Chevrons for Shawn & Nicki

Our very good friends, Shawn and Nicki, are having a baby boy this fall. It's their first, and our first as Uncle and Auntie! We cannot wait for this little bugger to be born! His due date is Chris' birthday, so we're crossing our fingers (or as they say in Swedish, "holding our thumbs") that he makes his appearance on time.  :-)

For one of Nicki's baby showers, we sent over the first of many gifts for this little guy. An heirloom afghan in red, white, and grey. I sized it so that Shawn and Nicki can use it in a car-seat or pram or just as an easy wrap... a really versatile size (about 25" by 30").

Chevrons are all the rage recently, or so my mama says. Hand-crafting for boys can be very VERY hard, but chevrons are a great solution. And the color choices for a child of Shawn and Nicki are easy picks! Go Pack!

For the design, I modified existing chevron patterns.  In particular, since I was using two strands, I shortened the stretches of stitches for the 'straight' sections. These are some chevron patterns that I like:  Drops' "ZigZag" or Attic24's "Ripple" or Caron's "Zig Zag".

I used two strands and crocheted with a giant-sized US-P hook. The yarn is Drops Lima (red: 3609 | white: 1101 | medium grey: 8465). Since it's a blend of wool and alpaca, it's bouncy soft but will last a lifetime or two or three!