Giant granny square: still not from Granny, and still not for Granny!

Item: Pinkish giant granny square
Yarn: Leftover yarns, ranging from the cheaper Vestlandsgarn from Gjestal, through Kitten mohair from SandnesGarn, to the more expensive 2-ply merino lambswool from Nøstebarn. Even some yarn leftovers from the seventies made it into the pile, donated by a family acquaintance who was actually knitting back then (in the seventies I had not even made it into diapers yet :)
Grams: 707 g

 Somehow, I seem to accumulate a lot of pink yarn. I do love pink in all its shades, from the richest cherry pink to the most delicate frosty-white pink. I don't discriminate on pink, I'll even through in the lilacs, aubergine, peachy and plum colours. However, I usually don't wear pink! The only exception I'm willing to make, is for shades like dusty peach, sandy pink and similar. So what to do with all this lovely pink yarn? I'll make a giant granny square!

 

There's nothing that eats up leftover yarn like a giant granny square. Since the amounts of each colour of leftover yarn usually is limited, I decided to go for a "two-rounds-per-colour" scheme this time. My previous giant granny square had fewer colours, and required more rows per colour. For this pink granny square, I had several matching colours to choose between. This made it easy to achieve the desired gradient effect.

My previous granny square was designed as a baby blanket, and so is this. There is no better blanket for a little princess just born! The holes in the granny square isolates well, believe it or not, so that the blanket feels really warm. The whites in the blanket are made from thicker wool than the pinks and purples, which makes the whole blanket alternated in thickness.

For newborn babies, I would recommend making this blanket in thin wool and a bit larger crochet needle than recommended for the wool in question, as this will increase the isolating abilities, whilst the blanket remains lightweight. For a bit sturdier blanket, use thicker wool, but with the same crochet needle.

I find the giant granny square looks a bit unfinished if it is without an edging of some sort. A scalloped edging is easy, it only requires some consideration for the amount of scallops that will distribute evenly along one side of your square. It does require a lot of yarn, at least when your giant granny square starts to become giant, so make sure you start in a colour of which you have plenty :)


 I also like to make a flower of some sort to sew onto the centre of the blanket, to make it a little more interesting.

So now I have much less pink yarn in my yarn stash, and a lovely pink granny square for the next baby girl to arrive. Although, I don't know of any such baby girls yet...