Designing a granny square blanket

My blankets fall into two main categories; there are those that are Designed, and those that are Planned.

Blankets that are Designed tend to be for someone in particular. They tend to use specific colors, and they tend to have a specific pattern. Blankets that are Planned use color combinations that appeal to me (given the current offerings in the yarn bins), and they tend to use one of a specific group of layouts.

Examples of Designed blankets are

Smiley
Irish Jewel
Bacchus
bacchus Sunset Rain
Taci
taci

Examples of Planned blankets are

Ocean Waves
Plumberry Check
Pointillism
Americana Trip

Blanket designs can change as they go. Colors can be added or removed. Smiley was meant to be a sort of random arrangement, and the pattern came to me after I was two or three skeins into the yellow yarn. At that point, I sat down, figured out what I would need to make, and worked to the design.

Designed blankets are individual. I can't really tell you how to Design a blanket. I can't even tell you how I Design blankets, although my blog post about the TACI blanket and my description of the Irish Jewel blanket may give some idea. You have to decide what you want to make, and go from there.

I can, however, give you a fair sense of how I Plan a blanket, since that is far more mechanical. When I plan a blanket, I start with a rough sense of how large I want it to be. I've made a number of blankets for a nursing home, and I've found that 4ft by 6ft is a good size. In practical terms, given my gauge with worsted weight acrylic and a 5mm hook, this means a blanket that is 6 squares by 10 squares, where the squares are 7 rounds each. That's 60 squares. Further, I know that each of my squares that size takes about an ounce of yarn, so I can estimate quantities pretty closely.

I then go to the yarn department of a craft store, and take a look at the Red Heart and Caron selection. I've never used Bernat, but I imagine that it would work just as well. I look to see what catches my eye. I typically use multicolored yarns to join the squares and to border the finished blanket, so I tend to look for those first. Then I find solid colors that go with it. There are times I find many, there are times I find only two.

Back in the days when Red Heart Supersaver Economy size was 8 oz, I was happy when I found 4 colors, because that meant I could buy two of each of the solids and of the multi, and walk out with 10 skeins that would make a blanket, and I could worry about the exact design later.

Red Heart Supersaver Economy is now 7oz. I would rather have had an overt 15% price increase. but I'm not in charge of these things.

Anyway, the next step depends on how many coordinating colors I can find and whether I want even amounts of each of those colors (I usually do).

If I find 2 colors, then I'll need 30 squares in each, and that will mean 30 ounces. 2lbs of worsted weight yarn sold in 1lb or 8oz skeins, and 4 or 5 7oz skeins. (There have been times I've managed 15 squares out of 2 7oz skeins. And there are times I've needed to dip into the 3rd skein. I dislike 7oz skeins.)

Some 2 color (30/30 for the checkerboard, 31/29 for the diagonals) layouts:

possible 6 by 10 layout
Checkerboard
Diagonals

If I find 3 colors, I'll need 20 squares in each color. 2lbs in 1lb skeins, or 24oz in 8oz skeins or 21oz in 7oz skeins.

Some 3 color (20/20/20) layouts:

possible 6 by 10 layout
Diagonals
Double
diagonals

If I find 4 colors, I'll need 15 squares in each color. This is easily done with 1lb or 8oz skeins, and is an exercise in "Keep your receipts and know the return policy" for 7oz skeins. Might be 2, might be 3. Have I mentioned that I dislike 7oz skeins?

Some 4 color (15/15/15/15, except for Diagonals, which is actually 14/15/15/16, although it looks balanced) layouts:

possible 6 by 10 layout
Diagonals
Intersecting
diagonals
Swirl

If I find 5 colors (hasn't happened yet, but hope springs eternal), I'll need 12 squares in each color. 1 skein each in 1lb sizes, 2 skeins each in 8oz skeins, and 2 skeins in 7oz skeins.

Some 5 color (12/12/12/12/12) layouts:

possible 6 by 10 layout
Diagonals
Knight's Moves

There are other possibilities. There are always other possibilities. Heck, I haven't even mentioned the Trip Around the World pattern, and that's only because it really needs an odd number of squares on each side. Which means that it wouldn't really work for 6 by 10. But if you thought of a 6 by 10 blanket as 4 small 3 by 5 blankets, you could do something like this:

possible 6 by 10 layout
Four triplets

Yeah, I think that one needs work, too. But I think I'm catching a hint of Mandelbrot set there, and that's worth exploring. I'm also intrigued by the Knight's Moves one. I'll likely make that one eventually.

And of course, for any number of colors, randomness is a possibility. Make 60 squares, any number of colors and any number of squares of each of those colors. Mix them up, and put them together as you pull them out of the box.