August 22, 2026

After finishing section 10 (which is 21” across), I have a few thoughts on this blanket pattern.

I started this on impulse because I wanted something new to work on during a Cape Cod 4-day weekend to celebrate my 35th wedding anniversary. I had this yarn in mind because I thought the colors were pretty. The pattern jumped out at me from the “Hot Right Now” list in Ravelry because stitch samplers are fun and center-out blanket patterns let you stop whenever you want and I thought the yarn would make a great baby blanket. My gold standard for this kind of blanket is Around the Bases by ChiChi Allen, but I’ve done that one a few times and wanted some new stitches.

This pattern was described as “perfect for beginners”, and while I’m far from a beginner, that appealed to me because I expected to be crocheting this in the car and on the beach, looking at the pattern on my phone while chatting with my husband, so I wanted something easy but not boring. The designer’s blog post says, “Learning new crochet stitches doesn’t have to be stressful. With the right pattern, it can be relaxing, rewarding, and confidence-building.”

This pattern is not for beginners. While the stitch patterns themselves are simple, the pattern does a very poor job of explaining what to do in the corners. Center-out patterns need to increase appropriately in the corners or the blanket will not lie flat. Patterns for beginners in particular need to be clear what to do, especially when stitches need to be added or skipped. If followed exactly as written, many rounds would not work out or would never lie flat. ALL patterns need stitch counts (preferably per side) so that we can check our work against the design as we go, and those stopped after the first few sections. The pattern does have some beginner-friendly aspects, like having the special stitches described where they’re actually used.

Normally I would not be critical of a pattern and would just figure it out, but since this is marketed to beginners, I do not want to see newbies discouraged from the hobby because they think the issues they’re having are their ability to follow a written pattern. Pictures, especially of the corners, and accurate stitch counts are not too much to ask. (I don’t expect video tutorials, like the pattern mentioned above has, but at least photos or stitch diagrams. Make a version of the PDF without them too if some want a printer-friendly version.)

And getting the pattern tested would have been appropriate since people are paying for it. That said, it is only $5, on sale for $2.50 when I purchased it. I prefer paid patterns because I want to pay designers for all the work they put in! But the discount makes me think that the only reason this was in “Hot Right Now” is because it was linked to from the designer’s newsletter so a lot of people visited the pattern page. The lack of projects in Ravelry should have been a red flag, but as I said, I was being impulsive because I wanted to throw something in my bag for a special weekend.

About the yarn -- this was Joanns going out of business special and it is quite soft. It is splitty but not too bad. It is a nice DK weight and I love the subtle variagated, speckly colors. However it wasn’t the best choice for this pattern. The colors are too busy to really show off the stitches. Solids would have been a better choice for this kind of design.

So, I will finish the blanket to the minimum baby blanket size and donate it, but it got a “Grrrr” in happiness rating. (Sad because it added a thread of annoyance to an otherwise perfect weekend with the love of my life!) If you’re a beginner, wait for it to be updated, or just go try Around the Bases.

September 19, 2026

I finished this at section 13, Floret Stitch, after 12 which was the strangest version of the Star Stitch I have ever seen. Who makes a one-row repeat of the Star Stitch? I tried it the way it was written but it looked very un-star like, so I followed the instructions in, you guessed it, the Around the Bases pattern. But I did like the Floret Stitch, which was new to me. I liked the way the second row made a little ruffle on the edge so I decided that would be a good place to end the baby blanket.

I will need to block this to get it to (hopefully) lie flat, and it will probably grow a little, so about 32” square. That’s a respectable size.

October 4, 2026

I just took this off the blocking mats and, in the end, it did come out wonderful! I steamed it very heavily after pinning out the inside rounds as well as the outside and left it for the day and overnight to dry completely. It squared it up, opened up the lacier sections, and made it nice and drapey.

So, even though the pattern could use some improvement, if you’re experienced enough to fill in the gaps, the end product can be very pretty.