I mentioned awhile ago that I would eventually post pictures of a project I was working on. Now that I have given it as a gift to my friend for her first child, I feel safe sharing the pictures.
So here it is - a baby blanket/knit quilt. I first knit the top in entrelac from a free pattern I found on Lion Brand Yarn: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/80661B.html?
Because the baby is a boy, I chose to replace the pink shade that the pattern originally calls for with a shade called "Little Boy Blue" (appropriate, right?).
Now, before knitting this blanket, I never knew anything about how to knit entrelac. But being a firm believer that if you can knit and purl, you can do anything if you set yourself to learning how, I set myself to the task. Two important tips in my mind - if you do not know how to pick up and purl or pick up and knit, the Very Pink YouTube video on picking up and knitting saved my life with this project: http://verypink.com/2010/09/28/pick-up-and-knit/noImages=0. The second tip, on the rows where you will have a knit two together or purl two together to join the square you are creating with the other square, it is always best to begin those rows with a slipped stitch. It makes it so much easier to identify the stitch later when you will be picking it up on the next row.
Anyways, after I finished the top, I purchased some fleece to back it with and some matching fabric for the binding. I then layered the blanket on top of the fleece and pinned the two together. The top wasn't an exact rectangle, so I pinned some spots along the border together to make it a rectangle. I then took a yarn needle and some yarn and put yarn ties at the corner of each square. I then followed some quilting instructions to create some binding from the fabric (I cut 2.5 inch bias strips and sewed them together), and then hand sewed the binding to the blanket (I tried to get it through my sewing machine, but it was too thick and wasn't going through well).Overall, I'm very pleased with the outcome - it was alot of work, but it really came out as an adorable little blankie. :)
