Crochet MineCraft Blanket

Minecraft Blanket

I was brought out of my crochet withdraw by a small table topper my grandmother sent for me to finish for her. She has dealt with worsening eyesight and the last round certainly showed that while she could still complete stitches the placement was a whole other matter. I completed the pattern and added a finishing round when I ran out of the cotton yarn she'd used. It was only 12" across and she had done most of the work but it got me back to crocheting and I was soon looking for a project of my own to complete. Easter is just around the corner so I looked to that for inspiration. My youngest son is picky but one of the most appreciative recipients of my sometimes strange ideals. I bought a green plastic bowl (It looks like a punch bowl) at Walmart after Christmas and was holding it to make a Minecraft Easter basket for my little square head. His minecraft figures went over well for his birthday. I have seen Minecraft candy online but have yet to actually see any in a store. I was hoping for at least green marshmallow bunnies but they have the strangest flavor 'peeps' this year. Sooo anyway I decided to make a blanket to fill the 'basket'. The recent cold and snow made it the ideal option. The creeper seems to be a popular subject as there were plenty of version when I searched. It really wasn't something you needed a pattern for though. Random shades of green + black 'face', right? I committed to the ideal in the yarn isle at Walmart. Really there isn't much of a selection at the store we frequent but I picked up 3 shades of green and a gray. I figured I had most of a black skein and plenty of green in the scrap bag. The green I was fine on. The black required a trip to purchase a whole skein and every scrap of black I could find in the house. I had a pair of boots to a batman ensemble I was totally prepared to frog but I made it. The blanket is 100 squares, 20 of those are black. I used a H hook and a generic granny square pattern and Paint Shop to lay out the design and add in my colors. The yarn was Redheart SS. The main greens were 7oz/364yd skeins of Sping Green, glowworm, & jade. The gray was a 5oz/236yd skein of grey heather. They didn't have a gray in the larger size. <<shrug>> Paint worked really well for this. I could adjust the approximation of the colors I had and set them up before I invested time making any squares. I used the main colors I had first and adjusted as I knew how many extra color squares I'd need. The 7oz skeins made 15 five round grannies with a medium ball left over. I might have gotten one more square out of it but more likely it would have come up short. If your lucky enough to have a yarn budget you would be best to pick 7 greens, 1 gray (or your preference. possibly beige, brown or white), and 2 skeins of black. (maybe that jumbo skein) 24 yards for each square to be safe. The additional color scraps I used where in a bright xmas green, dark mint, sage, and forest green. Plus one square of bright green I needed to fill a spot. I'll include 2 jpg that I made showing the adjusted color scheme of the final product. One is full color which I used as a reference and the other is b&w that I printed out to keep with the project as a guide. I used the join as you go method to have no bulk or line between squares and no boarder. When I started I added the squares as I made them but realized I'd need to ration out the yarn. Not to mention the black held me up a bit as I tried to work around it. I ended up crocheting the 5 round squares but not tying them off just leaving a short tail and cutting the yarn. Once I had the pile of completed squares I would pull out 3/4 of the last round and join it to the others. I often had a longer tail after the join. Probably because I made tighter stitches as I maneuvered the rest of the blanket to add the squares. The 20 black squares are the only must  in the design. (24 yds x 20 = 480 yds min of black)

Square Counts
A glowworm 15
B spring green 15
C jade 14
D bright xmas green 8
E dark mint 6
F sage 5
G forest green 8
H black 20
I gray 8
+1 bright green 1

The granny square was a chain 3 with a sl st to join.  ch 3, in the ring 2dc, ch 2,( 3dc, ch2, ) x3, join with sl st in top of ch3, sl st in each dc and ch space to move to starting space for new round, ch 3, 2 dc, ch 3, 3 dc in starting corner. Each round will have 3dc, ch3, 3dc in the corners and 1ch between the side clusters

I specifically used these stitches for the granny because of the join as you go method. I needed to have the corner counts at 3 so I could ch1, slst, ch1 and have a matching number of stitches just as the ch1 & slst in between the side clusters. Otherwise its a matter of preference. The squares measure approx 5 " give or take an 1/8 or so. That puts the 10x10 square blanket at 50x50 inches (probably closer to 51) The nature of the subject is square but I suppose you could lengthen it in one direction by a row on each end to cover a twin size bed. I'd hear it if it was less then square so that's how I'll leave it. It will be used on the couch or as a wrap anyway. Knowing the wear I wouldn't use much else that the cheap RH acrylic yarn but I've read many blogs that claim to soften the yarn with a shampoo wash and conditioner soak. I've tried it with a smaller project in a medium tub but the blanket I was wondering if I could use the washer itself on a delicate cycle. I haven't seen any horror stories with conditioner in the washer but it would be my luck. Wouldn't fabric softener have a similar effect?

This post was delayed because my camera hates all batteries but the rechargeable ones I can't find the charger for.