Hello and welcome to Patchwork House . . . . .
my little corner of the world in England, where you will find me addicted to colour and playing with yarn!


18 December 2015

Circles in Squares blanket


This week has seen a colour explosion on my hook!
Oh what a delight it has been
 to play with bold colours and shapes
 not normally seen here at Patchwork House!

The last few months it has been Santa's workshop here
 and I've been making lots of orders. 
Of course many of these turn out to be the same, 
so it was a great excitement when the last order was finished and posted.



For my next make I fancied something totally different
and have been wanting to try this circle in square granny for a while.
There are many free patterns around on the internet
 some in US and others in UK crochet terms.
You can find the pattern I used 
this is written in US crochet terms.

I like to work in batches.
 I find this helps increase my production rate
 as your brain and fingers remember the pattern.

 So I make a batch of circles, then do a pile of squares.
I did 3 of most of these combinations (20x3=60)
and 4 of 1 (60+4=64)
so there were 
21 red circles
 21 orange circles
 and 22 yellow circles
(21+21+22=64)
I used the yellow circles for the main diagonal of the blanket.


The strong bold shapes of the circle in the square
 really appeals to my maths brain! 
I wanted to create a child's blanket
 imagining the shapes and colours being useful for teaching!

I remember when my 3 children were little
 how they often had a nap on the sofa
 and how we used to snuggle watching films or having a story.
So I had a vision of a story time snuggle blanket
 that could be used as a baby play mat
 and be big enough to last into childhood.


 I dived into my stash
 and came up with this set of  vibrant colours.

I have used
with a 3.5mm hook
in
ruby, burnt orange and citrine for the circles
peridot, fir, jade, topaz, sky, blue velvet and lapis for the squares
and indigo for the joins and edging.
1 ball of each was sufficient.

I love this yarn more every time I use it!
It is extremely smooth and soft with a fine satin like quality.
It has a superior finish and produces a beautiful even blanket
 with superb stitch definition.

Deramores say
"Deramores Studio DK is a beautifully soft acrylic yarn
 which has been developed with anti pilling technology
 to ensure it will remain looking perfect after washing and wearing.
 Fully machine washable and hard wearing
 it's perfect for the rough and tumble of every day childrens's play
 or to create your perfect blanket or Afghan
 to snuggle under at home or to pass down through the generations."


I made 64 grannies for a square blanket 8 by 8.
I chose to arrange the circles in diagonal stripes
with a random arrangement for the background colours.


Joining is always such fun, 
I love the rhythmic action of crocheting the squares together.
I like to crochet the squares together
 as it produces a good strong join.
Using a contrasting colour helps to frame the squares
 and adds another dimension to the blanket.
 I have crocheted the squares together from the front
 with wrong sides together using UK dc through both loops.
 You can read my tutorial for this 


The joining is completed in 1 direction first
then in the opposite direction
and it comes together very fast.
The tails from the beginning and ends of the joining
 can be crocheted over when the border is made. 


For the border I made 
1 round of UK dc
then 1 round of UK trebles
followed by my simple edging
you will find this in more detail


The finished blanket
 measures approximately 100cm square
and is perfect for a baby play mat
which will later become a child's snuggle blanket.


Now I'm wishing I had a little boy to keep this for
as it reminds me so much of the Duplo and Lego my son loved!
But instead I will have much pleasure selling it 
and know that it is going to be much loved
by a family somewhere!

The circle in square granny
 has been great fun to make
 so you can expect to see many more of these
 coming off my hook!

 Next I'm going to make a baby pram blanket
 in the same pattern
 so do keep watching on
 and 
 as I make!

happy hookin

Heather
X X X
I






5 comments:

Amy at love made my home said...

Beautiful! Happy Christmas! xx

angela said...

Love it. When I looked at the finished blanket I thought a great one for a little boy xx

Miriam said...

I have as soon as found your blog and I like it very, very much. It is very, very, coloured! And...I would like to live in a cottage like the one you have described, but I shall be content to live everywhere in England! ;-))
Ciao,
Miriam from Italy

Jocelyn is Canadian Needle Nana said...

What a beautiful little blanket. Your colour choices are perfect and your stitching is immaculate. I so loved seeing this and your most generous tutorials.

selina said...

beautiful blanket!
well done, it will be cherished for years am sure
thanx for sharing

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...