Arya's Baby Blanket!

This is basically the project that started it all.

Finished this blanket with just a week or two to spare!

For years, I was the one that knit scarves -- just your basic, run-of-the-mill garter stitch scarves.  Garter stitch was all I knew.  I made a blanket for my first daughter, Morgan, which was basically just a wide, short scarf.

But when I got pregnant with my second daughter, I found a whole new world of knitting.  I was at my friend Lioness' place one day, for one of our knitting dates.  She was working on a baby blanket for someone she knew, in a Fan and Feather pattern.  As I watched her knit, I fell in love with the pattern, and I knew that I wanted one for my own baby.

I found a pattern here, and I jumped on it.  It's actually really simple once you memorize the basic repeats.  I did alter it slightly, first by switching the colors of the border.  Each round, you need to remember to twist the one yarn around the other when switching colors to keep the stitches connected.  This was my first time working with more than one color, and it took a few attempts to get it right.

Otherwise, I chose a 9 pattern repeat.  The number three is powerful, and is prevalent in most religions (ie, the Holy Trinity; the Maiden, Mother, and Crone; the Norns or the Fates: Past, Present and Future, etc.)  Three times three is especially powerful, and is considered a protective charm to many Pagans.  I chose to repeat the fan pattern nine times across, and since the border started in pink, I worked nine repetitions of the cream rows.  This made the blanket a bit bigger than the original pattern's dimensions, but it works nicely for bundling her in the stroller, and she'll be able to use it once she starts sleeping in the crib (which will likely be very soon, the way she's growing!).

It's amazing to look back and see how much I've learned in so short a time -- and there's still plenty left to master!  I'm thinking of trying cables next...