Hand-Crocheted Baby Afghan

One of the many crafty things I enjoy doing is crocheting. My mother taught me to sew and embroider when I was young. Both she and her mother (my grandmother) also did knitting and crocheting, but my mother never got around to teaching me to do either of those! I taught myself to crochet in my early twenties; I actually bought a how-to book that came with a videotape. I have not yet tried knitting, but I think someday I might like to try to learn it! I have made many afghans as gifts over the ensuing years, but most of the ones I have made in the last few years are baby afghans. This one I just finished last week for my newest nephew, who was born on January 15th. I have two younger sisters and a step-sister and they all have children now; I have five nephews and one niece; all of them have a baby afghan made by me! My step-sister is currently expecting her second child, due in April, so of course, I am busy working on another baby afghan right now.

One of the other afghans I made, for my sister's second child , had a popcorn stitch that she liked a lot, so for this one, I found a pattern with a popcorn stitch also. It's always a challenge when I don't know the baby's sex, trying to make one that is gender-neutral. I do like to use color though, so even though white would be probably the best "neutral" color, I have only made one baby afghan that was entirely white. I really lucked out when I made my niece's baby afghan; again, I didn't know the sex of the baby beforehand, but I just had a feeling that it was going to be a girl, and made a beautiful pale yellow basket-weave patterned afghan.

This one has variegated yarn in blue, green, yellow and pink.
I think something hand-made is always special....and can be kept for years and years to pass along! I presented this afghan to my sister for the baby's baptism ( I tried to finish it before the baby was born, but the holidays were too busy and put me behind schedule!). I'm sure it will also find a spot in the baby's nursery, on the glider rocker maybe, to use for snuggling and rocking baby to sleep!