My Granny Stripe Blanket

Do you know, it's almost five years since I made my Granny Stripe blanket, inspired by the purchase of our beloved caravan on 1st May 2010. By the end of that same month, I was beginning this colourful blanket journey using 17 shades of Stylecraft Special DK which I bought from my local yarn shop. I remember it all so clearly, the joy of these bright, jolly colours and this easy pattern, mixed up with a huge dose of caravan induced excitement. Happy times indeed.

I have so many memories wrapped up in the making of this blanket, memories of a wonderful seaside holiday when the Little People were still oh-so-little (Little Man and Little Lady were 7 and 6, and Little B, awwww Little B was a weeny 5 month old baby!) Oh the emotion of it!! Just look at Little B's fingers and toes in this post!! 

Crochet blankets are such terrific guardians of memories, which is one of the reasons I love making them so much. Of course, the memories which attach themselves to the making of a blanket are really only the beginning, because blankets are made to be used. This happy stripy blanket has now given us five years of layered holiday memories, oh I treasure our caravan holidays so much, they are an incredibly precious part of our family archives.

 

It's funny looking back at the history of this particular blanket now - at the time I made it I had absolutely NO idea that these seventeen colours (chosen in less than 10 minutes in a rather badly lit corner of my local yarn shop) would become so well loved by so many people around the world. To me, they are my "happy colours". They are colours which remind me of sunshine and camping and seaside jollies, of picnics and happy little children playing, of star-gazing and dewy early morning grass, of the joys associated with simple outdoor summer living. The fact that this collection has become known as "The Attic24 Colour Pack" really pleases me enormously, and I honestly love seeing these colours together as much today as I did five years ago. Simply put - they make my heart happy ♥

Over the years since I shared my blanket I've been meaning to write up a proper tutorial for it. I wrote out the basic pattern for working the Granny Stripe (find it here), but never got round to making a proper blanket-making tutorial. I'd really like to find time to do this during the next few months if possible, I'll keep you posted on that. In the meantime, in response to frequent requests I thought it would be helpful to share my colour order for those of you who are wishing to make your own Happy Blanket. I used 17 colours of Stylecraft Special DK, and worked up sixty stripes in total (two rows for each stripe).

♥

1. Pomegranate        21. Shrimp                  41. Lipstick

2. Plum                      22. Lavender               42. Aspen

3. Fondant                23. Turquoise              43. Meadow Green

4. Lavender              24. Magenta                44. Lavender

5. Aspen                    25. Lipstick                 45. Magenta

6. Spring Green       26. Meadow                46. Plum

7. Aster                     27. Aspen                     47. Cloud Blue

8. Turquoise             28. Spring Green        48. Spring Green

9. Lipstick                 29. Saffron                  49. Turquoise

10. Shrimp                30. Cloud Blue            50. Clematis

11. Saffron                31. Wisteria                 51. Pomegranate

12. Meadow              32. Plum                       52. Shrimp

13. Magenta             33. Aster                      53. Saffron

14. Clematis             34. Pomegranate         54. Sherbet

15. Sherbet              35. Turquoise              55. Fondant

16. Spring Green     36. Sherbet                 56. Lipstick

17. Wisteria              37. Clematis                57. Aster

18. Aster                   38. Shrimp                  58. Meadow

19. Pomegranate      39. Fondant                59. Plum

20. Fondant              40. Saffron                  60. Pomegranate

The border was made in six rounds as follows ::

1. Lavender :: granny clusters

2. Aster :: treble crochet

3. Aspen :: treble crochet

4. Clematis :: double crochet

5. Sherbet (two rows) :: double crochet + soft wave edging*

* The edging pattern is written up in the Ta-dah post here.

EDIT TO ADD :: A few of you have written to say you've lost your yarn labels and can't remember what the colours are called. So here is a colour-map for the stripes. I've split it into five sections - remember to read each image from the bottom up to the top!

Above photo shows the beginning of the blanket. 1st stripe is Pomegranate, 15th stripe is Sherbet.

Above photo shows part 2 of the blanket. 16th stripe is Spring Green, 27th stripe is Aspen.

Above photo shows part 3 of the blanket. 28th stripe is Spring Green, 39th stripe is Fondant.

Above photo shows part 4 of the blanket. 40th stripe is Saffron, 52nd stripe is Shrimp.

Above photo shows the final part of the blanket. 53rd stripe is Saffron, 60th stripe is Pomegranate.

At the end of last Summer, we took Connievan up to the coast of Northumberland. We had a terrific week away and I realised just now whilst searching in my archives that I never shared that holiday on my blog. How very slack of me!! I'll try and find time to show you some "postcards" from that holiday, I'm quite fancying a bit of a virtual seaside pootle.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

USEFUL LINKS ::

Granny Stripe Pattern

Granny Stripe Ta-dah (includes pattern for the edging)

Attic24 Yarn Pack

x

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Louise]

Hi, newbie to crochet, and knitting. I don't want to use acrylic yarn, what would
You suggest? Thank you in advance

[Susan]

I thought about you today when I went past Coopers Cafe. I had a meeting at my son's school so I had to race there after a day of teaching at my placement. (I'm doing my teacher training in Secondary Education. I'll be a Computer Science teacher in less than 10 weeks all being well.)
Hope it was a good day for you!

[Cally Yates]

Hi Lucy, I really need your help. I am a bit of a duffer with this crochet lark. I am wizzo at knitting ;0)
I have managed to make your last blanket but in that one I thought I was told how many stitches to cast on. If you don't give me a clue I am lost and won't even start.
I read somewhere (and it may have been on your blog) to make, as the first row, a row of double crochet for a neater edge?
Hugs

[Lizy Tish]

I just love your color palettes for all your afghans. I think my favorites are the seaside colors and the one with the pastels (I think with baby cashmerino?). So pretty.

[Jane Beaumont]

Thank you for sharing the colour order. I think I'm going to make the granny stripe rather than the ripple xxx

[Joy]

lovely summery times Xx lots of love Joy Xx

[Susan]

Love that blanket and can't wait for the pattern. I always love to see photo of connievan - It looks like the perfect nest and a wonderful way to vacation.

[Val]

It's cloudy, cold and rather icy here ..very grey and flat ...so many thanks for the LOVELY burst of much needed colour. And appropos of nothing I used to own the red enamel coffee pot that matches the mug in your photograph ...it is sadly long gone but I so loved it's cheerfulness ! and that is a lovely memory recalled on a grey day so thanks for that too :0)

[Jane Denholm]

Lucy, it was whilst googling crochet blankets a few years ago now that I discovered your beautiful bright blanket. You renewed my enthusiasm for crochet, introduced me to Stylecraft Special DK and most importantly brought colour to my crafting. THANK YOU

[carol partridge]

Just finished my Woodland colours baby blanket, made from Stylecraft dk woodie colours using your ripple pattern. Daughter in law thrilled. I now have to do a chevron patterned one in white, grey and one black stripe, yes black! On -trend apparently, ha ha. Connievan holiday pics...yes please.

[pam roach]

Hi and thank you for your wonderful blog! I adore it and you. IF I want to make this a single color ( not my choice but a request) do I eliminate doing rows 4 and 5? Thank you so much. Pam

[Gwyneth]

I was given the wool for this blanket by my daughter, my christmas present. I am now looking forward to starting this lovely project. Thank you Lucy.

[[email protected]]

Oh dear van envy...it does look lovely and so beautifully personal.

[Wendy Turner]

I have the colour pack for this blanket, it sits atop my unruly stash pile glaring at me. It's been sat there since Christmas, but I won't start it until my wips are sorted. The colours are just glorious!
My daughter is working on the cosy blanket, it is working up beautifully.

[Carol]

Currently working on my Cosy Stripe blanket and the colours are lovely. Thank you.

[Sue Kelley-Holmes]

I was introduced to your blog by my daughter and just love your colours and ideas. I'm working on my first blanket which is the Granny Stripe using colours from my stash mainly blues, greens and yellow. I am now addicted to crochet and look forward to new posts. Many many thanks for the inspiration.

[Juliet]

would it be possible for you to put a link up to you local shop? i havent got a stockist nearby but we may well be in your area over the Easter holidays, thanks x

[Rosie Yates]

Oh, I'm so glad you've given us the colour order! I'm about 20 stripes into my blanket, and have had to use the nearest colours from yarn I'd already got. I keep having to zoom right in on my laptop to guess which colour is next! I love your colour order, with bold/darker colours spaced out, so wanted as near a match as possible! Thank you! :)
PS, I know exactly what you mean - it makes my heart happy too, seeing such lovely cheerful colours

[Donna Engborg]

I am working on my first Granny Stripe Blanket right now - inspired by you! Mine is just three colors, cream, yellow, and black. I love it! I'll probably sell this one, but I'm already planning my next one. I'd like to do Pink, Green, Yellow, Cream - my favorite color scheme!

[Angela-Southern USA]

Time flies when you're having fun! : )) The blanket still looks good! Just gathered an arm load of daffodils from my garden to enjoy inside, temps predicted in the low 70's (F) today so outside I'm bound, even if it's just to do chores. Yay! Bring on spring!

[Susan Evans]

Lucy, thank you so much for your quick reply and I have written instructions down 😊😊😊

[Rae]

I made a Granny Stripe blanket last spring/summer following your blog and am very proud of it. I just added a colour at random and with a little tweeking copied one of your borders with what yarn was left over. Love it!

[Winwick Mum]

I just had to go and look at Little B's toes and little chubby hands although it made me a little sad to think how quickly the times passes - both my girls' hands are quite grown up now! I think the extra-special thing that comes with a home-made blanket are the memories. They're not something that you can buy with the yarn, they're something that gets woven into each stitch and makes every single one of them unique xx

[Susan Evans]

Hi Lucy, I have already bought the wool for this stripey blanket so I am really pleased you have now put the colours in order as I had no pattern with my order. Could you please tell me how many chain I need to do for single size blanket. I have already done the ripple blanket for my daughter and this one is for me. Thank you so much 😊

[jo]

hi Lucy,

May I ask how your "older" blankets are wearing?
I have 2 dogs and a teenager and my blankets are going a bit Fuzzy - I wondered if it was because my tension seems looser than yours - when I measured the blanket I just finished from your CAL and compared it to your measurements

thanks