Strings

A little while ago a friend of mine was looking for a special baby blanket to knit for the daughter of one of her friends.  I was flattered when she asked me if I had a shawl pattern that could be converted to a baby blanket and when I heard a little more about the parents to be, totally inspired to design something for her!

Both Mom and Dad are musicians and Mom actually plays first chair violin for a very well known Symphony Orchestra.

My friend had already picked out a layette set to make and a color scheme (pinks as in this day and age it is hard to get through a pregnancy without knowing if you are having a boy or a girl) so I took a look at the patterns she had already picked and...Cradle Song was born.

This baby blanket is started flat for the center, then stitches are picked up around all the edges for a String Trio border (I thought of it in 3/4 time as there are three spots for instruments and four edges to put them on!) and applause sections and a nice, neat, tidy I-cord edge.

We used three colors...all very girly but the same pattern would work wonderfully in a single color or neutrals...

Charting the Violins was harder than I thought and each time I swatched I ended up with "Cello" in my mind...which brings me to the sadder note to this post...another friend of mine, who had been in remission from cancer for many years got some heartbreaking news around the time I was finalizing the blanket pattern. 

She is also a music lover...Chamber Music and Cello's are her "thing".  (And maybe somewhere in the universe that was why all my violins were turning into cellos instead?)

A staunch supporter of the arts, this second friend has been working with Arion Chamber Music
that is her labor of love and here is mine...a portion of the pattern price will be donated to that group at the end of every year!

You can get your own copy of the pattern here...or just donate to Arion using the link above!  (Or throw caution to the wind and do both!)

Until next time..Knit on!

~M

Oh and PS...if you sign up for the newsletter...when I have new patterns you get a special (huge!) discount code.  I don't typically do sales so that is THE way to get a deal!