A Belated Granny Blanket

Props, props, and more props to those of you out there who can manage to plan out a DIY gift, start working on the gift, finish working on that gift, and actually give that gift right on time for the occasion for which the gift is being given. (<—that sentence there? Me and my keyboard don’t totally understand that concept of ‘succinct.’)

My sister Bekah got married at the start of June and since she weighs roughly 42 pounds and suffers from Perpetually Cold Skinny Person Syndrome (PCSPS, if you will), I thought maybe a cozy handmade blanket would make a nice wedding gift for her (it is the only known cure for PCSPS). She and her now-husband will be furnishing and decorating their first apartment together, so I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone and keep the poor skinny thing warm plus give her a throw blanket to decorate the new place with. And I even started nice and early, over a month in advance of the wedding. Then the big day came, the big day went, and almost exactly one month after the hubbub has died down, I finally finished their blanket. Better late than never or something like that.

You know what I think the problem is? It’s all those dang ends. I actually had the blanket itself finished almost in time for the wedding (almost is pretty okay, right? not awesome, but pretty okay), but dragged my feet when it came to sewing the ends in for weeks and weeks. I hate, despise, abhor, loathe weaving yarn ends in. The worst worst worst worst WORST part of any crochet project. I need to train Forrest to do it for me. I could pay him in Cheetos and Netflix. This could work. It’s high time he start earning his keep around here, and weaving in my yarn tails sounds like the ideal way to do it.

In a slight departure from the typical granny square afghan, I alternated colorful squares with plain white squares. I love that it adds a bit of a brighter, fresher feel to the blanket. And I really like how the thick granny stripe border turned out. I actually had planned on making that border about 3 times wider than it is, but I ran out of the green yarn and couldn’t get my hands on more at any of my local stores. So instead of continuing without it (or waiting for it to arrive by mail), I just finished it off. Maybe I’ll ask for the blanket back and tack on a few more rows of border in time for their 1st anniversary (that’s too optimistic, considering my sluggish turnaround time on this blanket . . . 4th anniversary it is!).

And I can already feel it coming . . . someone will ask for the pattern for these squares. And I am so, so sorry about this, but since it’s been so long since I started the blanket, I have no idea where I found the square pattern anymore. I’ve combed through my Pinterest boards and Ravelry favorites and can’t find it, and my googling has gotten me nowhere. I apologize. If anyone recognizes this particular square and knows where I can find the pattern, let me know and I’ll post it here! {Update: woohoo, a reader found it! This pattern appears to be identical to the one I used. Find it HERE. Thank you for the help, Megan!}

I used Vanna’s Choice for this blanket in White, Aqua, and Sapphire, and Vanna’s Choice Baby in Sweet Pea and Pink Poodle. Vanna’s Choice is consistently among my favorite yarns for just about every project. Wonderful color choices, affordable, soft (but not so overly soft/slippery that it won’t hold a shape), and it wears very nicely over time. (They are not paying me to say any of this, by the way. I just love my Vanna and would wholeheartedly recommend it.)

Feels good to finally get that blanket off my couch and into the newlyweds’ possession. And I’ve learned my lesson—next time I plan to start a project that produces zillions of dreaded ends to sew in, I’ll give myself a generous 4+ month window.