Retro Baby....Buggy Blanket

I was recently very excited to hear that a couple of good friends of mine, old college pals, were expecting a baby. As well as being absolutely thrilled to bits for them, I'd been wanting an excuse to do a baby blanket.

These are discerning friends... and certainly no slaves to fashion or fads. This one had to be special.

I chose crochet, because, let's face it, there's nothing cooler at the moment than wrapping your precious little bundle in something blatantly unique and handmade. I wasn't sure 'Homespun' would be their style so I decided to go for luxury, as in good quality artisan.

Most important of all - colour.  We've seen lot's of lovely things done for babies in 'brights' over the last couple of decades, and they are still fab,.... but this time I fancied a change.....

I'm liking the growing resurgence in pastel colours, not the sugary style that instantly springs to mind  -  this time the more subtle, subdued shades including, grey, stone and all manner of creams. It coincides nicely with the rediscovery of our love of 50s and 60s vintage, and when well combined can look gorgeous.

Finding the right colours can be tricky. Yarn companies, have never been known for being at the cutting edge of fashion - although they are slowly catching up, so you have to be canny and mix 'inter-brand' with those of a similar weight and composition. For a yarn that's very washable and quick to dry but which wears well and holds it's shape nicely, a wool/acrylic mix is ideal. I used Stylecraft Life. Beautiful and soft, good quality, it comes in a nice selection of shades and is pretty reasonably priced. I chose Mint and Silver. The ice-cream yellow I wanted was a little more hard to find so I used Wendy Jubilee in Vanilla, a beautiful soft dk yarn which is the same weight and composition as the other.

Marc Jacobs A/W 2012-1013

The pattern is a bold stripe, bordered by finer bands of the same colour. with a fine black accent to give it that quirky mid-century feel. Crocheted in one of my favourite stitch styles, and similar to that used by the fabulous Marc jacobs in his Autumn/winter 2012- 13 collection. A small pompom on each corner gives a nice luxury finish. Check out this fabulous simple tutorial from 'I Like Big Bows' on how to make mini pompoms

Measuring approx 78cm x 76cm it's the perfect portable size cover for the buggy, and for carrying around. 

Its lace-like construction makes it a light cover in the summer months, but thick enough to slip inside the foot-muff for extra warmth when the weather gets colder.

I don't get the chance, very often, these days, to give to charity, but I do try to as often as I can. In these times of austerity our charities are struggling more than ever to raise much needed funds, and so I have decide to donate this pattern to a worthy cause.

P/hop is a charity knitting/crochet project that raises funds for the emergency aid organisation Medicins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders.

Designers donate their patterns to P/hop, which are then available for you to download. The idea is that you decide the amount you wish to pay based on the amount of pleasure you get from knitting or crocheting your P/hop pattern. There is no fixed amount - it's up to you what you pay. You can get more details HERE 

The pattern comes as a downloadable PDF with clear instructions and easy to follow charts for those of you who prefer something more visual.

Make special gift to give to a Newborn and, at the same time, turn your enjoyment of crochet into vaccines, midwives and malaria treatments . 

 Get the pattern HERE via P/HOP

For the fabulous origami bow pictured above, you can find the instructions at :-
http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-bow.html

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