Lockdown Project: Colourful granny square blanket

I, like a lot of people out there right now, have turned to my hobbies to keep me sane during lockdown. I have picked up a new hobby in growing my own veggies but I have also enjoyed my established hobbies like crochet which allows me to be creative and give my hands something to do when I’m relaxing at home.

Luckily just before the Covid-19 pandemic took hold I was approached by Lovecrafts and offered the chance to review one of their lovely crochet patterns and their Paintbox yarns and of course, being the crochet junkie that I am, I agreed.

Founded in 2012, Lovecrafts has grown to be a global community of happy crafters all over the world and the number one destination for knitting and crochet supplies. “We believe the joy of making is for everyone, from every culture and community. We may all be in different places, but as we like to say, together we make.” Lovecrafts supply Knitting yarn, patterns, needles, crochet accessories, hooks, craft books and kits among other things. They boast an astonishing range of  50,000 yarns and 100,000 patterns, with worldwide shipping.

Paintbox Yarns are described as a modern, colourful and playful yarn collection with a kaleidoscope of shades, available in high-quality premium acrylic, affordable cotton and a cosy wool blend in a variety of yarn weights. The yarns are durable, practical and great value ranging from to around £2.50 to £7.50 per 100g. There are often sales running and you can save money by buying packs of yarns.

I chose the colourful granny square blanket pattern mainly because I am very confident when it comes to making granny squares and I was really drawn to the beautiful multicolored design. This project is suitable for beginners as it is made up of simple chains and double crochet stitches.

The total yardage for a large blanket (1.00 x 1.80 m) is about 3000m, however it’s totally up to you how much yarn you want to use as the pattern is Join-as-you-Go. A crochet diagram and a colour placement scheme is included to help you plan your blanket.

Lovecrafts sent me an amazing selection of 22 vibrant shades of Paintbox Yarns for this project. I have been busy working on my granny squares throughout lockdown. I haven’t wanted to rush it but enjoy the process of making each individual square although I am very excited at the prospect of getting it finished and all put together.

I really love working with the Paintbox Yarns mainly because of their amazing colours but they are also a very soft yarn and it does not split when being worked which can be a real nuisance. I can really see why their yarns are one of the most popular with knitters and crocheters.

I followed the colour guide from the pattern instructions at first and made my squares using 4 colours which were next to each other in the rainbow spectrum but after a full set of these I decided to o a little rouge and have been making squares with random colours as a bit of an eye popping contrast to the other more ombre style squares.

As you can see from my photos I have been enjoying working on the blanket in the sun as well as indoors with some 4 legged friends! I will share a photo of the finished blanket from the Lovecrafts website for now, as I am still working on my one, but once it is done I will update the post so you can see the finished product.

I have really appreciated having a stress-free pattern to follow during lockdown and being able to use the lovely Paintbox Yarns has been a delight. What have you been making this lockdown?