Speedy crochet blanket

Last Christmas I made my Nan a crochet granny square blanket and she’s used it every day since she opened it. She’s been unwell lately and getting cold alot so my Mum requested another blanket that could double up as a shawl.

I only had 2 weeks to make her crochet blanket so I didn’t have much time to look for wool. I went to my local charity shop with the best wool selection and picked up a few balls of what they had for sale, which was Cygnet yarn. I’d not used Cygnet before but they had a good range of colours and the wool is machine washable – perfect for something that will get alot of wear.

Just under 2 weeks later… ta-dah!

The blanket measures 8 squares x 17 squares so it can be used as a lap blanket but also wrapped around shoulders without being too bulky.

Weaving in the ends

I normally leave weaving in until the very end and gasp in horror at the number of ends that need weaving in. In this case I had 136 squares, each made with 3 colours, giving me 6 ends in total per square. Overall that adds up to 816 ends!

This time I tried weaving in as I went so in theory once I’d crocheted my last square I’d be finished. But I didn’t like being able to see ‘running threads’ at the back of my work and colour from the previous round running under another.

So being the glutton for punishment that I am, I went about it in my usual way. It’s a bit of a faff but the back ends up looking so neat it’s worth it.

Edging

I added a picot edging to this blanket. Perhaps a little over the top with all the colours but I fancied trying something a bit different. I normally single crochet (SC) around the edge for a few rows, which I did here but with picot on the final round.

This nice edging came back to bite me in the bum when it came to blocking. I used a ridiculous amount of pins!

Make your own

If you want to make your own granny square blanket, follow this video tutorial or use this written pattern (both great tutorials by Crochet Geek). I crocheted 4 rounds but the video shows you how to make a 5 round granny square. You can crochet as many or few rounds as you like.

♥ Granny squares

I love making granny squares because my brain can switch off and my hands take over whilst I watch a film. Their simplicity gives a huge amount of freedom to experiment with colour. I’d like to have a go at making larger squares with a greater number of colours. Perhaps 4 colours plus a single colour for the final round a bit like this one:

Notes

• Wool: ‘Cygnet Aran – 208 (White). ‘Cygnet DK’ – 150 (Heather), 146 (Pearl), 1048 (Lt. Mauve). ‘Cygnet Kiddies Supersoft DK’ – 2893 (Lilac White), 1979 (pink), 2886 (Apple White).
• Project duration: 2 weeks.
• Equipment: 4mm Clover soft touch crochet hook and wool needle.