Weaving a Pin-Loom Baby Blanket: Just Rip It

I finally finished my pin-loom squares for my baby blanket! Truth be told, they’ve been finished for a while, but thanks to life, I had yet to start putting them together. A few days ago, I finally had a free evening that I could spend crocheting my pieces together. I watched a few YouTube videos, practiced for 30 minutes or so, and then started joining. I ended up piecing together 12 squares before I finally flattened everything out to revel in my handiwork. It was . . . not great.

Christina’s first attempt at a crochet border and join for her pin-loom squares didn’t have quite the look she was going for. Photos by Christina Garton

It wasn’t terrible, but it didn’t look nice. I hate to admit it, but my first instinct was to try to brush it off. I told myself that it’s a handmade blanket—of course, it’s not perfect! Especially because it’s for a baby. But then I remembered something I read in an “Ask Madelyn” once. In it, Madelyn says if you see an error and can fix it, do it—because otherwise, every time you look at whatever you’ve made, you’ll see only the error. So with heavy heart, in about two minutes I pulled out 2 hours’ worth of work.

So I did more research and looked at more tutorials. I found a different join I thought might work better, and you know what? It did. I am not a crocheter (this is actually my first-ever time crocheting something real) so it’s definitely not professional grade. You will not be seeing this particular baby blanket project in an upcoming issue of Easy Weaving with Little Looms.

Christina’s second attempt at a crochet border and join turned out much better than the first.

This join is slightly more complicated than the original one I chose, but it’s definitely not out of the realm of a beginner. I know from experience that as I work on each square, my stitches will become more even and I will get more efficient. Soon I won’t have to think twice about what I’m doing—it will all be muscle memory and instinct. (Or at least that’s what I tell myself as I mumble “chain 3, crochet 1, chain 3, crochet 1” on and on.)

Years from now on, when I look at the blanket, I won’t see a hot mess. Instead I’ll remember the time I taught myself how to do crochet joins to make a blanket for my baby. I hope E will one day look at the blanket and see all the love it holds. I hope that when I am far away and he is grown, he can pull it out, wrap it around his shoulders, and feel like he’s getting a big hug from his mom.

Happy Weaving,

Christina