Baby blanket

I finally finished the baby blanket I'd been working on for my coworker Jason, whose wife was pregnant. I started months ago, figuring I had plenty of time, but I am a genius at procrastinating. Then, as her due date came and went, I was racing against the clock. Each day I would walk in the office and see Jason there, I thought, "Whew! I have another day!" Well, I brought the finished blanket in on Friday, and of course that's the day the babe wanted out. She was born Friday night and weighed 7 lbs, 10 oz, named Carly Elizabeth. Cute, no? Jason came in to the office briefly today (unfortunately I was out doing a training) and picked up my gift. I wish I could have seen him open it, because he has been kidding me about knitting for a while now. He once said, "I know the perfect place where you can knit! There's a retirement home just a few miles down the road..." Ha, ha. He sent me an email saying he likes the blanket, so maybe he'll be convinced that knitting is not just for old folks these days! Here are a few pix:



I chose yellow and white because that's the color scheme of the baby's nursery. I used Bernat Baby Coordinates and knitted with double strands for thickness--and so I could get away using 15US needles (circular). I was very pleased with the loft of the weave. Nice and squishy. I did not measure the blanket when I was finished, but it was much closer to actual baby blanket size than my last attempt. That time I cast on 100 stitches using a thicker yarn, and the blanket ended up being like 7 feet long. This time I cast on 75 stitches using a thinner yarn, and it turned out more appropriately sized. In fact, it was even a tad small.* So it's more of a "blankie" than a full-on blanket. All the better for carrying around when she's a toddler!

* Please do not lecture me on gauge swatches--I do not believe in them! But if I did it again using the same yarn and needles, I'd probably cast on 90 stitches.