Favorite Sweater Granny Stripe Blanket

March is National Crochet Month, believe it or not.  It's also National Celery Month.  I'm pretty sure you can just make up whatever celebration or awareness event you want and call it a National event.  I mean, do you think it's a coincidence that someone very dear to me is having his first colonoscopy soon and it just so happens to be National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month???  

I've been so enamored of knitting lately, that it had been a while since I'd taken on a large crochet project.  But I started and finished a large blanket recently (back in February, when it was National Bird Feeding Month and Great American Pies Month... not sure if that last one is about dessert or Don McLean...)  I shared in my Instagram stories that the inspiration for the blanket was from a girl's Old Navy sweater I bought about five years ago.  The sweater colors and color scheme are so cheerful, and I love stripes!!!, I just knew that I had to adapt the sweater into a blanket for our home.  Also, since Clare wears a size 7 and is still squeezing into this size 4/5 sweater, we may have to retire the favorite sweater soon (someone suggested a pillow cover!)  It will be nice to have the blanket in its place :) 

Quite a few people asked about the specifics for the project, and you know I'm always happy to chat about yarn and craftiness!  So here are the details.  Please let me know if you have any questions, and if you make your own, or a spin off, I'd love to see your finished product - tag me @ordinarylovely on Instagram :)  And link back to here if you write about it!

* For the basic pattern and granny stripe technique, I used crochet superstar Lucy's tutorial from her blog, Attic 24.  You can get it here.  Out of respect for her work, I will not discuss specific pattern construction here.  

* I used a 4mm crochet hook.  My absolute favorites are Clover Amour hooks <3   (I used a 5mm for the starting chain)

* I used all worsted weight yarns.  The light brown yarn is Big Twist Sincerely Yarn, from Joann, in Oatmeal Heather.  I believe I used 6 skeins.

* The colored yarns are all I Love This Yarn, from Hobby Lobby.  When I'm making something with basic acrylic yarn, I Love This Yarn is my go-to stuff because the color selection is practically unparalleled. (Ok, maybe it's rivaled by Stylecraft's or Paintbox's color selection, but I can't buy either of those brands locally, but I can GO to Hobby Lobby and choose exactly what I want from their large, LARGE selection.  Oh, and, Dear Paintbox, Stylecraft, and Hobby Lobby, I accept free yarn in exchange for honest reviews ;) ) Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn is also very soft and makes a comfortable acrylic blanket, not a scratchy one (you know I'm talking about you, Red Heart SuperSaver yarn...).  It also washes very well.  One thing about Hobby Lobby that I don't love -- and I hate that I even have to admit there is one thing -- they only accept one coupon at a time.  So, that really stinks when you need a lot of yarn at one time.  HOWEVER, this yarn is on sale right now, so run, don't walk, to your neighborhood HL (or hop on over to their website) and pick up your colors now.  You'll get a good discount on every skein.  (Sorry, I don't know how long the sale is on for.  But if you go, let me know and I'll give you my list of what I want ;) ) 

* Here are the specific I Love This Yarn colors I used to match the sweater as closely as possible (which was practically exactly!  Thanks, Hobby Lobby!)  I only needed one of each skein.

350 - Hot Rose

210 - Antique White

113 - Mango

111 - Hot Orchid

40 - Red 

357 - Keylime

364 - Glacier

110 - Turquoise 

80 - Royal 

* I started with the Oatmeal Heather and alternated it every row with a color.  I did three rows of color in each "stripe", except white, which I kept to two rows just because I didn't want it to stand out much.  So, I started with an Oatmeal Heather granny cluster row, then a row of Hot Rose, then Oatmeal, Hot Rose, Oatmeal, Hot Rose.  Then on to the next color section, so, Oatmeal row, then White, Oatmeal, White.  

So, knowing that every other row would be an oatmeal heather row, and all colors (except white) would repeat for three rows per "stripe" (is this confusing?????) here's the color order I used:

rose

white

mango

orchid

red

rose

white

glacier

orchid

rose

red

keylime

turquoise

mango

orchid

white

mango

keylime

glacier

turqouise

keylime

turquoise

royal

turquoise

glacier

royal

keylime

The border is one round of granny clusters, one round of half double crochets, and then a round of reverse single crochet to add a sturdy, textured edge.  

The final dimensions are approximately 60'" x 75".  

This blanket is so colorful and cheerful!  It just makes me smile!  (Plus, granny stripe is so mindless, it's great for working on while watching Netflix, or listening to a book on Audible as I did!  It worked up so quickly, I've already started another one!)  I hope you've found this info helpful and I hope you  get to make one!

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