blaithin blanket CAL free crochet along

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A Stash-busting Free Crochet Along for the Bláithín Blanket! I think you all know how much I love using glorious colour in my crochet projects, and I just love growing flowers.

Bláithín is the Irish word for flower and the crochet squares will be patterns for Flower Squares. Bláithín is a beautiful Irish word meaning flower. You pronounce it Blaw-heen. Isn’t it lovely? Now try and say it! There will also be a Solid Granny Square pattern, you will use in between the Flower squares.

crochet scarf
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The Blaithin Blanket CAL is over now, but all information and patterns for the squares will always be available for Free on my Blog.

Introduction

For this CAL I wanted it to be a relaxing project that you will work on every 2 weeks, making each flower square in different colours and making a few solid squares as well, for including in between. One evening every few weeks, you could finish the final round of your squares, so your blanket will grow bit by bit!

It is a perfect stash buster for all those small leftover balls of yarn you have around the house (we all have them!) Don’t be too concerned about matching colours and stressing over colour palettes. The main colour you choose will bring all those glorious squares together in a cohesive way to create your gorgeous finished blanket.

You could choose a muted pastel palette if you wish, a warm Autumnal palette or just let the basket of leftover yarn work its magic!

The original Blaithin blanket is made up of 72 squares – 36 Flower squares and 36 solid granny squares and the complete blanket measurements are approx. 50 x 56 inches.

I made it using Green Elephant Yarn beautiful DK merino yarn (edit: yarn no longer availale)

The last round of each square uses your main colour. This should be the only yarn you will need to purchase unless you have a few matching balls in your stash already. 

I choose a dark grey as my joining colour, as I love the way it makes the other colours pop. Here is a similar blanket I made a few years ago, using yarn from my stash and a grey yarn to join the squares.

I think it works so well to bring the colours together! You may like to use a cream yarn for your main colour….or black for a Retro feel. No hurry on making a decision!

I wanted to share a blanket project that wasn’t overly demanding stitch-wise, suitable for a beginner and that you could pick up and work on in spare moments – in other words a simple project that would be a relaxing way to pass the cold winter evenings and one that would result in another warm blanket for your home.

You can take part in this CAL and still work on other projects and CAL’s over the winter!

I will update this post with the patterns as they are released

How will this CAL work

  • I will release one square pattern every 2 weeks starting on Monday September 16th 2019
  • The patterns will be Free and will be always available on my Blog
  • There will be 10 flower square patterns released over 20 weeks and a final post on joining and completion of your blanket.
  • Each pattern will have written instructions in US and UK crochet terms, and a photo tutorial
  • If you want a blanket the same size as mine (approx 50 x 56 in in DK weight yarn), you can make 3-4 squares of each pattern and 3-4 solid squares every fortnight. As the weeks pass you will have a better idea of what size you would like and at the end of the 20 weeks, you may have enough squares to make 2 blankets!

Square Sizes

  • As such, gauge is not critical in this project. What is important is that all your squares are the same size.
  • My blanket is made using DK weight yarn and 4.5 mm hook and each square is 6.5in.
  • You could use worsted weight (aran weight) if that is what you have. Your finished squares will be approx 8in
  • The squares are designed to be all the same size after blocking. I pin them to my ironing board to the same size template each time, and steam them. After they cool down they will be a beautiful polished square!
  • Use the same hook size throughout the CAL and block your squares to keep the size consistent. Don’t worry – we will give you loads of info in September!

Materials

We will be discussing yarn and amounts needed in more detail in a future post, but for now you can plan on using small amounts of DK weight yarn in various colours and Size G/4.5mm crochet hook, or Worsted weight yarn and Size I/5.5mm crochet hook.  Try to use yarns of similar tension and qualities. Have a look and see what you have in your stash:)

blaithin blanket CAL free crochet along

I am so excited about this Crochet a Long and to make my own blanket along with you! I can’t wait to see your projects and the colours you choose for your scrap busting blankets! You can use the hashtags #blaithinblanketcal and #anniedesigncrochet on Instagram

 

13 Comments

  1. query..most of my yarn is Australian 8 ply..what is that equivalent to..?? l know it is thinner than DK..

    1. Hi Carol. It will be perfect! As long as you are using the same weight yarn for all the squares, they will work fine. I am using a light DK from my stash to make my 2nd one and its working good. DK yarns vary so much, don’t they?!

  2. I’m excited to join in! I love colors too and have a stash of DK and worsted but the worsted is what I want to get rid of….it’s old acrylic worsted. My DK is Stylecraft and I love it! Thank you for hosting this and for creating such lovely things from stash.

    1. Hi Sandra! Sorry for delay replying. Thank you! The worsted will work great. Your squares will be larger than the pattern squares made in DK weight but as long as you keep with the same yarn weight, they will be fine:)

  3. Hi, Carmen!
    I have 100 % cotton yarns in many beautiful colours.
    Do you think that this kind of yarn will be good for a big afghan?

    wish for you and your Family a Happy New Year!
    Best
    Marianne

    1. Hi Marianne! I do apologise for delay in replying…Christmas etc. kept me busy! !00% cotton yarn would be fine for a large blanket. It would be heavier than acrylic or wool, but will have lovely stitch definition!

  4. Very late to the party, a fairly novice crocheter and a stash of fingering weight, I’ve just found this CAL. Hoping I can make a small blanket from some of my beautiful Shetland wool stash!

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