Woven Plaid Baby Blanket

This baby blanket is so darn CUTE! I love the technique involved here as well, but I will be honest, I was a skeptic when I first read about it. I decided a baby blanket was the way to test it out.

It is incredibly simple and fairly quick to work up. You're basically making a mesh stitch blanket that is striped, and then weaving the exact same stripe pattern perpendicular through your mesh work. SO EASY!

Here's what you came for!

Hook: 6.5mm
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver (~260yds each of Soft Navy, Soft White, Light Blue, and Country Blue)
Additional Supplies: Yarn Needle (or bobby pin)
Pattern: Woven Scotch Plaid Afghan (also available on Ravelry)
Here is the grid for the striping pattern I used. It turned out MUCH larger than I had anticipated, but I still think it looked great in the end. Next time, I might try a simpler striping pattern.

I started mine with a base chain of 123sts and went until it was about 36" x 36" Large. I added a row of SC sts along the outer edge to hide my tie-ins. If I were doing this project again, I might wait until after the weaving to do that, as there was a little change in the shape during weaving.

I marked the middle stitch and cut some of my weaving strands about 60" long. People on Ravelry complained about not having enough excess, and I felt like more was better for this project. Using the middle stitch to mark the middle of my weaving pattern, start weaving with a yarn needle. You weave with a single piece of yarn, doubled over, and you'll do two of these into EACH mesh stitch - alternating your ups and downs. You'll end up with 4 strands in each mesh (two double-strands woven).

I changed my mind and ended up using the light blue as the center section,
but you can see the first double-strand being woven here. 

As you weave, be careful to pull on your blanket. The weaving snugs it up a bit, and you're going to want to keep it as even as possible. I found that it was better to work on a table or another flat surface for this part. Unfortunately it is not a lap project. Also, after my first few strands proved to be a good length, I had my hubby build me a template so that I could cut 20 strands at a time.

When you're done weaving, tie your strands together top to bottom and then again left to right. After that, you can cut your fringe to any length you desire and you're all DONE!

Like I said, this project turned out so CUTE! And as a bonus, I got it completed and shipped off before the baby arrived. The expectant mommy and daddy got it yesterday and they loved it!