for the little girl

I’ve got a niece on the way, and it’s my first niece, so as you might imagine, Auntie got a’ craftin’. A bit of crochet, a bit of knitting, a multicolored multicraftual welcome for the girl on the way.

All of the yarn, six shades in all, is from Lion Brand Yarn’s “LB Collection.” This particular yarn is their Cotton Bamboo, a dk-weight blend of (you guessed it) cotton and bamboo! I chose this yarn for the set for a couple of reasons: great colors, lightweight for a spring baby, easy to launder and care for, and soft and smooth (and nonallergenic) against the skin. I’ve had this yarn since I spent an amazing day at the Lion Brand Yarn Studio last spring during my Melissa Morgan-Oakes sock workshop. I’m so glad I had this yarn available, it was the perfect choice for all of these fun projects!

The blanket was crocheted with a G hook (I think), and the pattern was also from Lion Brand! Check it out, it’s a fabulous, free, and easily adaptable pattern: the Rainbow Blankie. This was my first time making a Granny square, and they are addictive! Once I was able to talk through the technique with my mom (and it was as clear as mud to me at first haha!), the crocheting time flew by. And as my mom first taught me, I did a reverse crochet edging at the end to give the blanket a little structure, since its plant fiber and open fabric make this a drapier crocheted blanket than usual.

The newborn-sized sweater was knit with a US 6 needle and I used one of the simple, but beautiful, patterns from Erika Knight’s classic book Simple Knits for Cherished Babies. (Pick up a copy of this; its timeless designs really give each item an heirloom feel). I was feeling a bit wild, so I colorblocked the back of the sweater in brown, but you can’t see that here. I’m not sure that this is exactly a “wild” thing to do, but hey, don’t disillusion me. While I did leave the garter hem unseamed and the slip stitch edges of the sleeves untrimmed (to enable easy sleeve rolling/folding), I did add a crochet trim around the neck to make that edge lie a bit flatter and look a bit neater. I love the simple decreases at the neck edge to make it look polished. I also omitted the cotton tape to tie the back neck closed; I liked the ease of the open edges better.

And the hat was just a vanilla pattern for a stockinette baby hat with a rolled edge using the right stitch count for my gauge! I added a few stripes just for fun – these colors just say SPRING to me.

I can’t recommend this yarn highly enough – I hope you get a chance to use it and that you enjoy it as much as I did. In the meantime, baby girl, hurry up, we can’t wait to meet you – we are SURROUNDED by boys around here! 🙂