Double Treble Burst Square 12x12? No! 72"square!

[Kim Quinn]

Hello, first time here. I love the double treble burst square. I have a friend who loves the sun and I would like to make 1 large square, rather than many small. 

I have chosen my colors in #4 Herrschners8. They are Goldenrod; Espresso; Walnut; Ochre; Chestnut. Could someone please explain how to figure out how many rows I would need for each color, also, I am looking for a 72" square. Also, I have a problem with my perception of tint. How would you arrange the colors to get the most pop? Very grateful for advice💜

[Granny Square]

This pattern? https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/double-treble-burst-square

A lot of your questions are going to depend on your gauge--at my gauge I might need a total of 200 rows, you might need 180 (pulling numbers out of the air).  You're going to have to take some steps to figure this out for yourself.

As far as yarn needed, and also to check your gauge so you can calculate how many rounds, you'll need to make a generous swatch:  Make one 12" square out of 1 color--if you have to add or subtract rounds to get a 12" square, do so.    Measure the distance that 2 rows spans, so you can roughly figure how many times you need to repeat that measurement to get 72"--this will tell you how many total stripes you need, so you can work out how many stripes for each color (I'm answering your question on 'how many stripes', but that has nothing to do with how much yarn is needed--I'm assuming the same amount of yarn for each color, which isn't exactly true, but close enough since we're rounding up).  Then, put a paper clip or something to securely mark the end of the yarn, unravel it and measure the yardage used for one 12" square (round up--you are going to need to buy all the yarn up front and want to get all the same dye lot, which you won't be able to get if you run out of yarn near the end).

72" square is 6' on each side, so 36 square feet.  

Making up numbers for 'demo math purposes':  let's say your 12" swatch used  100 yards.  So for the whole blanket, you'd need 36 x 100 = 3600 yards total.  3600 divided by 5 colors is 720 yards per color.   I'm having trouble finding your yarn at Herrschners, I'm finding Worsted 8 'value packs' of 4 colors, and you listed 5 colors.   At any rate, as I said look at the skein yardage and make sure you buy enough.  If 1 skein is 300 yards, you'll need to buy 3 skeins for example, and have 900 yards, so 180 left over.   Post stitch patterns gobble up yarn more than other patterns.

A tip on giant granny squares - look at the top 2 squares on the Ravelry pattern link above.  See how they seem to be  twisting a tiny bit?  Crochet stitches have a bias, and giant grannys, the bigger they get, the more exaggerated the twist.  The solution is to turn the blanket each round, which is possible for this stitch pattern but you are going to be alternating front and back post stitches--not a big deal, just pointing this out. 

If you don't want to do smaller squares because you hate sewing, or don't want to turn every row, 'join as you go' is the way to, well, go -- and it's really easy and painless.  For me, and I know this is sort of silly, but I seem to get more of a sense of accomplishment making  squares, because I get to 'finish' something 36 times for example, instead of 'will this 1 thing ever end'--especially since the rounds get longer and l o n g e r....

Almost forgot the color placement - sometimes it helps to take a photo of the different color skeins, then run it thru a grayscale filter, to compare color intensity.