When my girlfriend Ellie asked me to help her knit a blanket for her soon-to-be-born first grandchild, I was only too happy.  I love my friend and love her daughter and can't wait to meet little Max!  Ellie is a beginner knitter and, understandably, did not want to go with a terribly adventurous pattern.  I showed her examples of the two most basic stitches and asked her to choose her favorite.  She preferred stockinette over garter, so the first choice was made!  Next we went searching for the perfect yarn, which is almost always a far more difficult choice. Her number one priority was that it had to be soft; however, she did not want wool as this baby lives in Houston, Texas where the temperatures are mild to hot -- REALLY hot, not to mention humid!  I reminded her that the yarn needed to be machine washable and dryable, because after all, no one wants to have a precious baby wrapped in a not-so-clean blanket. While she kept moseying over to gaze at the acrylics, I gently shoved her away, because when you ask for my help, it does not include working with scratchy pilly acrylic, no matter how appealing it may look to a novice. She thought she wanted a super-bulky yarn so it would go fast, but I had to no-no that too.  "Your hands will get tired holding those enormous needles. Let's find something more delicate that will still knit up quickly." I bee-lined to Rowan All-Seasons Cotton and prayed that we would find colors that would coordinate with the baby's room.  We were fortunate, because we found the perfect colors! Ellie purchased three skeins of a grey blue called Tornado and two each of the pale green Atlas and the pale cream Organic. I wrote out a simple pattern, and then after casting on, we knit for about a half hour until she felt confident to go home and do it on her own.

I see Ellie most every week, and soon after starting the project she proudly reported that she was knitting a few rows a week. Ooops! At that rate, it would be finished when the child was a high school student. Devoted friend that I am, I gave her a little pep talk that might have included a kick in the rear.  Last week she told me she was done and would I help her finish it?  Honestly, I don't know why I was astonished at how gorgeous it turned out! It's a treasure, and who knows?!  It may become that all-important "blankie" that Baby Max just can't be without! I took pictures and wrote up the simple pattern in case you want to knit a beautiful baby blanket, beginner knitter or not!  All-Seasons Cotton is an absolute joy:  it's soft all the way around--soft when knitting and soft as a finished fabric.  It has lots of bounce and give and even a novice knitter will have no problem getting an even tension.  I love these colors together so much, I'm tempted to knit up a striped scarf!

I'm offering the pattern as a free pattern download on Ravelry.

a baby blanket for all seasons

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