Another crochet blanket finished!

Filet Crochet, 37" x 41"

I started this blanket to work on in the car ride to and from The Great Smoky Mountains. It was a perfect project because the yarn (Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn) is kind of chunky and the pattern (filet crochet) was really simple. 

The pattern is worked in sets of 12 stitches (plus 1). I cast on 121. If I was to make it again I'd probably do 109 stitches. I used every inch of 3 skeins of the variegated and added the border in some leftover white from another project. I finished it with Crab Stitch in the variegated. 
The pattern for the border is:
1 row of DC in ever stitch (there are 2 DC for each row in the blanket)
1 row of alternating DC and chain
1 row of DC in every stitch
1 row of Crab stitch

I did block this blanket. Just getting it wet for blocking made it even softer. This yarn is sooooo easy to crochet and they have a bazillion colors at Hobby Lobby. With frequent sales, this yarn is also very budget friendly.

This blanket is going to be gifted to the daughter of a friend for a baby girl coming in September.

I like the look and effect of the Crab Stitch border so much that I know I'll use it on lots of blankets going forward.

I'm casting on 2 new projects and this is the first one. This one will be good for taking to quilt club meetings or for working on in the car. This is Lion Brand Mandala yarn. It's the first yarn I ever picked up and it's still one of my favorites. There are so many colorways to choose from and simple stitches work great so the color changes in the yarn can do all of the work. It makes a very soft blanket.

This is a swatch that I'm working on for the second one. I really like this pattern but it's going to have a color change EVERY ROW so I'm not sure that I'm going to actually do this one. I don't want to work that hard. I'll figure it out this week and make a final decision.

I'm really enjoying my evening crochet session. It's so relaxing to put on my audiobook and play with yarn for a bit. Last night I dropped off 5 blankets with a friend. She has donation destinations for them.