Granny Stripes

I started this blanket for my cousin Kyle and his wife Megan who are having a baby girl in the next few months. Kyle and I were born less than a month apart. Along with our cousin Eli who was born a month or two later, we are called The Triplets. My Grandpa gave us that nickname and it has stuck for the last 28 years. At every family party we always snap a few pictures of the three of us together.

The Triplets at Grandma's 80th Birthday Party, August 2013
Kyle--Eli--Sarah

I love these boys dearly and I was very excited when I heard that Kyle and his super fun wife Megan were expecting.

I saw some unique stripe patterns on Pinterest (where else!) and thought I would try this super simple stitch with a little bit of a twist in the pattern. The stitch is very easy- it's called the granny stitch which is basically groups of 3 double crochets over and over. It can be made in waves, squares or stripes. I am sure you can do a ton of other things with this basic concept too.

I had colors picked out for this project and true to my indecisive self I changed it up at the last minute. I liked the light yellow and coral with the stark white and navy. After a few rows I realized that it was reading very primary-colored. The coral ended up looking a lot more red than I thought it would. The more rows I worked the more the colors grew on me and by the time I was finished I wanted to keep it for myself!

I fall in love with every blanket that I crochet and it's hard to send them off even though I know they are going to great homes.

I mentioned that I used a unique color pattern to shake it up a bit and it went like this:

White
Coral
White
Navy
White
Yellow
White
Navy
Repeat

You can see it a little more clearly here-

One of my goals for the blankets I make this year is to do nicer edging. I think it makes things look polished and completed. For this blanket I knew it needed a really girly border and decided that shells would be perfect. The first round is single crochets to give it some stability and hide all the yarn that was carried up the sides. The second round I did a simple shell pattern- SC, *skip 2 chains, 5DC in next chain, skip 2 chains, SC in next chain* repeat.

I love how it turned out and I can't wait to send it off to a new little one!

The Stats

Yarn: Red Heart Soft  and Impeccable Impeccable Crafts
Colors: White, Navy-Red Heart Soft, Coral, Yellow- Impeccable
I used just over two 5-oz balls of white, nearly two of navy and maybe half a ball each of the coral and yellow.
Hook: 6mm
Finished size: 37x37
Starting Chain: Any multiple of three, I began with 90 I think

I have to give a shout out to my new camera! Aren't these pictures so much better than the ones my phone takes!