my finished blanket

Starflower Estonian Lace Baby Blanket worked on 4.5mm needles, using 550 grams (1100m) Cascade 220 Superwash in Royal Purple

I wasn't sure about the colour until after the blanket was blocked; the entire time I was knitting the blanket I wondered whether the purple was too dark and whether the pattern was getting lost. But now that it's been blocked the pattern leaps right out at you. It is a very pretty blanket.

There are elaborate borders top and bottom, but at the sides you just knit the first three stitches in garter stitch. It's just the right touch - the sides stay straight and flat without detracting from the starflower panel.

The top and bottom borders are finished with what the designer calls a "typical lace bind off" - knit two stitches, then knit those two stitches together, then knit one more stitch from the left needle and again knit the two stitches on the right needle together, and so on. It's a very nice bind off which leaves a firm, slightly raised edge; not nearly so loose and wobbly as the usual bind off.

The blanket has a definite right side and wrong side - unavoidable for a lace pattern like this - but it's lovely finished. I've put the pattern away carefully, in case I want to do another next year.