Special blanket for my 85-yr-old mom

[crochetismylife]

Hello fellow Villagers,

 

I need help. I'm about to embark on a big project, for me as a beginner. I'm going to make a blanket for my mom. The yarn is already on order: it's Debbie Bliss EcoBaby Organic Cotton, in a lilac shade. My mom only wants one color and (unlike me) doesn't like lots of holes in her work. I picked up crochet because of the holes. lol

Back to my mom. One color, one pattern, nothing too complicated. I was going to do it entirely out of shell stitches, because this is very beautiful, but I kept messing it up and having to go to my crochet teacher for help. This, just with the yarn I picked up for the scarf I'm making which is the exact type and color as the ecobaby that's on order. I should also warn you that, even with stitch markers on both ends, I still have trouble knowing where the end of the row is, and sometimes end up with a crooked project and having to rip back. So it needs to be VERY uncomplicated.

 

I've even been thinking of a simple granny square. I have "The Granny Square Book," and I could adapt any of the colored squares to one color, just using the closed designs. Then sew them together. That might be my best bet, something small to work with, just a square. 

 

What do you think?

 

Fretting,

Chris

[krodrig99]

How about a round Ripple?  No need to worry about uneven end and it works up well in one color.  If you are on Ravelry you may want to do a search.  I'm sure members here will provide some patters also (I can't at work - blocks Ravelry for some reason)

[magiccrochetfan]

I think your idea of using granny squares is a good one.  I think a granny square afghan in one color would be very elegant.   Also you might add a little more texture by crocheting a few flowers or butterflies etc and sewing  them on, just with random placement.  It sounds like you are going to use very nice yarn

[crochetismylife]

The ripple blankets are absolutely beautiful, but my mom is very conventional. I should have said in my original post that we agreed on a 4'x4' lap blanket, and I don't want to deviate to much from that. I am looking at these: http://www.crochetme.com/media/p/87934.aspx and http://www.berroco.com/patterns/andalusia. Ugh. I hate this. She will love whatever I make, flaws and all. She will love it because it is a labor of love and it is made with all the love I have to give. But I want perfection.  

 

I'm knittingknaven on Ravelry. (I signed up with them when I was still a knitter. I'v since stopped knitting completely.)

[magiccrochetfan]

the first link goes to an error page and the second goes to a Berroco page with a lot of thumbnails on it.  

 

If you want perfection, I think one strength of doing squares is that if you mess up a square, you don't have much to rip out and redo.  And the sewing-together part is easy to redo if you aren't satisfied with it .  

[crochetismylife]

Kathy,

That makes perfect sense to me (I re-did the links, by the way. Sorry about that!). Plus, it's more portable! 

[magiccrochetfan]

Squares are very portable, and it is satisfying to stack them up as you complete each one.  The Andalusia square is really pretty!!

[TanyaR]

Granny square will still have holes. My favorite is the corner box stitch afghan. http://www.crochetspot.com/how-to-crochet-corner-to-corner-diagonal-box-stitch/

 

Makes a super pretty blanket, can be any size. It is really just double crochet and sides/edges are never a problem. I made one to fit a full size bed.

[magiccrochetfan]

There are lots of granny type patterns that have very few holes, that are solid on the sides and just have holes at the corners where you increase...and even that can be changed by doing dc in each corner instead of the chains.  The Berroco one linked is a solid partial granny with a flower in the corner.  

 

I really like the diagonal box stitch too, but it does have holes to an extent where you stitch into the chain3, and in my experience that gap becomes more pronounced with use.  

 

Well really when i think about it, most crochet stitch patterns do have holes to some degree lol 

[crochetismylife]

 Hey, that box stitch looks fun, pretty, and interesting to do. Thank you, Tanya!   Kathy, what if I use a standing double crochet in place of the chain three?

[magiccrochetfan]

you won't eliminate the hole which is caused by the three dc that are made around it; a dc will act just like a chain in that respect.  it won't be much of a visible hole until the fabric is stretched, and will become more visible as the fabric is used.    make a little swatch of the stitch and stretch it, you will see what I mean.  

 

but again, there are few crochet stitch patterns that do not have "holes"of some kind.  

[crochetismylife]

What about Tunisian crochet? There are tutorials on it in my Teach Yourself Visually Crochet book, and it looks sort of like a cross between knitting and crochet.

[ReniC]

I too am a big Diagonal Box Stitch fan. I just made a baby afghan in lavender for a brand new grt-grnd-baby and my granddaughter loves it. This is another example of the blanket. It's very easy to make and looks good in either single or multi-color.