Celtic Baby Blanket: Version 2

It's been a while since I posted, but some of you may remember that I was working on a baby blanket for my not-yet-born niece or nephew. The requirements for this project were that the blanket have some sort of celtic feel, and that it be reversible. My husband also really wanted me to use this color (not my favorite). The first version (see last post) fit these requirements, but I hated knitting it, and I wasn't happy with how the joins between the various pieces were looking. So I cast on for version 2. Like version 1, the center panel of this blanket is double seed stitch, and the border has reversible cables. Unlike version 1, the center panel of this blanket was knit from the center out, and the border is being attached to the live stitches of the center panel. Also unlike version 1, I actually like knitting the reversible cables I designed for the border. Having two different types of cables breaks up some of the monotony, and the cables I chose cross less often. This means less horizontal compression (so less stitches) and also means that I have a few more "easy" rows. Taken together, that means that this version is faster to knit. The border is still taking me forever, but at least the time spent isn't painful. And I even got the cables to turn the corner!

Here's one side of the blanket:


And here's the other side of the border:


I think it will end up being about 3 feet x 3 feet.

To answer a question from the comments:

Laurie asked:
How's the Swish for the blanket? Have you used it before? I need to start on a baby blanket very soon and am considering this yarn.

I've used a few superwash wool yarns now, and I can't say that I like any of them very much. They all feel too much like acrylic to me, and I'm never happy with how the finished fabric looks after washing. Which is why I decided to give the Swish a try. The yarn is very soft, which I think is a good thing for a baby blanket. It also has that characteristic superwash squeaky feel to it. But I'm also not sure how it is going to hold up to wear and washing. I've been joining new balls of yarn by spit splicing. I expected this to be a bit difficult since it is superwash yarn, but it wasn't any harder than joining any other wool yarn I've used. Which makes me a bit nervous about washing it. I hand-washed my swatch, and it came out fine. I'll put my swatch through the washing machine to test it out before I wash the whole blanket that way. I'll let you know what I find out!