The written crochet pattern (in US terms) provides instructions to make a South African safari-themed baby blanket, approximately 100 cm x 80 cm.

Incorporating designs of 10 well-known South African animals (including the famous ‘big five’), this baby blanket was specially made for my soon-to-be-born niece (who will be a British citizen, but whose parents are both South Africans), using designs from my original South African Safari Blanket pattern (which includes 17 animal designs).

The pattern calls for a 4.00 mm crochet hook, and DK yarn (however, any yarn weight with a corresponding crochet hook will work - the size of the blanket will then vary) in the following 10 colours: dusty pink, beige, white, grey, pale yellow, cream, brown, black, dark grey, and camel.

A 100 g skein of each colour yarn is more than enough - except for dusty pink and beige (between one and two 100 g skeins of yarn are necessary for each of these two colours).

Detailed instructions are provided to explain how to attach a fleece backing to the blanket, for extra warmth (this also hides the back of the blanket, which may look a little messy after the smaller individual pieces of each square have been attached). For this, a piece of pre-washed fleece (approximately 120 cm x 100 cm) is required, as well as sewing pins, sharp scissors, and a 12 steel (1.25 mm) crochet hook.

The only other additional materials needed are: a darning needle, with which to weave in the ends and sew the pieces together, and a very small amount of teddy filling to stuff the trunk of the elephant.

eBook published in July 2024