Granny E's frugal sunburst blanket

[This was originally posted on my Wordpress blog in September 2017]

If you follow me on social media you'll know that I lost my paternal grandmother a month ago. Elizabeth Adele Oakland (born Ethel Adelaide Parlett) was a huge influence on my life, she introduced me to yarn and fabric crafts, and up until the Devils of dementia took her memories, my number one fan (she was so proud of all her children and grandchildren).

Watching her slowly slip away, losing a few more years or decades each time we saw her, was awful for my father, his brothers and the rest of the family. So with her loss I wanted to do something to not only honour her memory but also fight this truly horrible disease.

That's when Granny E's blanket idea came along. Inspired by #jennysblanketofhugs and the Lymphoma blanket of hope, I decided that I'd put together a blanket that will be raffled with funds shared between the Alzheimer's society and the Smallwood Trust. The Smallwood Trust were remembered in Granny's will; they help women on low income to become financially resilient, something that as a single mum who worked many jobs to keep food on the table was very close to her heart.

I'd love to call on the fabulous crochet community to help me with this project. Would you be able to hook up one or more of these little squares to add to the blanket? The only 'rules' are that it should be made from DK yarn, preferably acrylic (I'm using mostly paintbox and stylecraft yarns), and that the yarn should be from your stash. Granny was staunchly frugal, using leftovers in cooking, mending things rather than replacing, and making her own items. I think she'd love that a blanket made in her memory was made using what we already had.

The pattern for the blanket is based on Nittybits Sunburst Granny square which in turn is based on Priscilla Hewitt's pattern however I've modified it slightly to include less stitches in the starting circle. I found it produces a more well defined sunburst.

What you'll need

• 4.5mm hook (I crochet quite tightly so you may find a smaller hook will work for you)
• Up to 3 colours of yarn for your centre
• White yarn
• Needle
• Scissors

Pattern is in U.K. terms.

Stitches and abbreviations

• Ch: chain
• Tr: treble crochet
• Dtr: double treble crochet
• Sl st: slip stitch
• Puff stitch: *Yarn over, insert hook in stitch and draw up a loop* three times. Yarn over and pull through all 7 loops on hook. Chain 1 to lock. Make sure to crochet this quite loosely.
• Cluster stitch: *Yarn over, insert hook in stitch and draw up a loop. Yarn over and draw through 2 loops* 4 times. Yarn over and draw through all 5 loops on hook
• Standing treble crochet: with a slip knot on your hook, yarn over, insert hook into first stitch and draw up a loop. Yarn over and draw through two loops, yarn over draw through two loops.
• Standing cluster stitch: Combines the two stitches above. With a slip knot on your hook, *yarn over, insert hook into first stitch and draw up a loop. Yarn over and draw through 2 loops* 4 times. Yarn over and draw through all 5 loops on hook

Gauge: my squares measure about 8cm x 8cm / 3 inches x 3 inches unblocked.

Pattern

Make a magic circle or chain 4 and sl st into first stitch to make a ring

Round 1: ch3 (counts as tr) then 11tr in to the ring. Sl st into the 3rd chain of your starting chain to close. Fasten off. (12tr )

Top tip: don't crochet into the stitches if you've done a ring of chains. Create the trs around the ring.

Round 2: Join new yarn to any space between two trs. Ch1, puff stitch in the same space and in each space around. Sl st into the first puff stitch and fasten off. (12 puff stitches)

Round 3: Join yarn into any ch1 space between two puff stitches, ch2, (cluster stitch, ch2) in the same space and in each ch1 space around. (I start this round with a standing cluster stitch so I don't need the ch 2 at the start). Sl st into the first cluster stitch and fasten off (12 cluster stitches and 12 ch2 spaces)

Round 4 (squaring the circle): with white yarn, join to any ch2 space. Ch3 (counts as a tr or you can make a standing tr), 2 tr in the same space, *3tr in the next ch2 space, 3dtr ch3 3dtr in the next ch2 space, 3tr in the next ch2 space* 3 times, 3tr in the next ch2 space, 3dtr ch3 3dtr in the last ch2 space. Sl st to 3rd chain (or top of standing tr) and fasten off. You should have a square now with sets of 3dtr, 3 tr, 3tr, 3dtr along each side with ch3 corners.

That's it! If you're contributing to the blanket project, sew in your ends and send it to me! You can message me on here or Instagram for my address. Please do think about the environment when sending squares; reusable or recyclable packaging is good for everyone. If you post a picture, remember to tag me (@aspringsnowflake) and/or use the hashtag #grannyesfrugalsunburstblanket (yeah it's a bit long...).

If you'd like to carry this on into your own project you can join the squares in any way you like. I'll be using the granny square join as you go method on this blanket. Attic24 gives a good tutorial.