Is there anything better than crocheting a gift for a soon to be born baby? One of my very good friends is due to have her very first child this September and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some new crochet projects for the occasion! Of course I bookmarked dozens of cute baby patterns I found online and I scoured my crochet books repeatedly for the exact right idea. Nothing felt right though. I really wanted to make her baby something special with a nice classic feel. I thought of my own two children and those early baby years, drawing on experience to bring back memories of what their little hands and hearts cherished in those days. Then it hit me. A security blanket! My oldest daughter could not leave the house without her beloved pink crochet blanket. For years and years we traveled with this mangled, falling apart, shredded crocheted blanket. God forbid we forget it! Tears fell like waterfalls from her eyes in those instances. A great amount of comfort came upon her every time she snuggled or wrapped herself up in the blanket. Instant soothing. It always warmed my heart to see how much joy that blanket gave to her, but sadly because of how large it was and all the years of extra love, it eventually succumbed to its wounds and could not be saved. I remember thinking then that I wished her baby blanket would have been smaller and more easily transportable. It would have avoided us a great amount of sadness. These days, of course, she is just fine and the days of longing for her beloved pink blanket are far gone and out of the mind of a big 10 year old, but the sentimental side of me really would have loved to have been able to keep that blanket for her.
And so I opted to design a security blanket pattern to make up a gift for my friend. I designed the blanket portion of this pattern off of the exact cluster stitch that my daughter’s blanket used to have (again, the sentimental side of me is showing), and off of a classic teddy bear for easy cuddles and gripping. With cotton yarn, you can’t go wrong, and with the finished size of this piece, it’ll be sure to have many years of love ahead of it! Little hands are going to love this one!
