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!


13 October 2019

Heart Granny Blanket


The heart granny blanket has been so popular,
 here is some information about how I made my blanket,
 to help those of you who would like to have a go.


I used 10 beautiful vintage shades of Stylecraft Special DK

vintage peach
buttermilk
cream
duck egg
 sage
pale rose
toy
parchment
pistachio
blush

you need 1 of each colour and 2 of the border colour.
I used toy for my border but you can use any of the shades.
If you want a striped border, there is no need to buy 2 of any shade,
 as there is plenty of yarn left.

I use a 3.5mm hook as this suits my tension.
 I like the neat stitches it makes.
 The ball band recommends 4mm for Stylecraft Special DK,
 but you may find 4.5 or even 5 works for you if you are a tight crocheter.
 Try a few sample squares on different hooks and see which you prefer.


I set about making a blanket big enough
 for use on the sofa by 1 person.
I had 1100g yarn and made a blanket measuring
 approx 128 x 96cm / 50 x 38 inches which weighs 650g.
So you can see there is plenty of yarn left to make a larger blanket if you wish.

My completed squares measure 29cm / 11.5 inches.
You can make them smaller or bigger the choice is yours.


When planning a blanket I always make a sample square first.
This enables me to take measurements and calculate how many squares
 I need to make, for my desired blanket size.
So I made 12 squares and each square is totally different.

To make a heart granny square
read my tutorial


I made 11 more heart squares after my sample square
 giving me a total of 12.

I used join as you go,
 so the final round on every square is made at the same time as joining.

One of the most frequent questions I get asked, is how I plan colours.
I do not provide a list of colour order,s as I think this is the maker's pleasure,
 but if this is something you struggle with,
 you can read a blog post about how I plan colours


I added 2 rows of each colour which cuts down the number of ends by half!
Remember to flip your work after each round,
 to keep your granny perfectly square and avoid that ghastly twist.
 If you would like to read more about this you can read my granny square tutorial 

When making 2 rounds of each colour, complete the first round,
 flip your work, then slip stitch back into the corner space.
 You are then ready to make the 2nd round in the same colour.


Keep adding rounds until your squares are the size you require.
Make sure you deal with your ends as you go.
Use a darning needle and weave them in, it only takes seconds, be disciplined!



Have fun laying your squares out
 and try to get an even distribution of the colours.


Remember square 1 (top right) is my sample square.
It will have 1 more colour / 2 more rounds than the others.
The final 2 rounds of colour will be added when joining takes place.


Lay the squares out and plan which colour will be used
 for the final rounds / joining colour.

If you are not familiar with join as you go
there is a great tutorial by Lucy on Attic 24 Blog
Lucy has a wonderful blog which I can highly recommend. 
She has many tutorials suitable for beginners.


At this stage your blanket will be growing before your eyes!
It comes together very fast with these huge squares and the quick join as you go.


If at this point you fancy a larger blanket,
 it would be easy to make 4 more squares and add them on to make a square.


I chose to have all my hearts facing the same way.
An alternative which I may do next,
 is to have the heart on 1 colour background in a smaller square
 and arrange them facing in different directions.


Every blanket needs a border, just as a picture has a frame.
Once again I turned to my favourite border book.
This book is a fabulous resource which I highly recommend.
 It has excellent colour photographs, clear charts
 and written instructions in US crochet terms



To continue the feminine feel of this blanket I wanted to add a deep lacey border.
I chose border 30 to compliment the soft vintage shades and used the colour toy.
You can use any colour from the 10 shades, its personal choice,
 but remember you will need an extra ball of the border colour.
 An alternative which I considered,
 would be a striped border using any of the left over yarn.


To begin any border I always make 1 round of trebles (UK crochet terms)
as this adds extra depth to the border.


Feminine
dreamy
romantic
just
absolutely beautiful!


I love this blanket so much


and hope many of you will now enjoy making one too.


Do tag your work on Instagram using
#inspiredbythepatchworkheart
so I can see and share your fun

If you use Facebook do share your makes in my group called
 we'd all love to share the fun.


With my left over yarn I made some pretty hot water bottle covers to match!
 What a super gift this would be to gift a blanket and matching hottie.


I'm sorry I don't write patterns and have no interest in doing that.
I am told though that you can find hot water bottle patterns to buy on Etsy.


If you have enjoyed this free tutorial
please consider how you can support my work here at Patchwork House.

My pleasure comes from making, not pattern writing.
To enable me to keep doing this,
 may be you would like to purchase something from my


or you can make a donation via Paypal
using the donate button on the sidebar of the blog.


Time spent on a tutorial means
 taking millions of photos,
editing them,
uploading them
and
writing instructions,
 which
means days when I am not able to crochet
 and so not make any income.


Thank you all for your support.
My daily posts on Instagram and Facebook
have brought me crochet friends worldwide
and I really value this wonderful community.

I wish you all happy heart making

Heather
x x x








9 comments:

froghollow812@hotmail.com said...

Many thanks Heather. Once again a beautiful artwork Sandra

Nikki said...

Thanks so much Heather for the tutorial. I will definitely be making this blanket; it is so lovely.

Sandra said...

The border just finishes it off so well. I have the same book by Edie Eckman.
Beautiful!

Unknown said...

That's so nice !

Faith said...

A new follower, and fellow hook mover. oh this is so pretty, from the colors to the design of it.

selina said...

beautiful!
thanx for sharing

Faith said...

oh, my I went all the way back to 2015. All this crochet eye candy. I see that you made a lovely blanket with the Victorian Lattice Square. I have a few squares of the made, and need to press on. It is such a pretty pattern. I enjoyed my visit. Thank you. I like how you match or coordinat your cup to the yarn. Lovely.

Teresa Halminton said...

The color choices are so pretty!!
192.168.1.1

L. said...

Heather, you're crochet projects are all so beautiful and so neatly crocheted. I love the plethora of colors and they all happen to be the same family of colors that I prefer to use when crocheting. It's a pleasure to visit your blog plus I get inspired every time. Thank you so much for this wonderful tutorial and pattern.

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