Blossom & Daisy Crochet

 

 

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SPRING PASTELS BLANKET

Hello and thanks for visiting! I have been inspired to start this blog by all the lovely people who have followed the progress of my most recent crochet project, which I have decided to call my Spring Pastels Blanket. I shared updates of the making process on Instagram and I was overwhelmed by how many people engaged with it, left feedback, asked questions and expressed an interest in making the blanket themselves. I was not expecting such a response so it was a lovely surprise! I have found that it can be difficult to keep up with responding to individual requests for information on Instagram, although I have tried, some things just get lost in the fast moving feed. So, here I am, writing my first blog, with hopefully all the information you will need if you would like to make this blanket yourself. 

The blanket is 62"x 62" in size and is made up of 49 individual granny squares. If you are a beginner or are unsure of the granny square pattern, I have written a step by step tutorial with lots of photos, which you can find HERE. This is the first time I have written a tutorial, so I hope I have managed to make it clear and understandable! I am happy to answer questions in the comments section if you have any.

Each granny square is made up of nine different colours. I used a 4mm crochet hook and the yarn is Stylecraft Special DK in the following shades:

Round 1 Spring Green

Round 2 Apricot

Round 3 Sherbert

Round 4 Clematis 

Round 5 Lemon

Round 6 Wisteria

Round 7 Candyfloss

Round 8 Aspen

Round 9 Cream

 

If you follow me on Instagram, you will know that I like to make my grannies using a round by round production line, meaning, for 49 of these granny squares I first hooked up 49 first rounds in spring green...

Then added 49 second rounds in apricot...

49 third rounds in Sherbert...

And then continued working this way (for quite some time!) until I eventually ended up with a big satisfying pile of 49 completed granny squares.

I guess everyone develops their own favourite methods of working and I personally prefer this method. I find it efficient and I love how you are able to see the blanket grow as a whole, from the first round to the last. 

Now, the ENDS. In a project like this, with many squares and several different colours, there are SO. MANY. ENDS!!!

How to tackle the ends is entirely up to you. I personally like to sew in all my ends as I'm going along. As soon as I've tied off at the end of each round I will sew the end in straight away. This can get annoying as it slows down the process of completing the squares...but...it's also so satisfying when you have finished all the squares and you don't have a million ends to sew in. Some people do prefer to leave the ends until later and then deal with them all in one go, which is obviously fine as well!

JOINING

Once all the squares are complete and the ends dealt with, the next task is joining. I like to try out different methods of joining and for this project I chose to stitch them together using the invisible stitch method, also known as the reverse mattress stitch. I wanted to try this stitch as I like how it joins the grannies together flatly, with no prominent ridge at either side. Now I have tried this method, I am happy with how it looks on my blanket, it's nice and neat both front and back. However, I found it very time consuming and about half way through I started to wish I had chosen to join them using a crochet slip stitch instead, which I find to be a much quicker method and in my opinion it doesn't look that much different. 

If you would like to use the invisible stitch method to join your granny squares, the tutorial I used is available as a free Ravelry download, which you can find HERE.

BORDER

The border is the one part of my crochet projects that I generally don't plan in advance. I always want to see the blanket made up first and then choose a border to fit. I had a few border ideas for this blanket but in the end I decided to keep it simple and just continue working around it using the basic granny square pattern. I started by adding 3 rows of cream, then I followed the same colour plan as I used in the individual granny squares, ending up with a border of 12 rows in total.

 

Sooo I *think* I've covered everything in relation to the making process of this blanket. I loved working on this and I'm super happy with how it's turned out, and of course I'm so grateful to all the people who joined me over on Instagram and left so many kind and supportive comments while I was working on this. Thank you!!

I look forward to sharing my next crochet project with you!

Laura xx

 

 

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Basic Granny Square Tutorial

I have written this tutorial to accompany my blog post Spring Pastels Blanket. It is the classic granny square pattern so it can obviously be applied to any project which uses granny squares. You can crochet a granny square using any weight of yarn and any size of hook, providing the yarn and hook match up. For this tutorial I have used DK yarn and a 4mm hook. 

To follow this tutorial you will need to know how to:

Chain

Slip stitch

Treble Crochet stitch (UK) / Double Crochet stitch (US)

This tutorial is written using UK terminology. For people who use US terms, every time I mention a treble crochet, (which is quite a lot!) this is the equivalent of a US double crochet stitch.

 

To start, make a loop using a slip knot and insert your hook through the loop.

 

Next, chain 4. 

 

Insert the hook through the first chain stitch you made, then slip stitch to make a small loop out of the chains. This is the central loop which the first round will be worked into.

 

Next, chain 3. This will count as your first treble crochet stitch.

 

Now work two treble crochet stitches into the central loop. This creates your first cluster of three. In this first round there will be four clusters of three treble crochets. Once you have made your first cluster, chain 2. This creates the space for your first corner.

 

Work a further 3 treble crochets into the central loop for your second cluster of three.

 

Chain 2 to create the space for the second corner.

 

Three more treble crochet stitches - your third cluster of three.

 

Chain 2 for the third corner space, then 3 treble crochets into the central loop - the 4th and final cluster of three.

 

 

Chain 2 - final corner space.

 

To close the round, insert the hook into the top chain of the chain 3 you made at the start of the round.

 

Finish off with a slip stitch.

 

What you do next depends on whether or not you are changing colour for the second round. If you are NOT changing colour, follow these steps:

Instert your hook into the next stitch along from where you have just slip stitched. (The stitch at the top of the centre TC of your cluster of 3 TC's)

 

Slip stitch.

 

Insert the hook into the top of the next stitch.

 

Slip stitch.

 

Next, insert the hook into the corner space in between the two clusters.

 

One more slip stitch. You are now in the right place to start round two.

 

If you ARE changing colour, first snip the yarn, leaving a long tail end for sewing in.

 

Make a slip knot and pull all the way through to tie off the yarn.

 

For the next round, I like to turn the granny square over and work on the opposite side. I find that it helps to keep the granny square flat and in shape. It isn't a necessary step though, and if you prefer to keep to working on one side that's just fine!

Tie on the yarn using a slip stitch.

 

As with the first round, chain 3 for your first treble crochet.

 

repeating the same pattern as the first round, work a further 2 treble crochet stitches into the corner space to create your first cluster of 3. Chain two for the corner space, then work 3 treble crochet into the same space.

 

Now you need to work straight into the next corner space from the first round. Do not chain in between the two spaces.

 

3 treble crochet, chain 2, 3 treble crochet.

 

Again, without chaining in between, work 3 treble crochet straight into the next corner space.

 

 

The main thing you need to remember is that in each corner space you chain 2 inbetween the clusters, but along the sides of the square, you don't chain. continue working in this way until you meet yourself back at the intitial chain 3.

 

Insert the hook through the top chain of the chain 3, snip the yarn leaving a long tail end and then tie off with a slip knot.

 

At this point you can start to sew in your ends if you like. Some people prefer to leave them until later, I personally like to deal with them as I'm going along.

 

 To increase the granny square further, follow the exact same pattern as the previous rounds: 3 treble crochet, chain 2, 3 treble crochet in each of the four corners, and 3 treble crochet in each of the spaces along the sides, with no chains inbetween.

 

 

 

You can add as many rounds as you like to your square, following this method. 

I hope you have found this tutorial helpful and understandable! 

Happy crocheting,

Laura xx