Grandma's Knickknacks Crochet Blanket

Welcome!  I am so happy to share with you a photo pattern tutorial for my "Grandma's Knickknacks" blanket. 

This is my very first blog post and tutorial. I have so many more things I want to share with you here in Laurel's Place, but I wanted to get this pattern out to you all asap.  I welcome your questions and comments about my blanket and the pattern tutorial. 

The inspiration for this blanket really did come from my Grandma's knickknacks.  Particularly her little antique music box.  I was quite fond of visits to Grandma's house and I love all things that remind me of her and her pretty home.  More about Grandma later though....  

Lets jump right in and start making a square.  For my blanket I used various brands of worsted weight yarn...13 colors in all (some from my stash) and a 4mm (G) hook.

Round 1:  Start with ch 3 and 11 dc in a magic ring

  

Slip stitch into first ch-3 to join and fasten off.  You should now have 12 stitches.

Round 2:  On this round you will be working in the spaces  Between the dc's of round 1 (instead of in the top of the stitch) as shown above. This makes the cute little spikes in the pattern.

With a new color...sc between any two dc from round one, ch 1, sc in next space

Continue around.  

Join in first sc of round and fasten off (12 sts, 12 ch-1 sps.)

Round 3:  You will be working dc-three-together (dc3tog) clusters.  

(I start with a standing stitch but if you prefer, you can start the first stitch with a ch-2)

(dc3tog is made thus:  Yarn over, insert hook into space and pull up a loop, yarn over, pull through 2 loops on hook, (yarn over, insert hook into same sp and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through 2 loops) two times, yarn over and pull through all 4 loops on hook.)

With new color, make 3dctog in any ch-1 space, ch 2 and repeat around.

Join in top of first 3dctog and fasten off. 

You should have 12 -3dctog clusters and 12 spaces.

This is where I like to tie in those pesky ends.  That way, if you join your motifs as you go, those ends don't get in your way.  Plus, it's a nice way to break up the monotony and have many of your ends tied in before you get to the end of your project and have to sit for days with the tedious task.  Of course this is optional.  

Just a side note:  When tying in ends on any project, I like to slip under one direction, split a yarn and come back the same way.  Then you have less likelihood of that yarn jiggling out over time.

Now it's time for the final round that makes the square motif.  And if you prefer, the round where you will join-as-you-go.

Round 4:  In any ch-2 space of round 3, work 3 dc (here again I start with a standing dc, you may prefer to start with ch 3). 

Now you will work the corner: (3tr, ch2, 3tr) in next ch-2 space) 

Corner made!

Now work 3 dc in in each of the next two spaces.

Then work another corner (3tr, ch 2, 3tr) in next space.

Repeat around, finishing with 3dc in last space.

slip stitch in first dc (or ch3) and tie off

Voila! Square done! 

Now you can make as many squares as you like and either stitch them together when finished or do what I like to do and join the rest of the motifs as you make them.  Check out my blog post with a photo tutorial on the JAYGO (Join-As-You-Go) method and how I chose color placement.

Now for the border. It's a very simple block stitch. 

  Round 1:  Start with a single crochet in any space between 3dc clusters of the edge, ch3, then sc in next space between clusters. You will also make a sc in the space just between squares as indicated by the blue arrows above.  Continue all around the blanket.  Corners of round 1 are made by (sc, ch2, sc) in the corner ch-2 spaces of edge. 

Round 2:  Join a new color and work 3 dc in each ch-3 space of round 1 all around.  Corners of round 2 are made by (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the corner ch-2 space of round one. Repeat rounds 1 and 2 until you have the desired width.

My blanket is 14 squares wide and 18 squares long. Each square is approx. 3"x 3"

 (I am a fairly tight crocheter)

 The finished blanket without border measures approx.  45"x 57". 

With the border it measures approx. 51" x 63".

I sincerely hope you found this tutorial helpful. Happy Hooking!