Some help for my ten year old DD to crochet a baby blanket

[blisterpack]

for her soon to arrive newborn cousin please. DD is really into stuff like knitting and crochet, and I am less than useless at things like that. I just buy her supplies and books, and she has taught herself a little. She can only do very simple projects because she can't follow the normal books neither can I and I've only managed to find one book meant for children. Recently she crocheted a glove, just completely on her own without a pattern or instructions - and it followed the exact shape of a hand so looked quite strange but really beautiful and super neat.

She wants to crochet the baby blanket now. What sort of wool should I buy? And how much do I need? Is it better to use something like this, so that it wouldn't be totally plain, or is it better to get plain coloured wool? How do you calculate how much wool you'd need according to the size of the blanket? And she uses a 4mm hook, is that alright for this purpose or should she get a different one.

Apologies if dumb questions. I really know nothing .

for a baby blanket I'd recommend using dk and a 4mm hook. I really like Stylecraft Speciak DK. They have it really cheap here afancrafts.co.uk/ocart/index.php?route=product/category&path=63_65 - they charge for postage though so if you're buying LOADS then it can work out cheaper from Deramores who have free postage over a certain amount.

Is she using a particular pattern for the blanket?

The thing with patterns is that there are two sets of crochet terms - British and American, basically the stitch names overlap (american single crochet is british double, american double is british treble...). I prefer to use the American ones and the Knitwitch crochet videos are fantastic for learning them.

Ravelry is fantastic for free patterns and people often fill in the details of how much yarn they've used and what size blanket they've ended up with.

Sirdar make a DK yarn called Baby Bamboo that is lovely and snuggly for a baby blanket. I would use a 4mm hook with it. For luxury the Cashmerino is superb but pricey.

If your daughter is making granny squares then a 50g ball will easily make 3 squares each measuring 6 inches. (It may even make 4 squares). It is easy to change colour in a granny square to give a bit of interest. A blanket of 24 square (6 squares x 4 squares) would take 8 50g balls of yarn on this basis. I use the instructions from the Purl Bee blog for a granny square. This uses American terminology so when it talks about a DC (Double Crochet) they actually mean a UK treble. When I crochet a granny square I do six rounds to get a six inch square.

I wouldn't go for the wool you linked to - it is suitable for weaving and felting, so not really the right sort for a baby blanket, you want something soft and washable. The Stylecraft suggested above is a great low priced option.

hooked-on-crochet.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/formula-for-making-cable-baby-blanket.html

This would be fantastic, cables are pretty simple once you get your head round them - they look more complicated than they really are :o

Www.ravelry.com is a good site for patterns, and appropriate for a 10yo (obviously don't let her loose unsupervised on the forums but i would say the technical bits would be fine if she has questions)

John Lewis often has experienced staff in their wool department, or take her to a local wool shop - worth driving to if there isn't one in your town, and they should help her work out how much she needs. Hooks are £1-2 each new or you can often buy them in charity shops (they'll be under the counter, you need to ask) and it's well worth having a range of sizes so you're not limited on which yarn to choose.

Thanks everyone. Some very useful stuff, most of it greek to me but I've shown my daughter and we've looked up ravelry and sites and placed an order. :)