The Granny Does Christmas Blanket

Hi again, it’s that time of year. 🍁

The first signs of Autumn have appeared here in Scotland, and the nip in the air is a welcome herald of the new season – at least for me.

I am tired of hot sticky weather, especially as a crochet designer who has spent every summer for the past six years working on a Christmas blanket!

My crochet studio is up in the attic of our old cottage and it can get pretty stuffy. Thank goodness for the big windows.

But the blanket is finished and I’m thrilled to say the pattern is finished too. Today is publication day!

I’m so pleased I’ve got it all done and dusted in time for you to make yourself a Granny Does Christmas blanket for Christmas – if you want to, of course!

This year I’ve returned to a more traditional palette of colours. That’s after the Sugar Plum Blanket of last year, and the crazy bright Christmas Baubles blanket of 2023.

So, greens, red and white are the order of the day, but softened by the addition of pinks and soft blues.

I’m not going to write too much about the actual design here. I’ve got a YouTube vlog which tells you the whole story.

However, there is one thing I want to address, and that is the Yarn List. Back in August, with the sudden announcement of US tariffs coming into force sooner than originally planned, I hastily put together a Provisional Yarn List .

This was primarily for my American followers, so that they could order the yarn before the deadline, when shipping was to be halted to the States.

The Provisional List was just that, provisional. At the time, my blanket was only half finished, so I had to guess the amount I would need of each colour. As it turned out it was reasonably accurate, but there are one or two changes.

I’ve put a chart below of the Provisional List followed by the Final List.

The first thing you will notice is that the Provisional required 18 balls and the Final, 20 balls.

As you can see, I used more of the Pale Silver. The Final List calls for 3 balls. But look at the amount I used, 195g, so for me it was actually two balls – just.

I always add an extra ball if the amount left over is 10g or less. Check the amounts in red. I’ve added an extra ball for those colours.

Of course, the Provisional List only calls for one ball of Pale Silver, so there definitely won’t be enough of that.

However, Silver is a universal shade that’s carried by pretty much all yarn brands, so if you can’t get Yarnsmiths Create Pale Silver in the US, I’m sure you will find a reasonable match in another yarn.

And likewise I’ve listed two balls of Fjord Blue, but again I managed to use just one. I’m sure if you do run out of Fjord Blue though, you could replace a bit of the pattern with Steel Blue, as there is one more ball of that than is necessary in the first List.

I’m not apologising for the difference in the Yarn Lists, because as I explained at the time, it was a tentative list subject to possible change, and I simply shared it as a help for everyone in the US who would be left high and dry by the shipping nightmare.

Back to today though. … the newly published pattern contains the full Final Yarn List with links to the Yarn Packs available from Wool Warehouse. In addition there are two alternative Yarn options.

It has 27 pages with about 140 step by step photos, backed up by 14 Video Tutorials.

As for the current shipping situation to the US, Wool Warehouse are keeping us all informed on a regular basis. Hopefully shipping will resume very soon, if not already, although there may be longer delivery times.

And that’s about it. You will find the pattern in my ETSY SHOP, my RAVELRY SHOP and on the http://www.woolwarehouse.co.uk website.

When you purchase the pattern, you are automatically given the choice of downloading the UK or US versions. (Wool Warehouse will have the versions for sale separately).

If you like to watch a vlog on You Tube, do check out my ‘Introducing the Granny Does Christmas Blanket‘. In it, I explain the inspiration behind the design and have a chat about the colours.

And of course, there are all the Video Tutorials to accompany the pattern. It’s a really good one for beginners!

With three months until the big day, there is ample time to complete the blanket, so time to get cracking!

See you again soon and happy crocheting,

Marion x