Easy Afghan/Baby Sleeping Bag Part 2

Once you have the chain the length you want, crochet two more stitches which become the first stitch when you flip back onto the chain to begin crocheting the second row. Now, you wrap the yarn once around the hook, place the hook in the back of the third stitch back as seen here.

Wrap the yarn around the hook again and pull it through the stitch. At this point you should have three string clusters on your needle. Wrap the yarn around once and pull it through all three stitches. This makes one stitch.

Keep doing that until you get to the end. Until you get used to how the row should be, I recommend you count the stitches so you don't do as I did and drop stitches. When I get talking and the kids are asking questions or I am crocheting in the dark, I sometimes mess up and drop a stitch. When I started my first baby blanket, I had to start over and after that I started counting the stitches. After finishing a few blankets, I have it down but for some reason with this patter, I had a hard time at first.

Crochet until you think the blanket it long enough or until you run out of yarn. I made my baby blankets a bit shorter so I could use the left over yarn for matching hats.

I made several baby blankets and was pondering on how I could make them warmer as I remember the sides fall down and if it is too big, you don't want to take it with you as it is bulky. So, after thinking about it and throwing out a few ideas dealing with Velcro or elastic, this is what I came up with.

I fold the blanket in half. I get some matching ribbon. I cut it about 8 inches long. I place the ribbon on the backside of the blanket in the center bottom and push both ends through on either side of a stitch so I can tie it in a knot holding it into place.

I then tie two or three lengths of ribbon on one side edge of the afghan in a similar way. Now, you can tie the blanket closed into a little sleeping bag shape which will keep it on the baby but isn't tight or constricting. If the mom doesn't like the ribbons on it, they come off very easily. It can be used as a blanket or a little sleeping bag this way. As you can see in the top picture, you can have the rows go either up and down or across giving it a different look.

Once I had that done, I thought the little hats would be cute using the same three strands from the blanket. So, I will blog about that Monday. It is a fairly inexpensive hand made gift that is cute and useful. I have many cherished afghans that friends and family made for my girls which I saved as heirlooms for them.

Hope you can understand this.... Happy Crocheting!