seems to be a bit forgotten in the mad rush of holiday gatherings. And this year is her….golden birthday.
Do you celebrate golden birthdays? It’s where the date you were born on corresponds with your age. For example, I was born on the 13th, and so when I turned 13, it was my golden birthday.
So I knew I wanted to make it special. Our girl is an odd duckling and requested a laundry basket, a rug, a full-length mirror, and something to hang her clothes on. (Closets are not really a thing here in France, and we’ve had to be economical in which furniture we purchase in what order.) Basically, she wanted a “big girl” room with all of the features. We were able to find all of those things for under $40, but I wanted something that would make her eyes sparkle and make her room feel extra special. So I decided to throw together a little doll-sized blanket for her IKEA Duktig doll bed.
Project: IKEA Duktig Doll Bed Crocheted Blanket
Materials Required
Four 100-gram balls of DK weight yarn.
(I used Stylecraft Special DK in Bright Pink, Fondant, Magenta, and Powder Pink.)
Size G (4.25 mm) crochet hook.
Project Final Dimensions
24.5 inches/62 cm (W) by 24 inches/61 cm (H)
Gauge
13 sc stitches by 16 rows should equal approximate 4″ square in size
Crochet Instructions
For blanket
Chain 85 in color A. (For mine, Magenta.)
Row 1: 1 ch (counts as 1 sc). Skip 1 st, *1 hdc into next stitch, 1 dc into next st. 3 tr into next st. 1 dc into next st. 1 hdc into next st. 1 sc into next st. repeat from * to end, turn.
Row 2: Change color to color B (For mine, Powder Pink.) 1 ch, skip 1 st, 1 sc into next st (counts as sc2tog), 1 sc into each of next 2 sts. *3 sc into next st, 1 sc into each of next 2 sts, over next 3 stst work sc3tog, 1 sc into each of next 2 sts; repeat from * to last 5 sts. 3 sc into next st, 1 sc into each of next 2 sts, over last 2 sts work sc2tog, skip tch, turn.
Row 3: As second row.
Row 4: Change color to color C (For mine Bright Pink.) 4 ch, skip 1 st. 1 tr into next st (counts as tr2tog), * 1 dc into next st, 1 hdc into next st, 1 sc into next st, 1 hdc into next st, 1 dc into next st** over next 3 sts work tr3tog; repeat from * ending last rep at **, over last 2 sts work tr2tog, skip tch turn.
Row 5: 1 ch (counts as 1 sc), skip 1 st, 1 sc into next and each st to end, turn.
Row 6: Change color to color D (For mine, Fondant.) As 5th row.
Repeat these six rows, using each color for two rows (so continuing onto row 1 with color D, and then changing to color A for rows 2 and 3, and so on.)
End on 65th row with color A.
Stitch or weave in all loose ends.
Edging:
Using color A, which should be at the top and bottom of your blanket, single crochet around the entire width of the blanket, remembering that the treble crochets on the edges count as four stitches in length. When you reach a corner space, 3 sc in each corner and turn.
After you’ve finished your single crochet round, continue using color A, and do one hdc in every stitch (excepting corner stitches which will receive 3 hdc.) Tie off and sew or weave in your loose border yarn.
And that’s it! Your little one will be so thrilled that their babies or stuffed loveys can be comfy and cozy too with your very own doll bed crocheted blanket.
( I feel the need to disclaim that this post is NOT sponsored by IKEA. However, should anyone from IKEA be reading this and notice a spike in your IKEA Duktig doll bed purchases due to this post, I’d love to work out an arrangement for some new living room furniture or bookshelves. Hardy har har.)
I plan to continue to add other patterns to my site, so if you’re curious about some of the other patterns I’ve got available, click here!
I feel a bit like William Carlos Williams any time I use the phrase “This is Just to Say,” but I have to use it in this case.
This is just to say that I’ve finished 30 scarves and one baby blanket in the last six weeks. (For 21 of the scarves, I used the easy pattern I wrote about here.)
Things I’ve learned:
Start Christmas projects earlier. Ha. Hats are on the docket for next year for the guys we work with, so prepare yourselves. I’ll be starting somewhere around September probably.
Pink as a feminine color is an American social construct. My husband offered the first choice of scarves to one of the “leader” asylum seekers at the refugee and asylum seeker housing ministry we work at. He asked for us specifically to reserve a pink scarf for him. Here I had been worried all along that I was using up scraps of pinks and purples in the scarves and that these teenage and young adult boys would balk at the femininity of the scarves. Nope.
Always check your length when making scarves for men. The first scarf I made and we handed out was honestly a little short because this boy wrapped his scarf differently than I was used to wrapping scarves around my kids. He did the neck loop instead of the tie around. (For pictures demonstrating what I mean, see here.)
It’s possible to make a baby blanket in a day.
I need to buy more yarn.
I hope you’re enjoying the holiday season and also taking time to reflect how you can make the world a more beautiful place in the coming year. All it takes is small acts with great love, right? Simple steps? Maybe preparing for a more beautiful tomorrow? However you go about it, set about it with intention, and together we can make the world a more beautiful place.
I’m feeling a little ridiculous posting now, beginning this again, and I almost feel the need to reintroduce myself. However, I’m going to just press into this post. We’ve managed to find beauty in all sorts of places in the nearly six months since we moved overseas. Beauty in discomfort. Beauty in sadness. Beauty in nature. Beauty in flavors. Beauty in a feeling of home.
It took us a few months more than we thought to find a place to call home, but we’re here now, finally settling in. And we have internet! While we still are very limited in our furnishings, it is so nice to just spread ourselves out and begin routines.
I finally finished up a blanket for our daughter. It was a tough one because I was using up scraps of old purples and pinks, her favorite colors. (Not MY favorites…) I reworked the blanket three times for various reasons. It just is what it is now.
My husband chose the edging, and I don’t think it’s half bad, but I will never voluntarily make a blanket in colors I despise again. (Remind me of this in a few months, right?) I don’t have glamour shots, because my daughter wanted it the instant I was done, and her room is…spartan right now. (Missionary life.) I’d really love to make her room a little more beautiful than it is. Currently, it’s just a bed in a very large room. Not pretty for staging. Ah well.
horrible night lighting. Hopefully someday, I’ll get a photo to show you the colours in a less garish light.
I also knit up a scarf for one of the older boys with some leftover rust-colored yarn. He calls it his “jaunty scarf.”
I did order some grey-blue wool yarn and some ochre wool-blend yarn for a few more projects, because we have another little boy joining us in February. I plan to knit some leg warmers and a hat and to crochet a blanket for baby boy.
I do want to work more on my knitting skills because I’m honestly still a little scared of cable work. I hope to make myself a cardigan or pullover sometime in the next year, but we’ll see. It is nowhere near as cold here as it was in Minnesota, but it’s a consistent damp feeling, so I find myself reaching for sweaters even when it’s only 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 Celsius).
We’re learning to be much more economical than we were even in the States. It’s a constant stretching of creativity in terms of where we can skimp and where we need to add flavor (or quality). One of my goals in our lives as a mom and a missionary has been to not really allow our kids to feel a sense of financial sacrifice. It’s been challenging and has stretched my creativity.
Of note: homemade nacho sauce with French cheese and without access to jalapenos is just NOT a good idea.
Now that I’ve finished that beast of a blanket, I do hope to write here more often. Maybe I’ll throw in some non-craft-related posts, just to remember our first year in France. We’ll see.
On my birthday, I drank my favorite coffee, got to hold a baby, my husband took me out to a creamery, and I picked out some tulips to celebrate. It was delightful.
I also finished this blanket.
This particular one was begun out of necessity, rather than plan. We’re in the process of moving overseas, and our initial visa application was denied. What’s a girl to do when her entire life is inaccessible because it’s packed away in boxes?
I try to live by the old Shaker phrase “Hands to Work, Hearts To God.” So instead of sitting around googling visa application horror stories or sure fixes, I chose to make this Celtic afghan instead.
The time it took to make: 21 days. I don’t know how many hours, but there were quite a few days that I didn’t work on it at all.
This lovely blanket is so comforting. It’s also quite heavy for a blanket, weighing at around 5 pounds. It’s the perfect blanket for curling up in our cold Northern winters.
The first day or three, I struggled to learn cablework. I crocheted and then “frogged” about 20 or so times. It became a joke with my husband because he thought it was so unusual to see me struggling with something related to crochet. But soon, since it’s only a four-row repeat, I was able to proceed pretty quickly. It’s a pretty bulky yarn, so things worked up really fast.
Future Projects To Look For
I enjoyed it so much that I’m foraying into other cable work and plan to design my own little cabled blanket in a smaller baby blanket size. Look for a work in progress update and maybe a free pattern here on this website! I also have a design in the works for a really fun vintage quilt-inspired pattern.
