My Seaside Granny Blanket Ta-Dah

Hello lovelies,

my, oh, my, it's been a long, long time since I have completed a full sized crochet blanket. Last year I enjoyed making ( and selling!) quiet a few baby blankets. But in the background were a couple of big blanket projects I was neglecting.

This seaside colours inspired blanket was to be for youngest boy. I began making simple four round granny squares back in 2015 :0)

It was while we were on holiday in Cornwall that year. The colours were picked to try and capture a little of this dreamy colour palette.... and because they are very "boy friendly."

Production slowed as the year wore on. Then ground to a halt.

 June 2016 saw us visiting the beautiful lake district as my birthday treat ( that big 5.0. birthday) . Happily the squares came with me as they were a very travel friendly project.

and the colours seemed to capture a little of the lakeland landscape too.

In August 2016 my squares enjoyed their second Cornish holiday :0)

And still this slooooow project limped along. By the time the pumpkins were on sale I decided to was time to put in a bit more effort and try to get this blanket made by the end of the year. 

By November all squares were made and I had added a fifth round of Petrol. wooohooo.

Then I began the process of sewing them together. This seemed to take an age. It's really just because I didn't spend a lot of time working on it ( and I got distracted by other crochet and craft projects) 

This past weekend I finally finished the border. Today I picked up the blanket and sewed in the few remaining ends. Then I got out the iron and steam blocked the slightly curly border. I love this clever method Lucy taught us HERE 

 Then I took the blanket and put it on youngest's bed.

Yay, it's long enough and wide enough.

 By late morning the rain (which had put me off walking and meant the blanket got finished) stopped and the sun even tried to shine. I seized  the chance to take the blanket outdoors for the traditional washing line shot.

yay, it's been a long time since I got to do this.

 For the edge I tried a new stitch to me. Reverse single crochet ...or Crab stitch. I love the effect it gives.

I love the petrol border too, though I can see it's not the most "coastal" colour. It is a good, dark background that brings out the best in the colours of the squares.

I think this is my favourite way to look at this blanket...to stand back and enjoy the colour and pattern from a distance.

Here are the blanket stats:-

The finished size is 64 inches (162cm) by 44 inches (112cm)...long enough to cover a lanky teenager :0)

The yarn is all Stylecraft Special Acrylic, double knitting weight. Super easy to care for and easy on the budget too.

The colours for the squares are Aster, Cloud Blue, Turquoise, Khaki, Meadow, Silver, Stone, Camel, Lime, Aspen and White.
The joining colour is Petrol.

I used a 4mm crochet hook.

The design is the same as THIS Blanket I made a few years ago. It's a much loved favourite, but a touch small for my grown boys . I'm glad this latest blanket is bigger.

Nice and long :0)

I chose a square I liked and used those colours for the border.

Happy blankets.

It's great to have finally made all three of my boys a blanket now. The other two are HERE and HERE. 

Youngest seems to like his blanket, though it's not that easy to tell....he's a boy of few words :0)

 I doesn't really matter that much anyway as I make them for my own enjoyment and they are super practical too. It will be well used and make me smile when I see it on his bed. 

Jacquie x