Candy Blankies by Candi Jensen
ISBN 1-931543-41-0, Softbound, 144 pages, $19.95, Vogue Publications, SoHo Publishing, Sixth & Spring Books, 233 Spring Street, New York, New York 10013, 877-860-6164, www.vogueknitting.com

For those of you who like to crochet blankets for your children and grandchildren, Candi has a variety of blanket designs for you.  There are 29 patterns and the stitches are easy with double crochet as the most complex.

A photo of a child with each blanket is at the front of the book with the page listed with instructions to make it.  The first 66 pages are full page color photos of each baby or child with a blanket.

Pages 67 through 137 are the patterns with a full color page of each blanket.  The blanket motifs vary from squares, plaids, chevrons, diamonds, animal spot graphs, to animal faces.  There is also a pattern for lamb additions to a blanket.  The blanket color ways are diverse and a standard yarn weight listing is included to help when choosing your yarns.

Crochet basics are included for the stitches used to make the patterns, plus a terms and abbreviations listing.  Although the instructions are included for how to crochet, I would advise beginners to use a basic how to crochet book first before working these patterns or any other book of patterns.  Since these blankets are small, they make nice samples to learn stitches and you can always make the blanket larger if you wish.

Review by Lydia F Borin