Penguin Baby Cradle Blanket
Hooray, it’s Christmas in July time again! I have to say this is one of my favourite events each year. I enjoy trying to get ahead start on the Christmas makes and I just love designing for Christmas anyway, so it is the perfect excuse for me.
This year, I was particularly excited to design something for a baby because by Christmas, I will be an auntie again! This penguin baby/crib blanket has been designed with so much love and I just hope that you enjoy crocheting and the babies can stay warm underneath it.
There’s something new to make every day in July. Each week will have a theme.
Week 1 (July 1-7): Babies, Kids, and Teens
Week 2 (July 8-14): Women
Week 3 (July 15-21): Gifts for Anyone
Week 4 (July 22-28): Home
Week 5 (July 29-31): Pets
We’ve partnered with eight fabulous craft companies to bring wonderful prizes to you! Find out more information about participating blogger, the schedule, and how to enter to win the prizes on Underground Crafter. The deadline for entering the giveaway for your chance to win a prize from Fox & Pine Stitches, GlassEyesOnline, Hartiful, KennyClayCo, KnitPal, Knitter’s Relief Balm, Search Press North America, and seashellcrafter is Friday, August 4, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
How To Join the 2023 Christmas in July Make Along
- You can join in by crocheting, knitting, sewing, or making the projects as you have time.
- Share your progress and post pictures of your finished projects. Tag your projects and posts #CIJMakeAlong2023 on all social media.
- If you’d like to chat with other crafters, join the Underground Crafters Facebook group
- By the end of the Make Along, you’ll have up to 31 awesome projects. Get ready for the handmade holiday season while having fun with us!
Visit Underground Crafter to learn more about the prizes, enter the giveaway, and to get links to each Christmas in July Make Along post as it is released.
Materials and Size
The baby/cradle blanket measures approx. 15 inch (40cm) by 20 inch (55cm)
You will need:
Stylecraft Special DK in Lincoln
Stylecraft Special DK in Dandelion (scraps)
Tapestry needle and sharp scissors
(Using these affiliate links to LoveCrafts and Furls will not cost you any extra but will provide me with a small commission to help keep providing free crochet patterns.)
A note about yarns and yarn subbing:
You can work this pattern in any dk yarn to get the approximate dimensions. Working it in Aran/Worsted yarn will produce a slightly larger blanket, but this could mean that baby can use the blanket for longer.
The penguin tummy and trim are made with a faux fur yarn. Scheepjes itself recommends this yarn for baby clothing, but you may wish to use just a simple white yarn.
I also deliberately chose to make the penguins in grey rather than black so they look more like cute baby penguins.
Pattern notes
The pattern is made entirely of US single crochet (known as double crochet in the UK).
The pattern is worked back and forth in rows.
For the first stitch on each row: Chain 1 to move up to the next row.
Start crocheting here:
Foundation: Work 58 ch.
Row 1: Sc into the second chain from hook. (57)
Row 2 to 29: Work back and forth in rows following the grid below. Each square on grid represents 1 sc.
Use the intarsia method for colour changes. Check out this colour changing in crochet guide.
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Finishing off:
When you have completed crocheting the grid once, repeat the whole grid again two more times so that you have six penguins. You can repeat more times if you would like a longer blanket.
Use the yellow yarn to sew on the beaks. You may also wish to sew on eyes.
Edge the blanket using the faux fur/white yarn. Space sc evenly around the edges, paying attention to work (dc, ch 2, dc) into the corner stitches. If the edges do not feel fluffy enough yet, work another round of sc.
