How To Design A Crochet Blanket.

For many new crocheters the thought of designing your own project can be both alluring and terrifying, but going through the process of designing your own blanket is in my opinion the best way to learn so much more than just a few new stitches. So I've put together this guide for designing your own blanket to help you banish those fears and create something truly unique for your home.

Step 1 Decide what type of blanket you want to make

Surprisingly there are a many types of blankets out there so knowing what you want to make will help you choose the right type of yarn, what weight to use and do the basic math required to ensure your project is just right.

For example if your making a baby blanket you want a yarn that won't irritate delicate skin, is soft enough for baby but tough enough to be washed easily in the machine, you'd also want to avoid any stitches that leave gaps large enough for little fingers to get caught in.

Once you've decided use this handy chart to find the measurements for your project.

Step 2 Choose your stitch pattern

There are plenty of ways to find stitches for your project online from youtube to stitchionaries such as New stitch a day you can choose one or if your feeling more adventurous choose a few and make a stripy sampler. Once you have chosen you will need to work out how many chains you need to get started this means making a swatch.

Step 3 Make a swatch

Stitch patterns are usually worked over several stitches, this will help you decide how many chains you will need. For example, a stitch pattern could be a multiple of five, so you might need to chain 40, 45, 50, etc. If you have a stitch pattern that is a multiple of five plus 1, then chain your multiples of five and add one to the end.

to work out how many multiples you need make a swatch at least 4″ x 4″, use a ruler to figure out how many stitches you have per inch then work out how many stitches you will need to reach the desired width, then divide this figure by your multiples to make sure they fit. If they don't fit you can either add a couple of extra stitches which will make your blanket slightly bigger, or make another swatch using a different sized hook until you have a gauge that's fits.

• Note if using more than one stitch pattern you will have to make sure all the patterns you are using have multiples that will fit your total number of stitches so will need multiple swatches.

Step 4 Make your blanket

You're all set to go, grab your hook and yarn and make that blanket but be sure to make notes and write your pattern down, blankets can take a while to complete and can't always rely on memory alone to pick up where you left off when you haven't been able to work on it for a while.

Handy notes to include
Hook size
yarn brand, colour and batch lots (yarn colours vary from batch to batch sometimes dramatically if you have to buy more this will help you source an exact match)

Step 5 Add a border (Optional)

Most crochet blankets look better when they are edged with a border as edges can look a little raw without them. You can opt for a simple row of single crochet or any other stitch pattern you like. you will find plenty of border patterns on Ravelryand youtube.

Raw edges can be downright ugly

Step 6 Admire your creative genius

Snuggle under your one of a kind blanket and give yourself a pat on the back,

if you can get it off the kids long enough to do so anyway.