Cozy V-stitch Blanket
Every year for Christmas my mom asked me the same question…what am I going to get for my aunt? My aunt has been around all my life. She was one of my parents’ best friends and live next door to us in our apartment in Cheshire Connecticut. Whenever my mom had a baby (and yes she’s had quite a few) my aunt would always come over to take me and my brothers and keep us while my parents were busy in the hospital doing baby stuff.
I fondly remember her bringing my brothers and me to go to the Barnum & Bailey circus every year and we would always fight over which souvenir to purchase. She has always been there for us and I have always considered her to be a true inspiration and role model. I wanted to do something kind of special for her…but it still doesn’t answer the question of what do I get her for Christmas. What do you get the person that has everything? Well I know one thing that she doesn’t have yet…she does not have a big fluffy beautiful blanket crocheted by me. People always love homemade things right?!
I call my mother and tell her my idea and she loves it. Now for the next important and difficult question…what color? After going back and forth with a few color options, my mother and I decided to not go wrong with a nice soft cream color and an earthy tan color. Phew! That was a lot of pressure. But now that that’s open over I can go shopping. With my coupons in hand I head over to the closest A.C. Moore craft store-one of my favorites for purchasing yarn.
My new favorite yarn to work with is the Bernat blanket yarn. This is beautiful, chunky, comfy huggable yarn that really feels like you are crocheting a teddy bear. That gets me thinking… I think I might need to crochet a real teddy bear using this yarn. Stay Tuned for that one 🙂 For this particular blanket I used two skeins of yarn in the antique white and 2 of the taupe color.
I used to size “n” hook (10mm) which tends to work really well with this yarn. I chose to do the V stitch for this blanket because it’s very easy, works up very quickly, and it leaves you with this beautiful pattern that looks elegant and inviting. Did I mention it’s really easy and works it very quickly?! This is very important to me right now given that I’ve only given myself three days to complete the project.
To begin this pattern you would start by chaining 91 stitches. This pattern is super easy to adjust in size. My pattern will yield vertical stripes. If you wanted your blanket to have horizontal stripes, you can adjust the number of chains to match the width that you want. Just make sure you always have an odd number and you are good to go. And here we go!!
Pattern:
Ch91
Row 1: starting in 5th ch from hook (this counts as your end of row dc) start the first “V” *(1dc, ch1, 1dc), sk 1ch, (1dc, ch1, 1dc), sk 1ch * Repeat from the first “*” for the remainder of the row until you reach the end at last ch space will be 1dc. Ch3, Turn
Row 2: starting in the first “V”, *(1dc, ch1, 1dc) in the chain space between the 2 dc*, Repeat from the first “*” for the remainder of the row until you reach the end in the top chain of your ch3, 1dc. Ch3, Turn
Row 3-10: Repeat Row 2 (fasten off – if you are changing colors)
*** (if you are not changing colors, continue repeating Row 2 until you reach the desired width of your blanket)
Row 11: If you are changing colors- sl st through both loops of your end of row dc with your new color. Ch3. Repeat Row 2 all the way across.
Row 12-20: Repeat Row 2 (fasten off – if you are changing colors)
Row 21: If you are changing colors- sl st through both loops of your end of row dc with your new color. Ch3. Repeat Row 2 all the way across.
Row 22-30: Repeat Row 2 (fasten off – if you are changing colors)
Continue repeating the color change until you reach your desired width for your blanket.
Now, if you are like me, you crochet to relax. I find crocheting to be a stress relief exercise in an of itself however adding a glass of wine never hurts either 🙂 Tonight as I sat in front of my Christmas tree and made my Christmas presents like a little elf, I treated myself to a glass of Layer Cake Malbec and a delicious homemade chocolate chip cookie.
Malbecs are a great choice when you are looking for a full bodied red wine that is very sip-able. You will find that many malbecs have a nice berry flavor with undertones of cherries, raspberries, and plum. depending on the brand you may even taste flavors of cocoa, coffee, or black pepper. It is a great alternative to a Merlot if you are looking to change it up a bit. I paired it with this project due to the warmth both the blanket and the wine inspire. Plus it paired really well with my chocolate chip cookie !!
