It’s done! It’s done! The blanket that I started six months ago is finished! When I first saw the photos of the Purl Soho giant, giant granny square blanket I was smitten. I just had to have one. Which means that I had to make one.
My vision for the blanket was that it would be a cozy comfy inviting living room throw blanket that could be casually draped over the back of the couch. It would give a bit of color and a warmth to the room and of course be perfect for snuggling under while watching a movie. The good news is that it accomplished almost everything that I set out for it to do – it’s comfy, cozy and warm. It’s beautiful and I love all the colors and it does indeed make the perfect movie-watching companion. The only trouble is that it is SO giant (it is called the giant, giant granny square after all) that it looks a little silly “casually draped” because it needs to be folded at least in quarters to even fit on the couch. This is one GIANT blanket.
If you clicked over on the link to the inspiration blanket and pattern you might have noticed that the colors aren’t exactly the same. I just couldn’t quite get on board with the $1,000 price tag that would come along with purchasing all of that (albeit beautiful) Purl Soho merino, especially knowing that with three small kids and a dog this blanket is destined for some pretty rough treatment. Instead I made this out of some soft but decidedly less fancy acrylic yarn. I had moments where I wondered whether putting all this effort into a blanket that was made with less than top-notch materials was a silly endeavor but in the end I know it makes more sense for us right now at this stage in our lives. Since I wasn’t using the Purl Soho yarn, I had to kind of wing it on the color selection. I knew that I wanted to keep the spirit of the original pattern – I love the unexpected combination of the brights with the pastel blue and navy so I just took that idea and ran with it. I also decided to start with a smaller square of white in the middle and I’m happy with how that turned out as well.
The best part about making this blanket is that it’s such a simple pattern you can almost work on it in your sleep, and you can definitely work on it with one eye on Downton Abbey. The middle part of it also worked up deceptively fast, so after just a few nights I could warm myself up with it while I crocheted. Once I got to the last few colors, each stripe round would take me at least two hours (I am not the world’s fastest crocheter) and I had myself convinced that I might never finish. Luckily some much needed rains blew in to California in the last few weeks and being trapped inside hunkering down from the storm turned out to be exactly what I needed to finish up my project.
The blanket is definitely going to reside in our living room but I had to spread it out on the bed for just one shot so that you could see the whole thing in its giant granny square glory. Isn’t she a beaut? I love her so!
Permanent Riot 