My Blanket Stack
Published on March 23, 2019

A blanket finish and some hooky announcements!

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Hey, y’all! I do have a completed blanket to show you today (YAY!) but first, I have some hooky announcements to make, which features an exciting project from a talented crafter who you know and love, as well as a couple of things I’ve been working on. So dive in, and maybe you’ll see something that speaks to you. Hooks ready? Alrighty first up is the…

Trinity Mandala MAL

The Trinity Mandala MAL pattern was created by talented and generous Esther of It’s All in a Nutshell fame. The photos for this MAL look stunning, and I have a huge idea to use three hula hoops to make a larger version of the mandalas for a wall hanging. I’ll dive into my Scheepjes yarn stash and see what will work! The actual MAL version will use Catona. Here are the details..

Trinity Mandala MAL Info

Yarny Info

If you’re wondering where you can get the full Trinity Mandala MAL yarn kit with just a few clicks, then wonder no more! Shopping through these affiliate links helps support CypressTextiles at no additional cost to you. Yay!

Hyacinth Crochet Blanket Pattern

I’m super excited to release a blanket pattern that I have been working on behind the scenes. The Hyacinth blanket is made in the chunky yet featherweight Scheepjes Namaste yarn, but you can use any hook and yarn you fancy. The blanket is easy to resize and the lacy hexagon motifs look great at a large or small gauge.

Look out for the Hyacinth Crochet Blanket pattern tomorrow, March 25th on Ravelry and Etsy! I’ll be sure to make an announcement on my social media so you won’t miss it.

Find Namaste yarn at Wool Warehouse, Deramores, Knotty House, Black Sheep Wools, (affiliate links) or a Scheepjes retailer near you.

Beach Hut Blanket

Image from Crochet! Magazine Facebook page

I’m honored to say that my Beach But blanket pattern is featured in the Summer 2019 issue of Crochet! Magazine. Woohoo! Check out the issue here: Summer 2019 issue of Crochet! Magazine.

I’ve been working on a blog post celebrating the evolution of the Beach Hut Blanket pattern – It’s one of my favorite designs, and I have some fun little behind-the-scenes Beach Hut tidbits that I’ve collected for y’all. Can’t wait to share!

And that’s it! That’s all the info I wanted to share – I never want to just bombard you all with a ton of blog posts, so there’s your neatly packaged preview section. Now for the main feature! My latest FO!

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you know I love to mix motif shapes and designs in my crochet works.

I combine chevron with trellis, diamond motifs with squares, triangles and floral motifs, the list goes on. My favorite part of crochet design is the math, and mixing and matching motifs and stitches really gets my math brain going.

BUT… there is always room in my heart for a patchwork blanket. Just a whole mess of squares joined together is like a hot cup of cocoa or a big scoop of mashed potatoes and gravy. The ultimate comfort!

Over the years, I have worked up loads of patchwork-style blankets, and since I happen to be releasing a granny square design very soon, I thought I’d share some patchy blasts from the past. Hope you enjoy this little walk down memory lane!

2016 VVCAL Demo

First up is a total classic. The 2016 #VVCAL blanket. I worked it up in a stash of greens, which you all really seemed to enjoy. There are some squares in this piece that didn’t actually make it into the final VVCAL pattern, since I used this as one of my demo blankets.

One thing I loved about the Vibrant Vintage Crochet-along was that it included some “pattern squares” so you wouldn’t get bored, and some plain squares so you could still rest your crochet brain and just crank out grannies if you needed a break.

I frogged and re-made the joining for this blanket like three times, trying to figure out what join I liked most. I ended up making up a new join and creating a tutorial on YouTube. I wasn’t really sure y’all would like it, but it seems like y’all did, because the video got some views!

Unbothered

Next up is the Unbothered Blanket. Honestly this was one of the most fun blankets I ever designed. It’s one of six Relaxghans, which are a set of patterns I wrote with peaceful vibes in mind. This one was all about the coze-factor.

Every aspect was meant to be comfy, cozy, and quirky, from the unexpected color choice (a bunch of 15g balls from the Scheepjes Cahlista Colour Pack) to the no-waste border. An absolute delight!

City Sunrise

Another super fun design – colorful and with varying quilt-look patches to replicate hand sewing and piecing. This is the one to combat boredom for sure. Find more info in my book CAL pages!

You can find this pattern in my book, The Art of Crochet Blankets, and it was one of the most entertaining to create – using Scheepjes Colour Crafter!

Here’s how City Sunrise looks when it’s (nearly!) all put together.

2016 #VVCAL Final Blanket

The VVCALs were a delight as it was so touching to see everyone making their own versions of the blanket pattern together. That’s kind of what a patchwork blanket represents to me – lots of different and unique folks coming together.

I’ve often said that fiber art feels so good for our souls because textiles are a parallel to community – like “the fabric of our community” and so forth. Find this pattern here – free!

Here’s a great shot of two blankets I put together when I made the 2016 VVCAL. I have to work up hundreds of squares just to make the 30-or-so patterns because it always takes a little tweaking to get it just right, and I never frog the dummy squares… I just put them all into blankets.

I have many other patchwork designs, like Modern Patchwork, Gelato, and the 2018 VVCAL blanket… check them all out and more on my new patterns list, right in the sidebar! (Scroll down on mobile!)

Hey, y’all! Today I have so much to share with you, but I’m just going to reveal a small snippet. The short of it is that I have two patterns to release, and I have done a ton of legwork in the background (videos, translations, step-by-step pics, and more!) and I found out recently that if I try to tell y’all all about everything at once, it all gets tied in knots and well… it’s a huge mess.

SO! I’ll be keeping my hand over my mouth to pace myself, and for today I’ll show y’all the beginnings of one of the patterns. The yarn selection! And if I can’t help myself, I’ll give you a sneak peek of the baby WIP at the end of the post. We’ll see where it goes as I write.

Softfun Yarn

First, I want to show my favorite baby blanket yarn, Scheepjes Softfun. If you’ve never used it, it’s a dream, and there are two really neat versions to accompany the solid colors – Softfun Aquarel and Softfun Denim. I like to use all three in my blankets because the slight tonal coloring in the Aquarel and Denim give the piece a ton of dimension.

Shop these yarns

Amazon Blanket

Okay, now it’s time to get a little nostalgic over a couple of the times I’ve used these yarns.

I made a few blankets with this yarn (not nearly enough) – one of them was a pastel Amazon Blanket. The subtle differences in the three Softfun yarns really does it for me. I used a little floral square and some fun shapes to create the three blanket panels. This one is maybe my favorite blanket I’ve ever designed.

Related Links

#VVCAL (2018)

Some time after that, I hosted by second #VVCAL, and decided to use the fantastic yarn trio again. Here is the palette – a beautiful selection of warm neutrals. Very desert chic. I hosted the first #VVCAL in 2016, and who knows, I may even do it again in 2020!

Related Links


A WIP is born

And now let me finally present the palette I’ve pulled together for one of my upcoming patterns – I’m so excited! This is a sneak peek of a lovely and subtle baby blanket for a family friend’s new little wee one. It will become an expanded tutorial geared toward beginners with all the bells and whistles.

You may be surprised to know this is a granny square blanket. With all of the wild mixing and matching of motifs that I use in my designs, it seems crazy that I would make a blanket with the humble granny square, but I’ve said it a thousand times: the granny square is like mashed potatoes and gravy. It’s the comfort food of crochet!

And for me the perfect granny square is all in the details. In fact, I wrote a pattern called “The Perfect Granny” years ago, and this one isn’t even the same thing, and it’s also perfect. Every granny square is just absolutely perfect. They are such ne’er do wrongs, and you can fight me on that all you want, but even the wonky, twisty, uneven ones are amazing. Heart eyes.

Well, here’s the one I’ll be using for Mateo’s Granny Square blanket. Again, it’s all about the details, so this pattern will be for beginners who have learned some basics and want to learn some easy tricks to make their work look more polished. Can’t wait to release it!

Hope y’all enjoyed this yarn appreciation post as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you.

Happy crafting,

Rachele C.

The Art of Crochet Blankets

My WIP: Mateo’s Granny Square Blanket

Now for my current WIP! This beauty will be for a brand new baby – the son of a family friend. Making a blanket for a loved one is so special, but especially so when a fresh new blanket flies off your hook, and lands on a precious newborn.

A handmade blanket is like a warm hug, and it’s one you can give over and over even when you aren’t there. I’m using my favorite blanket yarn here – Softfun – read all about it – and it will make a soft and squishy, classic design blanket.

Here I am weighing my first square, so I can see how many I can get from one ball. Super helpful!

Now you can see how the blanket looks when it’s coming together. This pattern will be perfect for beginners, as it is just a slight spin on the classic granny square, but it turns out looking so clean and neat, without any blocking, due to the design and joining method.

It’s a great way to make a polished blanket with only a few beginner skills. I’ll be releasing the free pattern very soon!

So there’s my walk down patchwork memory lane, and a peek at my current WIP, Mateo’s Granny Square Blanket. Hope y’all love this one! It’s a fun and soothing make.

Happy crafting, y’all!

Rachele C.

The Art of Crochet Blankets

Mateo’s Granny Square Blanket

Mateo’s Granny Square Blanket is a project I whipped up for a newborn li’l babe and of course I had to do some pics and video for the simple pattern so you can all enjoy it too.

It’s a great way for a beginner to make some super neat work with an easy and free pattern. Doesn’t it look so neat and clean? I do love a cozy traditional granny – I wrote a blog post about 7 fun ways to granny! – but sometimes a clean look is what you’re after.

Hope y’all enjoy this one!

I used a whip stitch join to make such straight seams, and very flat too. Plus, the whip stitch uses the tails, so fewer ends to weave!

My preference is to work through both loops of both motifs, and I don’t cinch the stitches because I think they look cute when you can see them on the seam. I know many folks like to whip st through back loops only to get that line around the square, and I do sometimes use that method. But mostly I like to go through all loops for a more hand-stitched look.

Yarny Info

Shop this yarn through my affiliate links below!

I can’t wait to share this free blanket with you all – keep a lookout for the announcement – I have videos, and the works for this easy pattern to gear it as much toward beginners as possible. Translations coming too!

Happy crafting, y’all!

Rachele C.

The Art of Crochet Blankets

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