Changing Blankets to make a better design

Back in May I posted about a baby blanket I had made.  Its been up for sale in my etsy shop since May and I haven't been able to sell it.  So I decided it needed to be changed to make it more appealing.  So I frogged all of the double crochet joining the granny squares.  I decided I would try the join as you go method from Attic 24.  This blanket is made from traditional granny squares and is made from Stylecraft Special DK wool in Grass Green, Spring Green, Citron, Shrimp and Parchment.  I had initially joined the squares together using Grass Green but for joining together I used Parchment.  It has made the blanket look really pretty.

As well as using the join as you go method and changing the joining colour to parchment I've also added some more squares to the blanket making it toddler/pushchair size of 30 x 40 inches.  So altogether the blanket is made up of 48 squares.  I've attempted to photograph it today as I've finished it and today was sunny.  My house was as grey and and dark as its been for many days now so I went to the park just 2 minutes around the corner from my house to take photos in the sunlight.  Whilst it was bright and sunny it was a tad blowy and so it was hard to get the blanket to keep still. 

I've still got some way to go to improve the photographs I take, I may have to sign up for one of the online photography courses run by Makelight to ensure I take much better photos.  I hope that with these changes my blanket is more appealing to the Etsy shopper.

Crochet blanket for my Grandma

Last year I started on making a blanket for my Grandma.  I had been to visit my Grandma for a few days between Christmas and New Year and she talked about being cold and so needed the heating on.  My sister and I commented on the fact that she doesn't have blanket to wrap around her if she was cold.  So I started on a blanket for my Grandma.

My Grandmas favourite colour is burnt orange and the colour of her lounge was green.  I therefor set out to create a blanket in orange and green colour way.  I looked through pinterest to find inspiration for colours for the blanket so I explored pinterest and decided I liked the colour interests on this picture of poppies.  I ordered some Stylecraft Special DK in Meadow, Lime, Khaki, Spice, Jaffa and Black from Wool Warehouse.  I already knew I was going to make a ripple blanket using the ripple from Attic 24.  You can find the tutorial for how to do this here.  I decided I didn't like the black and so changed black to cream instead.

I started this blanket in the hope I would be able to give it my Grandma for her 90th Birthday, but I didn't get it finished in time for her birthday.  I then hoped to finish it in time for last Christmas but didn't quite manage to get it finished in time.  I did get it finished over the Christmas holidays.  Since I had bought the wool and finished the blanket my Grandma's health had deteriorated and she was living in a care home.  I gave my parents the blanket to give to her but they didn't give it to her as they were worried it would go missing in the home.  Unfortunately my Grandma never got to see the blanket whilst she was alive.  I couldn't cope with the though of someone else having this blanket other than my Grandma so it went into her coffin with her keeping her warm (it was February and a tad cold).  So whilst my Grandma never saw the finished blanket it did help to keep her warm.

I purchased 2 balls of each colour of stylecraft yarn for the blanket and only needed to use one ball of each colour and so had some spare yarn.  I then decided I would make another blanket in these colours.  It wasn't going to be a ripple, I was going to make my first corner to corner blanket.  So I looked up online how to make a C2C blanket and with help from a number of different sources including The Patchwork Heart and the Crochet Crowd I completed my first C2C blanket.  It was quick to make.

This is my corner to corner blanket, which is my first attempt.  It is Lapghan sized  and so is 36 inches by 48 inches.  Although it is the same colour way as my Grandma's blanket it looks quite different.  What do you think?  Is this a good colour scheme? Do you think it works as a C2C blanket?  I can't help but think it looks better as a neat ripple also the Jaffa colour is shinning out very brightly in the photos which it doesn't do in reality.

Crochet Granny Squares Pram Blanket

At the start of this year I made a promise to myself that I would blog more.  Well I've certainly not kept this resolution this year.  I've not posted much at all.  This hasn't mean I've not been crafting or making anything to blog about, because I have.

For quite a while on my pinterest board I've been collecting and posting pins with lots of different colour combinations.  I've been posting and saving these pins to inspire me on colour choices for making crochet blankets, cushions and all the different items I like to make.  So in February I picked a pin and order wool from the Wool Warehouse (my favourite website to order from).  The yarn was Stylecraft special DK acrylic (my favourite yarn to use) in the shades of Grass Green, Spring Green, Shrimp, Parchment and Citron.  This is the link to the pin which was my inspiration.  The inspiration was ice lolly's and who doesn't like Ice Lollies.

I made this blanket in February and it was the second blanket I completed this year.  I wasn't making this blanket for anyone else in particular.  I wanted to attempt to make a pram blanket and to put it up for sale on my etsy blog.  I used the different colour combinations pinned on my pinterest account and chose this colour combination.  I liked the fact that it was unisex and that it didn't contain any blue or pink.

I do enjoy making standard granny squares and I like the traditional look of them, even though the colour combination isn't traditional.  I usually make each square separately first and then join together.  This time I made all the first rounds for all the squares I wanted, then I completed the second rows, etc.  I have to admit I didn't enjoy making the squares this way, I think I like the satisfaction of completing each square when I've finished them, rather than having lots of part made squares. But in the process of making a blanket quickly, this is the quickest way of making one.

This blanket is for sale in my Etsy Shop along with many other items which I have made.  What do you think of this pram blanket?  I've joined the squares together using double crochet as I've not mastered a joining technique which holds the squares together as well as double crochet.  I follow Little Dove Crochet on Facebook and Instagram and I do like her method of joining.  I am sure on my next squares blanket I will have to master this technique.

I've also tried to take different photos today of the blanket.  I initially took photos using my phone when I finished the blanket in February, but I didn't feel they showed the colour so well.  Today I went outside in the sunshine to take the photos in an attempt to get better representations of the colours in the blanket.