Swatching: Luma Baby Blanket

Last week, we released a new free pattern, the Luma Baby Blanket. Linette took the photos in Lucy’s room, and it made me really want one for her!

For my swatches, instead of obsessing over gauge (although that is always a priority!), I focused on playing with the color palette. Lucy’s room is painted a pale greenish-blue, her rug is mutli-colored, and all of her furniture is white, so I had a lot of wiggle room in terms of color possibilities.

The first swatch I knit was in Breton and Ciel. I really love the bright, springy colors together and how neither are traditionally “baby”.

For the second swatch, I wanted to continue with the idea of two colors in the same family, but on opposite ends of the spectrum, so I worked it up in Sangria and Flamingo. While I really like how festive the colors are, I don’t think they work in the same way as the Breton and Ciel swatch does.

Finally, I went in a totally opposite direction, and turned to my true love: neutrals. The Natural and Flax here are so pretty and sophisticated, but possibly not as practical for a baby blanket as darker colors would be.

SPECIFICATIONS
Pattern: Luma Baby Blanket by Antonia Shankland
Needles: US 6 (4 mm)
Gauge: 20 sts and 26 rows = 4″ (10 cm).

NOTES
My gauge is a little looser than that of the pattern, and while I like the feel and drape of the fabric, I do think it would benefit structurally if it was a bit tighter. For the actual blanket, I’ll go down a needle size. I’m also not sure if I will be able to match the row gauge exactly, so I will block the blanket after knitting a few inches to check the row gauge and adjust the number of repeats worked if need be.

Now all I need to do is settle on my final colors! Decisions, decisions…..