Baby Blanket for the Brussels Sprout

This post has been sitting in my "to post" bin for a bit, because I was waiting til the recipient opened the present at her Baby Shower.  And boy, what a fun time that party was!  My cousin, who is having a baby in August, lives in Belgium.  But the families are scattered, from Colorado to New York, Massachusetts to Maryland... there was no way we were going to be able to get everyone together, right?  So, Momma-to-be's sister came up with the idea of a "virtual shower," and It.  Was.  AMAZING!  Everyone shipped their presents overseas in the weeks leading up to the big day (T, how did you ever have the self control for that?!?), then we all gathered at local homes to join in on a shared video call to get to chat & watch the presents be opened.  They even shipped decorations to each home & ordered cupcakes from local bakeries - totally genius!  I swear, it was one of the best showers I ever "attended," and I was just so impressed with how much love & dedication the Auntie-to-be put into it =D

All of the presents at the shower were wonderful, of course, but in my completely biased opinion, this blanket was my favorite one!  I picked a super soft, cozy, cuddly yarn, and worked it up on a nice, fat hook, so the stitches are soft & puffy.  And yes, I know that creams/browns aren't traditionally baby colors, but this color scheme just called out to me in the store - you see, my cousin's "happy place" is the New England beach, and this yarn instantly reminded me of the rocky coastline & beautiful beach where she got married :)

This is 3 skeins (minus the couple yards that got so tangled I had to cut it off...) of Bernat Baby Blanket yarn.  I've never used this before, because I tend to stick to worsted weight yarns, but once I felt it, I was in love.  I can't wait to use it again and again!  Because the variegated colors created a pattern naturally, I didn't use any fancy stitch here - just straight rows of hdc.  Which was nice, because it worked up quickly & it's easy to do while watching tv, or between chores.

My favorite part of making baby blankets is watching my loved ones enjoy the present - it warms my heart when I see people get excited over something I made!  My cousin was super excited, which made me so happy (and it was so cute to watch her snuggle the blanket herself).  I can't wait to see her little Brussels Sprout wrapped up in it, too!