“Stella! Stella!”

No, sorry, I’m not going to be talking about the play, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” if that’s what you were hoping for.

In the early stages of my re-introduction to knitting, I kept things pretty simple. A ratio of one ball of yarn to one project. There were no patterns followed or written. I picked a random number to cast onto my needles and just straight knit until the yarn ran out. My projects were limited to small throw blankets and regular wrap around scarves.

As friends were preparing to have babies, I wanted to give them something handmade and special. Sticking with my one ball of yarn per item, one big ball of baby yarn became a baby blanket, made with love and each stitch covered in prayer for the little one it would bring comfort to. For a couple years, that was my go-to baby shower gift. Then, I came across a super easy pattern from Lionbrand Yarn for a diagonal knit baby blanket. I began to follow a pattern. (Shocking, I know.)

One of the best things is watching a Mother-to-Be open their baby shower gift, seeing and feeling the soft, coziness of their one of a kind baby blanket. The sheer joy and amazement makes my heart dance every time. After a few months to even a year, to hear how much comfort and security the blanket has given warmed my heart so much more. It became a common refrain that the blanket had become a favorite.

Then, I got word from my brother they were having third child, and this time, it was a girl.  Pulling out my go-to pattern from Lionbrand Yarn, I stared at it for a bit. My new niece needed something extra special from her Aunt and Uncle. So what did I do? Taking the bones of the pattern, using it as guidelines, I had the desired measurements and number of stitches I needed to get to. Next, it was time for some math to map out the design. (Math –I could do it and got good grades, but it was the one subject in school I was definitely not a fan of.)

Construction of the blanket came together slowly…

And the end result: a cozy baby.

The perfectionist that I am knew there needed to be tweaks to the pattern, as my math wasn’t entirely matching from corner to corner. So I got back to work on it until I was satisfied. I noticed that many patterns written by knit designers are given names. There was only one name that came to mind for this new A Faith Creation original baby blanket pattern; my niece’s name: Stella.

Since then, the “Stella” has become a staple baby blanket design for the shop, working through a variety of color combinations.

So, if you have a baby shower coming up and are in need of that perfect gift that will wow the family-to-be, head on over to the shop for a hand knit baby blanket that is made with love. www.etsy.com/shop/AFaithCreation