My Baby Shane Blanket pattern is the very first pattern I ever published. And it's free! So often these days we publish patterns, talk about them for a week (ok, maybe a month) and then quickly move on to the next thing. Each pattern is such a labour of love and it feels unjust to forget about them just because they are no longer new. I always aim to design items that will stand the test of time. Just because it wasn't designed this year doesn't meant that it's not still relevant! With that in mind I thought that it would be fun to start a new series where I talk about my older patterns, starting with the absolute oldest, to A) remind you that they still exist! and B) chat about how I feel about them all these years later.
Pattern: Baby Shane Blanket - originally published in July of 2009. (I had no idea I'd been designing for over 9 years! woah.)
Yarn: 1 TFA DK Weight Palette.
Ravelry pattern page here.
Wow, so I just wrote a whole paragraph about why/how I came to design this pattern, my very first, and then I clicked over and read the blog post I wrote when I first published it and guess what, my recollection of how it all happened was completely backwards!!! I totally thought that I had started making our TFA Palettes and that they inspired the blanket - a way of making the most of one of our new Palettes. Nope! I designed the blanket and then decided to make kits for it! The Palettes were originally called Baby Shane Blanket Kits but I eventually renamed them because I felt like the name was limiting. You could knit anything with one Palette, not just this specific blanket, and I didn't want people to think that they were only good for one thing.
Anyway, funny how memory works.
I still love this pattern. I gifted the original sample but upon my request my mom knit a pastel version for me when I was expecting Rowan. It's a beautiful, colourful addition to the nursery and such a lovely weight and size to tuck into a carseat or stroller or for a little one to snuggle up with for a nap. I feel like the stripes are modern yet classic. It's all about the colours. There are loads of beautiful versions on Ravelry. The blanket is knit almost entirely in one piece, just one little seam to sew at the end, and overall I still think that the construction is pretty clever. I'm impressed that this was my first design quite frankly, clearly I put a lot of thought into it!
After all these years, it's still one of my favourites.
I hope you enjoy this new series. I have 83 designs published on Ravelry! I almost can't believe it.