Cheerful granny square blanket} Borders!

Picture it: a 56-year-old woman doing a happy dance around the living room. That was me . . . soon after I added borders of smaller granny squares to two sides of my cheerful granny square blanket! It worked, my friends, it worked!

If you read my last blog post, you’ll know that I contemplated adding what we quilters would call a “pieced border” to my latest crochet project. I was quite nervous about it, as I’m still a crochet novice. I spent some time watching how Lori Holt joined her granny squares to make a large blanket, and I decided to take the leap.

First, I joined together six of my smaller, five-round granny squares using Lori’s single crochet method. Then I laid them out along one edge of the granny square blanket, which was at 33 rounds. The fit seemed to be perfect. I double checked that the center of the border matched up with the center of the blanket side, and then I moved my eye out from center to left and out from center to right. (I didn’t actually count to see if all of the available stitches would match up. I just went for it.) I slowly and carefully joined the border to the blanket, keeping my eye on the center point of both units, hoping they would remain lined up. And they did!

I’m no mathematician, but I’m guessing that the six smaller granny squares (six squares times five rounds each) accounted for a length of 30 rounds. And the single crochet joins between them caused just enough additional length to the border that it matched up to my 33 round blanket edge. I hope there are not any crochet experts or pattern designers reading this blog post, as my loosey goosey method is probably not advised. This weekend I plan to make more granny squares so I can add borders to the remaining sides. What fun!

After 30 years of quilting, I feel confident in my sewing abilities. After 10 months of crocheting, I am still a complete beginner. But I am enjoying that! Last night my husband called me a life-long learner, which made me feel proud and motivated to keep on learning. No matter what age we are, we’re never to old to learn something new . . . or to do a happy dance around the living room.

~Taunja

Project Notes:

• Yarn: Scheepjes Stone Washed yarn in sport weight
• Colors: Moon Stone, Axinite, Boulder Opal, Tourmaline, Rose Quartz, Mekong, Lilac Quartz, Peridot, Amazonite, Royal Azurite, Morganite (river washed), and Rhodonite Radiance (variegated)
• Where I Buy:  Jimmy Beans Wool
• Hook: Clover Amour G 4.0mm