Staggered Squares Blanket

I recently saw a former co-worker at a party. She told me that the blanket I knit for her daughter over 3 years ago is her daughter's favorite. It's the blanket she loves to snuggle up with when she's sleepy or sick. Another friend told me that her nearly 6 year old daughter still won't go to bed without the Hello Kitty blanket I knit for her almost 4 years ago. I love stories like that! When I make a baby blanket for someone, I mean for it to be used. It makes all the work that goes into making a blanket or afghan for someone worth it.

So, when I found out that my former co-worker was expecting another girl at the end of April, I knew I had some work to do. I paged through the book of baby afghans I have and picked out one that I thought would be nice. I headed out to A.C. Moore to get the yarn. I like to pick something that's a soft acrylic for babies - no allergy risks, easy to wash and dry, and durable as all get out! As I was browsing the aisles, I happened to spot a freebie pattern hanging next to mega-balls of yarn - Bernat's Staggered Squares Blanket (to knit). Here's the link to the pattern on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/staggered-squares-blanket

The pattern is a simple 16 row repeat. I'm on the third repeat now and I've almost gotten the pattern memorized. It's listed as easy on the pattern and I totally agree. A beginner wouldn't have any problems with this pattern. It's a good project to work on while watching TV or talking to someone.

It uses Bernat's Baby Sport yarn in the Big Ball. When I got this my first thought was yay - only 2 ends to weave in - the beginning and the end. Alas, that was not to be. There were not one, but two knots in the yarn where they had joined in a new piece. What was really annoying was that the knots were only a few yards apart. Would have killed Bernat to try to make it so that there weren't any knots in the yarn? I cut the knots out, so now I have 6 ends to weave in, provided there aren't any more knots! But the yarn itself is soft and snuggly, so it should make a very nice, snuggly blanket that won't need any blocking when it's done (yay!).

I'll make sure to get a picture of it once I get a few more repeats done. But if you're looking for an easy, nice looking baby afghan, I would definitely recommend this one!