Baby Blanket With Texture

The baby boom continues.  Malachi James Giles was born in May 2013.  His proud parents are good friends of mine from university.  When we visited Ottawa in early June, we made a quick stop to meet this little fellow

and drop off this gift:

The blanket is inspired by the Polka Dots & Frills pattern I have used previously.  I don't know if I just crochet loosely, but I find that I like to reduce the stitches in this pattern, turning triple crochets into doubles, etc. for a tighter weave that still has enough drape.  Using the old version of Bernat Chunky, it works up a nice, plush blanket that doubles as a play mat.  Since the Bernat Chunky is acrylic, it's safe to put it in the washer and dryer as well.

I love the plush texture!  It's so fun to run your fingers over.

This blankie is a one-skein wonder.  Yep, the entire thing is made with one big ball of yarn.  To make the blanket a little more masculine (and to reduce the amount of yarn it used, since I only had one big ball), I ditched the ruffles and added a wide border of tweed stitches with a final round of slip stitches to give a nice finished edge.

Simple blanket border using 1 round sc, 5 rounds of the tweed stitch, and 1 final round of slip stitches.