Some folks have posted their Royal Baby Blanket FOs over in the JBW Ravelry Group thread and they looked so great I just had to share them here (with their permission, of course.)

First up we have diabro's gorgeous blanket using Universal Yarn's Classic Shades. I just love how her blanket turned out, and so does her little friend, Brad. :)




 Next we have traceyloanne's blanket. She made hers to give away in memory of a loved one, and this was an extra special gift. I think it turned out just beautifully and I love her fun colors!


Katy32's blanket was made for her sister's new baby and she finished it just in the nick of time. Seriously! That little one looks super cozy in her new auntie made blankie! Plus, I love how Katy used up a bunch of Lorna's Shepherd Worsted in her stash. Great colors!


Lastly, we have tmoran's exceptionally royal baby blanket. She subbed out a few of the squares, for squares of her own including those great crown motifs! Her blanket is entirely knit too. What fun!


Thanks everyone for letting me show off your fabulous blankets here. If you have a Royal Baby Blanket FO that you'd like to share, be sure to check out our Royal Baby Blanket FO Thread on the JBW Ravelry Group and post it on there. Then we can all "ooh" and "ahh" over your lovely creations! Thanks again everyone for participating an we hope to see you all next time!

Happy knitting and crocheting!
Kristen

Hi everyone!

We hope by now you've finished your squares and are ready to put everything together. Putting this little knit and crocheted quilt together is so quick! It just took a few hours in one evening (and Kristen crochet's slow, really slow.)

We went with the crocheted method of putting this blanket together for a couple of reasons:

The stack of squares, ready to go!

1) It looks nice and neat across the back of the blanket with your single crochet holding it all together.

2) It goes REALLY fast! Much faster than mattress or whip stitching (in our opinion).

That said, if you have a preferred method, you are more than welcome to use it. There is no right or wrong way to do this.


Here are the steps we recommend for putting your blanket together:


Step 1: Block all of your squares. If you have a steam iron, this is totally the way to go. You are bound to have some squares that are slightly larger than the rest. Block these first really lightly on your ironing board or a towel, and then use pins to block the rest of them to the same size. Kristen steamed the larger ones first, then lay the next one on top and pin it over the one on bottom to use as a template. Steam block this one, then add another layer. Kristen layered 4-5 blocks and then take the top ones off (once they've cooled), leaving one on bottom as the template, then do a few more until they are all done.

Pin all of the squares to the same size.

Step 2: Lay all of the squares out on the floor or a bed. I am not going to specify how to order these. I think you should do what looks good to you. Especially since so many of you used different colors or just knit or crocheted your squares, I think you should be the one to design your blanket. In order to achieve the baby blanket size, you'll need to lay out your blanket 3 squares across by 4 rows of squares down.

Lay all of the squares out so you can see what the finished quilt will look like.

Step 3: Working in rows of 3, crochet together your squares along the sides being careful to match. If you  would prefer to work a visible contrasting color in between the squares, this would be the time to do that.

Crocheted together, close-up.

Step 4: Once your rows are crocheted together, crochet the long sides of the rows together in the order you prefer. You will have strings on each corner that you can use to match up the corners evenly. This is the bonus to crocheting the quilt together. Again, if you prefer a contrasting border, add it in here.

Finished, back.

Step 5: Once you have all of your rows crocheted together, steam iron the seams so that everything lays flat. Weave in your ends and if desired, crochet or knit a border around the outside.

Finished, front.

For the version pictured, it only took Kristen three hours to put the whole thing together. If you are pressed for time, this is a really great option. The back will still look really neat and tidy. However, if you have a little more time and want to add your own details, that is great too!

We really love the unique and fun look of this blanket. It would make such a fun project for a group of knitters to make for a friend who is expecting or pick your favorite squares and customize it even more. All in all, we hope you are happy with the end result too!

Of course, if you have any questions about these or any directions in the quilt, as always, please let us know!

Also, be sure to check out the Ravelry Group Threads on each of the squares. There are tons of great questions on there as well.

We will post the "official" pattern for this blanket on the Free Patterns page of the JBW website in about a month. In the meantime, enjoy, and happy knitting!

Best,
Kristen & Heather  

Hi everyone!

Welcome to the final week of squares for the Royal Baby KAL/CAL! After this week, you should have 12 squares to sew together for your blanket. We will cover the construction aspect of this project in our final blog post next week. For now, enjoy knitting and crocheting your squares for week 6!

Week 6 Knit Square

Knit:

Materials:
100 yds of worsted weight yarn
US 7 needles


New Abbreviations:
yf- yarn forward
yb- yarn back

Directions:


CO 47 sts.

Knit 6 rows in garter stitch.

Row 7 (set-up row): k5, p5, (k3,p5) 4 times, k5


Begin working the following 4 row pattern:

Row 1: k5, yf, sl 5 knitwise, yb, *k3, yf, sl 5 knitwise, yb; repeat from * to last 5 sts, k5

Row 2: k5, p5, (k3,p5) 4 times, k5

Row 3: k7, insert right needle under loose strand and knit next stitch on left needle pulling stitch under the strand to pull the strand up, *k8, insert right needle under loose strand and knit next stitch on left needle pulling stitch under the strand to pull the strand up; repeat from * to last 7 sts, k7.

Row 4: same as Row 2.

*Repeat Rows 1-4 until piece measures 9.25"


Knit 6 rows in garter stitch.

BO all sts and block gently to 10" x 10."


Crochet:






-hdc (half double crochet): Yarn over hook, insert hook under both loops of next stitch, yarn over hook and draw loop through stitch; yarn over hook again and pull through 3 remaining loops on hook.

Border:  With right side facing,work one row of double crochet as follows, working corners as described in note below:

Border Row 1: dc in each stitch on vertical ends of work and in space at end of each row on horizontal sides of work. 

*Work corners as follows: dc to corner stitch, ch 1, dc in corner stitch, ch 1, dc in next stitch and following stitches, to next corner stitch.

After working border rows, fasten off yarn and weave in end.  If needed, block gently to 10” by 10” dimensions.

That's it for this week. Stay tuned for next week when we show you how to put it all together!

Happy knitting and crocheting!
Kristen & Heather

Thanks for joining us for Week 5 of the Royal Baby KAL/CAL!  As many of you may know, the Royal Baby, George Alexander Louis, is here and we can officially say, "it's a boy"!  We still think both of our Royal Baby colors are beautiful, though, and hope you are enjoying working with them as well!


Knit Square: The week 5 knit square features a traditional English Mesh Lace pattern in honor of the arrival of the Royal Baby Boy!

Knit Square #5

Materials:
-100 yds of Worsted Weight yarn
-US 7 knitting needles
-darning needle
-2 stitch markers

Gauge:
17 sts = 4" in garter stitch

Directions:

CO 47 sts

Knit every row for 6 rows

On last row, place stitch markers as follows:
             -K5, pm, K to last 5 sts, pm, K5

Set up row (WS):

K5, P to last 5 sts, K5

Begin working English Mesh Lace pattern as follows:

Knit Square close-up

Crochet Square:

-slip stitch (sl st): Insert hook in next stitch, yarn over hook, pull through both loops on hook.

 -dc (double crochet): Yarn over hook, insert hook under both loops of next stitch, yarn over hook and draw loop through stitch; yarn over hook and pull through two loops on hook; yarn over hook again and pull through 2 remaining loops on hook.

-tr (treble crochet):  Yarn over hook twice, insert hook under both loops of next stitch, yarn over hook and draw loop through stitch; [yarn over hook and pull through two loops on hook] 3 times.

 -tbl (through back loop): Work in back loop of stitch only.

Directions:

Row 1 (WS): With size H/8 crochet hook, ch 40.  Tr in 4th ch from hook; *ch 1, skip 1 ch, tr in next ch; repeat from * across.  Turn.

Week 5 Crochet Square Detail

Row 2 (RS): Ch 3; tr in 1st ch-1 st from row below; *ch 1, skip 1 st, tr in next st; repeat from *across.  (Your treble crochet sts in each row should fall in between the treble crochet st from the last row).

Repeat row 2 until piece measures approximately 8" by 8".  Fasten off yarn and weave in ends.

Border:  Rejoin yarn to work with right side facing and work border as follows, working corners as described in note below:

Border Row 1: sc in each stitch all the way around work. 

*Work corners as follows: work in pattern to corner stitch, ch 1, work pattern stitch in corner stitch, ch 1, work pattern stitch in next stitch and following stitches, to next corner stitch.

Crochet Square 4 Front

Hello everyone and happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend! We are really excited about this week's squares. Heather explores a ribbing pattern with the crochet square giving it a different look on either side. For the knit square, we will work a modified diagonal lace that is knit from one corner out, and then back into a point. Lets get started!

Crochet Square:




Knit:

Knit Square Week 4

Materials:

-Approximately 100 yds of a worsted weight yarn (We are using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted)

-US 7- 24 or 32" circular needle.

-Tapestry needle

-1 stitch marker (Ring is fine but a locking/removable marker is better)

Gauge:

22 sts and 24 rows = 4" in stitch pattern

Abbreviations:
k- knit
p- purl
ssk- slip slip knit (I slip my first stitch knit wise and second stitch purl wise)
k2tog- knit 2 together
yo- yarn over
sk2p- slip 1 stitch, knit 2 together, pass the slipped stitch over
pm- place marker
sl m- slip marker
co- cast on
bo- bind off
st(s)- stitch(es)
m1r- make 1 right
m1l- make 1 left

Close up (straight view)

Directions:

Set up:

co 3 sts
Row 1: knit
Row 2: k1, m1l, k1, m1r, k1 (5 sts)
Row 3: knit
Row 4: k2, m1l, k1, m1r, k2 (7 sts)
Row 5: knit
Row 6: k3, yo, pm (to mark center stitch), k1, yo, k3 (9 sts)
Row 7: knit (sl m as you come to it)

**Errata** 

Addition of Row 8 & 9:
Row 8: k3, (yo, k1) 3 times, yo, k3 (13 sts)
Row 9: Knit

Begin working increasing stitch pattern as follows:


**Please Note: A regular ring stitch marker may get in the way during the decreases. You may choose to switch to marking the center stitch with a removable marker instead to make this easier. Either way, it still helps to mark the center stitch somehow. Do what works for you. :)

Row 1: k3, *yo, k2tog; repeat from * to 1 stitch before marker, yo, k3, yo, **ssk, yo; repeat from ** to last 3 sts, k 3.

Close up (diagonal view)

Row 2: k3, p to last 3 sts, k3

Row 3: k3, *yo, k2tog; repeat from * to marker, yo, k1, yo, **ssk, yo; repeat from ** to last 3 sts, k3.

Row 4: same as row 2.

*Repeat these 4 rows until there are 61 sts on the needles.

Begin working decrease stitch pattern as follows:

Row 1: k2, ssk, *yo, ssk; repeat from * to marker, k1, k2tog, **yo k2tog; repeat from ** to last 2 sts, k2.

Row 2: k3, p to last 3 sts, k3

Row 3: k2, ssk, *yo, ssk; repeat from * to 1 st before marker, yo, sk2p, **yo, k2tog; repeat from ** to last 2 sts, k 2.

Row 4: same as row 2

*repeat these 4 rows until there are 7 sts left on the needles and you have just finished an even row.

Finishing:

Row 1: k2, sk2p, k2 (5 sts)

Row 2: knit

Row 3: k1, sk2p, k1 (3 sts)

Row 4: BO all remaining 3 sts and weave in ends. Block to 10"x10"


There you have it folks, week #4! We hope you've enjoyed these squares and of course if you have questions, be sure to post them to the group on Ravelry!

I hope you all have a great week!

Happy knitting and crocheting,
Kristen (and Heather)

Hi everyone and happy Monday! We are so excited to share this weeks patterns with you! This week's crochet square is a super cute addition to the blanket. For the knit pattern, we have a little more fun playing with mitered square patterning. All in all, it's going to be a fun week so let's get started!


Crochet:

Crochet Square #3

Knit:

Knit Square #3

Materials:
100 yds of worsted weight yarn
US 7- circular needles (24" is ideal)
tapestry needle

Abbreviations:
k- knit
p- purl
st(s)- stitches
co- cast on
rs- right side
ws- wrong side
sk2p- slip 1, knit 2 together, pass the slipped stitch over. To see a video on how to do this, check out the glossary at knittinghelp.com

Directions:
-CO 97 sts.

Border edge:
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: k47 sts, sk2p, knit to end of row.
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: k46 sts, sk2p, knit to end of row.
Row 5: Knit
Row 6: k45 sts, sk2p, knit to end of row.

Knit detail

*Now you will work the following rows that will repeat for the duration of the square. You can mark the center stitch with a locking stitch marker if you'd like to keep your place but it's fairly easy to see as you knit.

Rows 1 & 3 (WS): k4, purl to last 4 sts, k4.
Rows 2 & 4 (RS): k to 1 st before center st, sk2p, k to end of row.
Row 5 (WS): knit
Row 6: k to 1 st before center st, sk2p, k to end of row.

*Repeat rows 1-6 of pattern until you have 9 sts left on the needles.

Finishing:
Row 1 (and every odd row): Knit
Row 2: k3, sk2p, k3
Row 4: k2, sk2p, k2
Row 6: k1, sk2p, k1
Row 8: sk2p

Cut yarn and pull end through the last loop. Weave in ends and block to 10" x 10." The initial shape will look a little wonky but it will block out just fine, I promise! :)

That is it for week 3! We hope you are having fun!!!

Happy knitting and crocheting,
Kristen and Heather

Hi everyone!

Glad to see all of your lovely squares coming along nicely on Ravelry. Everything is looking really great so far! This week's squares are similar in that you start in the center and knit or crochet your squares from the center out. Here are the directions for the 2nd knit and crochet squares!

Crochet:

Crochet Square #2

Mitered corners close up

There you have it folks! Week #2! Don't hesitate to e-mail or leave us a message on Ravelry if you have questions! We are happy to help!

In the meantime, happy knitting and crocheting!
Kristen and Heather