Monday, April 18, 2011

my giant granny square.....

I always have a few projects on the go at once....
on the weekend I started a giant granny square blanket,

I wanted something that I could pick up at any stage

and hook without counting or concentrating.

I started out using the 5ply cotton/acrylic in a single strand with a 4.5mm hook

and it worked up beautifully soft but I wasn't happy with the look of it....

So I unpulled what I had started and held two strands together and started hooking with a 6mm hook. I'm much happier with this effect and looking forward to working on it over the coming weeks and watching it grow.

It reminds me of that lovely red & white packing string :)
Hope your week is off to a lovely start

~ Gillian ♥

8 comments:

zsazsazsu said...

nice colormix !

Casey said...

I really like the two yarns held together!

trudi@maudeandme said...

Yeah it's good to have a project like this. And the colours are looking lovely. Love the naturals with a splash of colour. Have often wondered how challenging it is to crochet with 2 strands and haven't attempted it yet.

Tammy said...

Looks great Gill. lovely and chunky and using the two colours really makes it look so very textural.

**Anne** said...

I love projects like this and I'm sure it's going to look fabulous when you've finished. I'm a bit scared of the two strand crochet thing. I've been wanting to crochet some socks but all the patterns I've seen use two strands. Any tips on how to manage two strands?
Have a lovely day,
Anne xx

Gillian said...

Thank you ladies x

Anne, the only tip I would have is to make sure both yarns are 'free flowing' so they work together in a more relaxed state...its hard to use them together if on is loose and the other is taught.

the yarn I am using for this project is a 5ply cotton/acrylic and unwinds from the outside of the ball (the ball has a cardboard insert) so the yarn doesn't draw from the centre of the skein.

I put both balls I am using together into a tub/basket at my feel, making sure the yarn is free to unravel as I work by the time the yarn reaches the project it has naturally drawn together ready for hooking.

perhaps balls are better to work with in this fashion than skeins?

Hope this helps
Gill :)

Gillian said...

oh and also Anne,

maybe if you were using sock yarn and it was a problem to work two strands together you could roll the yarns into individual balls so they 'unravels' better???

someone else may have some other ideas for you and they are most welcome to leave their thoughts here :)

'Joyce' said...

oh i love the two yarns hooked together. I did a beanie for hubbie like this, its lovely and thick and extra warm. i love the colours you have chosen, this is going to hook up fast and be super cosy.