I'm not knitting, but I am creating

The situation: I have a baby shower to go to this weekend. I wanted to knit Tulip Toes, but my knitting time has been severely cut down because I've been so busy. Enter the fleece blanket. A fairly quick (2 hours max) project that is guarantted to get some oohs and aahs at the baby shower! Yes, the baby is due in August, but it's IOWA so it's going to be a cold winter, and this blanket will be nice and toasty - and big enough to last for several years. (Finished size is 52" by 46".)

I purchased 1.5 yards of two kinds of fleece - one floral, one striped (I love stipes and flowers combined!!) Then I spread the fleece out, cut off the selvage edges and put one piece of fleece on top of the other to trim them both to the same size. You'll see in the above photo, I've also cut a 4" square out of all four corners of the blanket. It helps the blanket lay flatter. This next shot shows the contrast fabric on the other side, and the 1" by 4" strips that I cut into the sides.

I reccommend cutting and fringing opposite sides - and when you tie, start in the middle and work out - it helps keep the blanket from distorting. Me cutting (notice the other sides are already fringed and tied)And me tying - yes, this shot should have been before the previous, but oh well!

Close up for the blanket - I love how the frings flips over to the opposite side and shows the pattern on the reverse - it's so pretty! The final product with it's beauty shot on my chair. Please note the flowers in the background that J got me for my 28th birthday yesterday!!