I really wanted to use my Jill Draper Makes Stuff yarn to make something for my baby. I bought that yarn when we were in Canada, the country where we took that big decision to have kids. I bought this particular yarn because it reminded me so much of the colors of fall that I was seeing everywhere. I wanted to turn that into a lovely, squishy baby blanket. But that one skein wasn’t enough for anything substantial, and also I wanted the colors to really stand out. So I combined it with that super soft Lana Grossa Merino yarn. It’s a different gauge, but with this stitch you can get away with that.

The stitch used is flying swallows. In the video I found (https://youtu.be/WOiaG5mcfFk) it is explicitly said that you should only use this when knitting in the round, and for flat objects you should use a steek. But this yarn is too slippery to use a steek. So I decided to try to do it flat anyway, which requires some thinking about which way your decreases should lean, and how to achieve that alternatively on the front and back of your work. You’ll need an extra row of knit or purl stitches between the patterned stitches. But with all that, it’s totally doable! I love that stitch with this combination of yarns, it really makes the colors stand out while also keeping things fresh.

I lined the blanket with an i-chord edging, based on this tutorial: http://www.eskimimimakes.com/2014/11/emberwarm-shawl-appl....

I lined the blanket with some flannel, based on these tutorials: http://italiandishknits.com/2014/03/03/mitered-squares-th... and http://techknitting.blogspot.nl/2008/05/best-way-to-attac....

I love the end result, and I’m sure my baby will love it too!