Recently, I read Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced, and Covered In Cat Hair, which I absolutely loved. She included a number of patterns in the book and one caught my eye right away. It was a hooded baby blanket with devil horns and a tail. Immediately I wanted to knit it but I don't have any children and I just didn't have a recipient that I thought would appreciate it. But then, a young cousin of mine got pregnant and I thought she just might be the right person.
The baby shower was this weekend and my cousin Bethany LOVED it. Hooray! Not only did she love it, the baby's father loved it too. In fact, I think Josh may have loved it even more than she did. Her mother loved it and it made a much bigger splash at the shower than I thought it would. I guess part of me knew that it would spark a few comments, but it really was a big hit. Bethany said it just might be her favorite gift from the afternoon. That's quite awesome, if you ask me. :) I was so glad she liked it and wasn't offended! lol! There was that teeny tiny worry in the back of my mind that she might find it offensive, but luckily that wasn't the case. So, yea! I'm really happy I made it and that the family dug it.
Of course, since it is going to a new mother, I put aside my personal feelings and made it from acrylic yarn. I know, I know. I know all the arguments for and against acrylic, but in the end, I decided it would be for the best. This way, my cousin can just toss it in the machine when it needs to be washed and I feel confident it will get the job done. The funny thing is, however, it turned out quite nice. I actually didn't mind the yarn choice and I love the finished object.
Yarn: Caron One Pound in scarlet and Caron Wintuk in black.
Needles: Size 7 (mostly because I have size 7 tips for the Knitpick's Options needles. I was able to put it on a super long cable and that made life MUCH easier).
Notes: Obviously, I used a contrasting yarn for the crochet edging. The red and black combination appealed to me and turns out to be a favorite of the baby's father. Who knew? I also made the horns in the round on DPNs to save myself some sanity. Why don't more pattern writers make things like that in the round? They can't honestly prefer to sew up that many pieces, can they? It must be so that the pattern can be labelled as easy for beginners or something. But, honestly, it would have made me crazy to sew all those pieces together!
Overall, I'm so pleased with the result and I hope one day that I can get a picture of an actual baby in it. That would be awesome! It will be at least another 3 weeks though before my cousin gives birth. But, maybe one day soon I'll get my wish. :)
