I don't remember if I mentioned this project before. It's actually way old, I started it last year sometime so long ago I don't even remember when it was started. But it was for Amelia. I know when I first started it I told her it was for her but over time she forgot and I stopped reminding her. I was finally able to pick it back up and finish it.
After I was determined to finish it for her it didn't take all that long. I worked on it at nap times and after the girls went to bed. At nap when Amelia would wake up she would tell me how much she loved the blanket and ask who it was for, the only answer I gave was it was or someone very special. She got really concerned when I bought some new yarn for a new blanket for Alyssa, she sweetly asked when I was going to make a blanket for her. How awful can a mommy feel when her little girl thinks that she would make all this neat stuff for others and not her. And by the way, Amelia has tremendous faith in the fact that I can make anything. Everyday she comes up with something new to add to her list of "mommy, make this for me," I'm up to a mermaid tail, a purse, several princess dresses, a cat possibly two cats actually, and other odds and ends. It's flattering and daunting at the same time, and I hope she always keeps that faith in me.
She loves blankets anyway, not like Alyssa does though, Amelia is my animal baby and Alyssa is the blanket baby. Amelia is constantly stealing my blanket and dragging it around the house and hiding under it.
The closer I got to the end the closer I got to spilling the beans. I'm not very good at keeping secrets of things that I'm making for anyone. I love to make things for others and I love to make others happy. When it was all finished I put it in a bag and gave it to her like a present because, well, it was a present!
She has this weird lack of showing emotion she gets from her dad. She's a serious little girl that sometimes borders on painful! Haha! She was such a serious baby too, she would look at you like you were an idiot if you tried a new thing to make her laugh. She was so serious in fact she didn't do a lot of talking or babbling and being a first time mom I didn't worry about it because I didn't know about it, but comparing the way Alyssa babbles to the way Amelia didn't is mind blowing. Though when Amelia finally did start talking it was still in the normal time range but it was still a relief. Sorry, didn't mean to get sidetracked.
She was excited, don't get me wrong, but there wasn't the fanfare I was imagining and I should have known better thank get my hopes up.
There was the immediate wrapping and twirling around in it. Pulling it over her head and laying down on it.
She even brought her coloring book over and lay down on it, I think that was my favorite part.
She sleeps with it everyday now and I love that she loves it. I have grandiose visions of her using this blanket forever. Taking it alongside her for sleep overs, summer camps and trips, the blanket she needs to watch movies on movie nights, when she goes to college her roommate will ask her where she got that awesome blanket and Amelia will say that her amazing mom made it for her years ago, and then the roommate will be jealous. I had a lot of time to think about the lifetime of this blanket while I was working on it!
But I'm glad it's finished and being loved. It's a huge blanket, it's as long as mine but this one is wider. It's 60x81", I made it giant on purpose because I wanted her to grow into it or if she wanted to cuddle with me or Elliott under it it would be big enough for everyone to use.
It's Lucy's pattern. Except I did my own edging, To straighten out the ripples, on the top of the blanket I worked sc, ch 2, sc in the corner, 2 sc, 2 hdc, 2 dc, dc2tog, 2 dc, 2 hdc, 4 sc, 2 hdc… So on across to the next corner. The dc2tog should fall on the two decreases of the previous/last row. Then sc, ch 2, sc in the corner and sc down the side to the bottom/chain row. Bottom corner: dc, ch 2, dc, 2 dc, 2 hdc, 4 sc, 2 hdc, 2 dc, dc2tog… The dc2tog should fall on the increases from the first row. This will “straighten” out the ripples but I recommend doing more rounds on the border to make it look straighter, and work two dc, ch 2, two dc in the corners with each additional row. I think I will add one more row of gray just to close it all in. It's super soft and cuddly and most importantly, Amelia adores it.
P.s. In case you were curious, I used Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn in graybeard and the neons in green, blue, orange, and fuchsia. Washes amazingly!
