blanket edging tutorial

Receiving blankets;

• First step is to determine the size of your blanket. I like to make them larger than the store's 32 inch squares. I usually use 45 inch wide flannel and purchase 1 1/4 yards so the blanket is square. I round the corners using a plate. 
• Then I zig zag around the edge. Here you can see the backside which I did in a dark thread so you can see it. The front thread matches the fabric and is difficult to see. I stitch about 1/4 inch from edge of fabric and the edge then folds over the back while crocheting. I use the zigzag to space my stitches evenly; so far I've crocheted into every other stitch. 
• Use an awl, or a large needle or in my case a homemade awl (I took one of my tiny crochet hooks that I had 2 of and filed it to a point, look at the shadow.) and enlarge the hole in every other stitch. You can see the enlarged holes in the first picture. Some fabrics work fine to enlarge a lot of holes then crochet, other fabric won't hold the hole very long and can only be prepunched a couple holes at a time. I found some edge patterns here.

• The Elephant blanket is single crocheted with pearl cotton, once around. 
• The Alligator is 2 single crochet in each hole with a variegated nylon thread that hurt my fingers after using it for a while.
• The bicycle one is *single crochet in hole, chain three, slip stitch in top of sc, sc in same hole repeat from *. 
• The pink is sc in hole chain 3 sc in same hole.

I appliquéd motifs from fabric since I haven't been able to find any but pink embroidery floss.