Baby blanket set with hippos

My little sister is having her first baby! A girl! She wanted something with yellows and greens. This project was originally going to be the usual: crochet blanket and a stuffed animal. The blanket is green with no fancy design in the stitching. It just has some lemon and leaf appliques on the hood. I then made the yellow hippo but decided I didn't like it enough to be satisfied. Plus, I had some extra time and only the green yarn available, so I made the green hippo.

I also decided to continue my sewing efforts by making her a blanket following the same pattern I used previously. To keep the green, yellow, and fruit theme, I found a pineapple nursery flannel and a green polka dot flannel cloth.

So here's the entire set. A crochet blanket, two hippos, and a sewn cloth blanket. I'm also planning to throw in two identical solid teal comfort swatches that aren't pictured.

Full baby blanket set with a crochet blanket, sewn blanket, and two hippos.

Main Info

Crochet Blanket

• Size: 33.5" x 33.5"
• Time: 
• Blanket: 11 hours
• Lemons: 1 hour
• Yarn:
• 1.25 skeins of Caron one pound Grass Green
• Baby Hugs from Red Heart Sunny
• Big Twist Premium Yarn Kale
• Hook size:
• Blanket: H/8
• Lemons: K/10.5
• Pattern:
• Basic blanket pattern on my blog
• Lemon and Leaf pattern: Pin on Pinterest or Blog post

Crochet Hippos

• Size: 
• Yellow: 2.75" x 4.5" x 2"
• Green: 3" x 4.75" x 2.25"
• Time: 3.5 hours each
• Yarn: same as the blanket
• Hook size:
• Yellow: H/8
• Green: G/6
• Pattern: Pin on Pinterest or Blog post

Sewn Blanket

• Size: 38.5" x 31"
• Time: Didn't time myself
• Cloth:
• Joann's snuggle flannel fabric - Pineapples Tossed
• Joann's snuggle flannel fabric - Green Dots on White
• Pattern: Pin on Pinterest or Blog post

Thoughts on the process

Crochet Blanket

Green hooded baby blanket with lemon and leaf appliques on the hood.

This yarn is thicker than the Lion Brand Pound of Love yarn I usually use. Which resulted in a thicker and slightly bigger blanket (they typically are more like 30" x 30"). Moreover, the pound wasn't quite enough to make a square, and it feels coarser than the Lion Brand, probably because it wasn't baby yarn. If I decide to use this yarn in the future, I'll definitely make the blanket a little smaller so that I only need one skein than 1 plus a little more.

I struggled so much with the placement of the lemons and leaves. I'm still not 100% happy with them. I actually procrastinated on sewing the appliques on for a long time (hence the extra hippo) because I was so nervous that I'd make it look horrible. In the end, they look fine, and I'm sure my sister will like it, but I'm not sure I'll ever do appliques again unless I'm more confident in the design before I do anything.

Crochet Hippos

Green and yellow hippos

I really like this pattern. It was straightforward to follow and not too tricky.

The hardest part (as with almost any stuffed animal pattern) was putting the pieces together and getting the placement right. The hardest for me was the heads. The yellow hippo's head is actually a little too low, so the front feet don't even touch the ground. The head is supporting the front. I did a bit better with the green hippo.

In retrospect, I wish I had used a smaller hook size for the yellow hippo because the yarn was softer and therefore shows more gaps compared to the green hippo.

Sewn Blanket

Pineapple and green dot sewn blanket with leaf detailing.

I'm still working on my confidence with the sewing machine. But I like this pattern! The blog post calls it a 10-minute blanket, which I believe if you're an expert sewer. I am a complete novice. But it is simple and straightforward, and I think a good first project.

This was my second blanket like this. My first was a blanket for my baby girl because I'd rather mess up on something I'm not giving as a gift. But I actually struggled more with this one. The first one went more smoothly. Which is a mixed blessing? If I had struggled more with the first, I probably would have given up or decided that I'd finish what I started and stop.

With this one, I had to apply what I learned from reading the manual. For starters, the thread tension got messed up somehow. So I had to use some scrap fabric and test multiple times to get the tension right. My first seam wasn't as straight, which meant ironing the edges and adding the decorative stitch was harder and also a little uneven. All of which are imperfections only an expert is likely to be able to see. A fact I keep reminding myself of because, as a novice, I need to be gentle with myself. Beginners are allowed to make mistakes!

Close up of sewn blanket to see the decorative stitch.

I especially love the extra step of a decorative stitch around the edge. It gives it a firmer side. My sewing machine has the same leaf pattern stitch as the blog post tutorial, and I thought it was perfect for the pineapples, too.

Corner of the decorative stitch for the sewn blanket.

The corners of the decorative stitch were the hardest thing to do with this step. I think this picture has the cleanest corner.