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I've been working on a special gift for a new, not yet born, member of the family.  She is due to arrive in November, and I am hoping to be close by when she arrives in Brisbane.  My sister assures me that my niece does not read my blog, so she will hopefully stick to that rule and not see the gift that will be travelling with me to Australia later this year.

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I wanted something really colourful.  And I think you have to admit that this is colourful!  The pattern I chose to use was Honeycomb Stroller Blanket, a free pattern.   The photograph which accompanies the pattern does this pattern absolutely no justice whatsoever.   But I had a look at the projects on Ravelry (this is such a useful tool) and some of them were stunning.  So, I got together a few hanks of my beloved sport weight yarn, and when I was on Tanera Mor for the knitting retreat I asked the advice of those there as to the repeat sequence of colours which I should use.  And the knitting began.

I made a few moderations - I had a larger stitch count than the pattern recommended, but I didn't use the recommended needle size - it just seemed too large.  Instead I opted for a 4mm needle.   As a result my cot blanket is not as long as the pattern's, but it is wider.  Pre blocking the blanket measured 25 x 21 inches, and post blocking it is 28 x 23, so it did not increase hugely in size with blocking.

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The other modification I made was I opted for a i-cord cast off to give the edge some definition.

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I love the final result, and while knitting the blanket it doubled up as something to keep my lap warm!  With hindsight it may be a bit too warm for the Australian climate, but I hope it proves useful somehow.