Mikey's Blanket Finished

Mikey loves his new blanket!  His mother sent me this photo a few days ago and it made me smile.  What an adorable boy. 

After tons of advice from knitters, blogs, and my favorite knitting shop, I finally decided to Block the Blanket.  I wasn't thrilled with how the sides rolled up and, while I knew my friend would love it rolled or straight, I wanted it to be perfect. 

Here's how I blocked the blanket:

1. Got the blanket wet, with a spray bottle of water. Not soaked, just damp
2. Rolled wet blanket in a clean white towel to ring out excess water
3. Laid out the blanket on another clean and dry white towel.  Thankfully, the blanket was small and it all fit on one towel.  I put this in a corner of our bedroom that was clean, freshly vacuumed and away from foot traffic.
4. Measured the blanket before and figured out how much I wanted to stretch the blanket.  My goal was to get it a little bigger without compromising the design.
5. Stretched the blanket and remeasured
6. Used quilting pins to secure the blanket to the towel.
7. Let the blanket "block" until it was completely dry (two days)

I was thrilled with the final outcome.  Not only did the sides lay flat, the blanket was softer and felt more finished.  I loved this pattern and plan to use it again for either a baby blanket or for a family snuggle blanket.  I might try the real pattern and make it in blocks.

What a joy it was to send this off to Mikey, a much loved baby!