Used this lovely free pattern - thank you Jess Doomcrafter - as a jumping off point, and I’m so pleased with the FO.

Mods:

2 color bottom and top edging: Cast on and knit 1st two rows in darker blue, then knit next 2 rows in lighter blue.

10-row chevron stripes: Then began chevron pattern, alternating 10 rows of each color, beginning with darker blue. Not framing with single color as in original pattern, but alternating colors in the 3-stitch garter band at each side as well.

Lazy girl: I carried the not-in-use color up the side, planning to cover this up with crocheted edging at the end. (No way did I want to break yarn every 10 rows and weave in all those ends.)

Cover up: Planned to edge the two sides with some sort of crochet to cover my yarn carries. Of course, I’ve never crocheted before … First tried single crochet, but it sat on one side, not on the edge, and was too see-through.

Ended up using the crab stitch, learned here:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wE-ObvYb_Pk

I read this crochet stitch is difficult for real crocheters because it is worked backwards & upside down, but since I had no experience with crochet this didn’t bother me at all! Ends up as nice thick coverage that sits on the edge, not on either side.

I used a total of 2 skeins of each color (660 yds total) to knit the blanket, measuring approximately 32” square. Unfortunately, had to open a third skein of the light blue yarn to do the edging, wouldn’t you know?

About the yarn: lovely feel, machine washed & dried beautifully with no pilling. A bit splitty, but not unmanageable; more noticeable when crocheting than knitting. And it’s a bit expensive, but I’d use it again to get the washable wool content & baby soft feel.