I have a few baby blankets I need to make this year.
What yarn would you recommend?
What’s your favorite baby blanket/afghan pattern?
I’m going to learn to crochet next month cause I hear it is sooo much faster to make an afghan.
What do you think should I crochet or knit them? 
I love the Bernat Baby Coordinates…it’s acrylic, acetate, and nylon. SO soft and washes and dries beautifully! 
I love Lionbrand Velvet Spun. Super soft. But very chunky, so keep that in mind.
Oh Velvet Spun is so nice! I am making a baby hat from it and it is heaven! A blanket in this would be dreamy. It knits up so quick so that is a plus. My aunt and grandmother made 2 blankets for my boys from some super soft pastel Homespun and my husband like them so much they made him one. My grandmother hates the yarn because it splits so much. For that reason I would choose Velvet of the two because it is so easy to use, quick and incredibly soft.
Wendy Velvet Touch yarn is really soft and nice to work with. The pretty varigated colors allow a relatively simple pattern to look special. It is machine washable, so practical as well.
Lynn
I just started a new one. Using one strand of Bernat Baby Coordinates and one strand of their Softee Baby. Pattern is CO 135 stitches. Then knit 7 rows garter with size 13 needle and 7 rows with size 3 needle. Two skeins of each. Way simple!
I like bernat also. I made a blanket in ‘baby denim’ (i think that’s what the color was). Its a blue and white spun together, and I used this pattern, using 3 strands held together. It makes a beautiful blanket, but takes what seems like forever to finish. Hope this gives you some idea…Check out this link for more patterns. 
I’ve used Caron Simply Soft with much success. It truly is soft and it comes in all sorts of bright, not “baby typical” colors. I like to do the Pinwheel Baby Blanket with the Simply Soft and edge it with Plymouth Heaven, which is a really soft fuzzy yarn.
I’ve used Plymouth Encore. Lots of colors, washable and dryable.
I am planning on making the seedstitch hooded baby blanket from Debbie Bliss. I was thinking of using Debbie Bliss Superwash Merino, but I waited to long to buy it from Elann and they don’t have enough of the color I want.
My Aunt made my daughter a blanket from a chenille type yarn (don’t know brand) from Pat Catans. It is super soft and very pliable. It is really cute!
Candice
You all are so helpful. I’ll have to check and see what my LYS has available (or she’ll order what I need).
I really appreciate your input.
I just looked at Knitpicks SHine. It is cotton and modal and machine washable. It sounds really soft and comes in great colors.
candice
I’m making one now with Pima Cotton. It’s super soft, softer than cashmir.
I would avoid synthetic fibers like the plague, god only knows what nasty chemicals they use to treat that stuff. You don’t want to expose your child to industrial chemicals. Plus, who wants a plastic blanket anyway.
I could be wrong, but I think that modal is derived from plants and is not a synthetic fiber like acrylic.
Candice
Edit:
Found this definition.
Modal is currently called the new wonder fabric. Made from beech wood chips, this fabric combines the benefits of natural fiber and the fantastically soft feel of modern microforms. It is a new kind of natural fabric developed by Austria Lenzing Company. With the hygroscopicity of cotton and the luster of silk, it remains soft and lustrous after several washes.
I was refering more to the acrylic/acetate/nylon suggestion.
That’s correct, Modal is made from natural stuff just like Rayon. Now, I don’t know for sure, but I would be willing to bet that many toxic chemicals are used in the process of turning wood chips into yarn.
I would avoid it when concidering materials for children’s clothing, especially an infant’s blanket.
Excellent point, I didn’t think of that.
Also, many yarns made of harmless natural fibers are then died using toxic substances and or treated with chemicals (i.e. fire retardants, anti-felting ajents, etc.).
You may want to take that into concideration as well, when selecting yarns.
What brand Pima Cotton are you using? Unless it is organic there were many chemicals used in the growing process of the cotton. I love organic cotton, but cannot afford to do a blanket that way.
Candice
That’s unfortunate, I guess I didn’t think of that.
I’m not sure of the actual brand, It’s at home so I can’t check right now. But, pretty sure it’s not organic or inexpensive.
The baby blanket I’m nitting is actually a security/cuddle blanket for my girlfriend. She likes to sleep with the cool soft cotton aganst her face. She likes those Carter’s cotton baby blankets. Apperantly, even those need to be seasoned for several years before they are “soft enough”. This pima cotton yarn I’m using is the only thing I could find that was as soft as a seasoned Carter’s blanket.
I looked at some organic cotton on the internet. I may order some for future projet. It’s tricky to shop for yarn through the mail as you can’t see or touch it.