Puddles of Love Baby Blanket

Puddles of Love Baby Blanket by Julia Schwartz

Project Overview

The Puddles of Love Baby Blanket is an intermediate-level crochet design created by independent designer Julia Schwartz. This downloadable PDF pattern guides crafters through creating a charming baby blanket using Tunisian crochet techniques and a two-color color scheme that evokes the playful imagery of puddles.

What is Being Made

This project produces a finished baby blanket suitable for gifting or personal use. The blanket features a two-color design combining a soft grey base with gold accents, creating visual interest through strategic color placement and stitch variation.

Techniques Used

The Puddles of Love Baby Blanket employs Tunisian crochet techniques, which bridge the gap between traditional crochet and knitting. Tunisian crochet creates a denser, more fabric-like texture than standard crochet while maintaining the versatility of a crochet hook. The pattern incorporates several specialized Tunisian techniques:

• Tunisian Knit Stitch (TKS): This foundational stitch mimics the appearance of knit stitches. The forward pass involves inserting the hook between vertical bars below horizontal bars in the stitch below, yarning over, and pulling the yarn through while keeping the loop on the hook. The return pass follows specific pattern instructions to complete the stitch.
• Make One Left (M1L): An increase technique used during the forward pass. With yarn held behind the work, the hook inserts between the stitch just made and the vertical bar of the next stitch to create an additional stitch. The return pass is completed according to pattern directions.
• Tunisian Knit Stitch 2 Together (TKS2tog): A decrease technique that combines two stitches into one. During the forward pass with yarn behind the work, the hook passes through the left vertical bars of two stitches below, yarns over, and pulls the yarn through, maintaining the loop on the hook for the return pass.

Stitches Used

The pattern centers on Tunisian crochet stitches rather than traditional crochet stitches. The primary stitch is the Tunisian Knit Stitch (TKS), which serves as the foundation for the blanket's texture. Complementing this are the increase stitch Make One Left (M1L) and the decrease stitch Tunisian Knit Stitch 2 Together (TKS2tog), allowing crafters to shape the blanket and create the puddle-inspired design elements through strategic increases and decreases.

Materials

The Puddles of Love Baby Blanket is worked in aran weight yarn (also called worsted weight), specifically using worsted cotton yarn in two colors. The model blanket uses Caron One Pound in Soft Grey (color 212), requiring 16 ounces or approximately 212 yards of the main color, combined with Loops and Threads Impeccable in Gold, needing 100 yards or 2.5 ounces of the accent color. Crafters will need a crochet hook appropriate for aran weight yarn to complete this project. The use of cotton yarn provides breathability and durability, making it an excellent choice for baby blankets.