Impington Writer’s Winter Project

Gill Saxon's Welcome Blanket

Two new books by Impington writer Gill Saxon could be just the thing if your family is expecting a new baby. Basic knitting skills are all you’ll need to get started on a fun project ideal for those long winter evenings. When you’ve finished you will have a unique heirloom for the new arrival.

The idea for “How to Make My Welcome Blanket” (an instruction book) and “My Welcome Blanket” (a story book) began with Gill’s own children back in the 1980s. The project she describes has since been tried out many times over by families who wanted to make something special together for a new baby.

Gill explains: “When I was first pregnant I remember wanting to make something original for my baby. It had to be useful and I didn’t want to have to take a course or buy a toolkit to make it. I had seen my mother knit patchwork blankets from oddments of wool and thought I could manage something similar to fit a cot.

“ I started by knitting stocking-stitch squares(one row plain, one row purl) in single colours. This seemed a bit dull, so I tried stripes, simple repeating patterns and multi-coloured yarns. Books from Histon library spurred me on to try more ambitious stitches and showed me how to interweave several colours. Then I copied some motifs from children’s jumper patterns. After Ben was born I used an alphabet chart to knit patches showing his name and birth date. Instant heirloom, playmat, or cot blanket. Everybody admired it.

“When Emma was on the way, I knew I didn’t have the time to knit another complete blanket, so I asked family and friends who could knit to contribute one patch each. I left the colours and designs up to them, but asked them to make sure their patch measured 15cm / 6 ins square.

“Everybody loved the idea and many people didn’t stop at one square each. Emma’s blanket was big enough for a toddler’s bed and featured fancy stitches, motifs and Swiss embroidery ? (embroidery on top of knitted stitches). Some people even designed their own knitting charts. This is much easier to do than you may think.

“My family has knitted a welcome blanket for every new arrival since then. People who saw the blankets started asking me how they could do something similar, so I wrote up the idea and gave them instructions they could photocopy and distribute to their own group of knitters.

“It seemed common sense to after that to get the instructions together in book form.Then I thought how great it would be if, when the blanket was ready, you could also give the baby a storybook about how and why their blanket was made. So I designed squares which tell a story about a family looking forward to a baby’s arrival, then I used photographs of these as illustrations for book. I can’t find any other picture books with knitted illustrations like this, so it may be a first.

“You don’t need to be an expert knitter to contribute. Every blanket needs plain patches as well as more ambitious ones, so even people who can only do plain knitting can help. Emma knitted her first patch for a baby cousin’s blanket when she was eight. Also, plain patches only take about an hour for an average knitter .

“If you enjoy using designer yarns you can, but this blanket looks equally good made with yarn you may already have at home or can pick up cheaply in the remaindered basket at your local knitting shop.

“Once you have the basic instructions, you can make any size of blanket and adapt it as you wish. Because the patches are small, knitters often feel the urge to be ambitious. Anything from flags of the nations to musical symbols have all featured on patches.”

Gill hopes knitters who make a Welcome Blanket will send her photographs of it, and share their own designs for patches, so that she can post them on her website. “How to Make My Welcome Blanket” (39 A4 pages, including 26 pages of patterns) gives comprehensive instructions and costs £8.99. It is spiral-bound to lie flat for easy use. “My Welcome Blanket” the story book (29 A5 pages) costs £4.99. Both books can be ordered from the website: www.mywelcomeblanket.co.uk or e-mail Gill your queries: gill@gillsaxon.com