Baby Sunburst Baby Blanket (with Square Pattern)

Hello, hello, hello!

Although I really love making baby blankets (and that's why I'd been making lots of them for sale recently), my favorite blankets are those that I make for friends, when a baby is on the way :)

When my friend was expecting her second baby (a little sister for the 2-year old boy), I asked her, what kind of blanket she'd like. She said that - since the little one would mostly wear her brother's neutral clothes in the beginning - she wanted a typical "girlie" blanket with girlie colors, flowers and stuff. So, what do you think? Is that a "girlie" blanket or not? :)

When my friend mentioned flowers, I searched Pinterest high and low for a pattern that I liked. And although I've found lots and lots of beautiful flower squares, somehow I couldn't make up my mind. Most flower squares are 3-dimensional, and although they are truly beautiful, in my mind I had the idea of a "flat" flower. Something like the traditional Sunburst Granny Square (I think the original designer is Priscilla Hewitt, please correct me, if I'm wrong).

Actually the Sunburst Granny Square would have been the perfect fit, but I thought it was a little bit too big: it's great for bigger blankets, but for baby blankets I somehow like to work with smaller squares. So I've tried to figure out a way to make a Sunburst Square, that's just a little bit smaller than the original.

Here you see the comparison, on the right is the original Sunburst Square (with 16 petals), and on the left is my adaption (a Sunburst with 12 petals):

Using the smaller version, I could join 9x9=81 squares to make a cute little blanket. I connected them with the last round in a continuous join-as-you-go method. Of course I've worked with Stylecraft Special DK again and used the following colors: Cream (for the background), Lemon, Apricot, Candy Floss, Fondant, and Sherbet.

Don't get me wrong - the original Sunburst Granny Square is perfect as it is, but if you ever want to make a smaller one, here's my version:

Baby Sunburst Square

based on the Sunburst Square by Priscilla Hewitt

Pattern Notes:

For this pattern I use US crochet terms. Starting with a "magic ring" (or sliding loop) we’ll need the following basic stitches: chain stitch (ch), slip stitch (sl st), single crochet (sc), half double crochet (hdc), double crochet (dc), and some

Special Stitches:

Puff-Stitch: *Yarn over (yo), insert hook into indicated stitch and pull up a loop to the level of your work* 3 times, yo and pull through all 7 loops on hook.

Double Crochet 4-together (dc-4-tog): *Yarn over (yo), insert hook into indicated space and pull up a loop, yo and pull through two loops* 4 times, yo and pull through all 5 loops on hook.

Round 1:

Start with a magic ring, ch1, and work 12 sc inside the ring. Join with a sl st to first sc and fasten off. (12sc) (The sl st does NOT count as a stitch!)

Round 2:

Join a new color with a sl st to any sc, ch-1 loosely (doesn't count as a stitch), and work (puff stitch, ch-1) in every sc around. Join with a sl st to top of first puff stitch and fasten off. (12 puff stitches)
(You can also start this round with a standing puff stitch instead of the loose chain)

Round 3:

Join a new color with a sl st to any ch-1-space, ch-1 loosely (doesn't count as a stitch), and work (dc-4-tog, ch-2) in every ch-1 space around. Join with a sl st to top of first dc-4-tog and fasten off. (12 dc-4-clusters)
(You can also start this round with a standing dc-4-tog instead of the loose chain)

Round 4:

Join a new color with a sl st to any ch-2 space, ch-2 (counts as first hdc) and 2 more hdc into the same space, ch-1. *(3dc, ch-2, 3dc, ch-1) into the next space, (3hdc, ch-1) into each of the next two spaces. Repeat from * around until you reach the beginning of the round (omitting the last hdc-group) and join with a sl st to top of beginning ch-2. Fasten off and weave in all ends.

If you want to join the squares with a continuous join-as-you-go method like I did, you only work the first three rounds and then connect the circles in one continuous process using the 4th round of the pattern (i.e. with hdc's on the sides and dc's in the corner) with the ch-1 spaces and corners as joining spots.

I hope you've enjoyed this pattern! :)