Granny Stripe Blanket
All too often I hear people saying “this isn’t your granny’s crochet” or disparagingly calling something handmade “granny” to mean that it’s unstylish, ugly or fussy. I personally think this is unfair to our collective Grannies, women who made so many beautiful things that still inspire us today. I made this bed sized Granny Stripe blanket with the hope of showing that Granny Style can indeed be a thing of beauty. I think this blanket is both modern and elegant, especially with its playful color note which for me harkens back to the fun and funky crocheted blankets made by many of our grandmothers.
The Granny Stripe is a crochet pattern that is made just like the iconic Granny Square, but instead of stitching around and around a center square, it is made by stitching back and forth in rows. The beauty of the Granny Stripe pattern is how effortlessly it lends itself to graphic elements, like bright stripes or big blocks of color.
For my Granny Stripe blanket I used the incomparable Madeline Tosh, Tosh Merino Light. As I worked on the blanket I fell madly in love with this yarn, it is an amazingly strong but delicate single ply beauty. Tosh Merino Light comes in an astonishing range of gorgeous hand dyed color, and truly any one of them (or any dozen!) would make an incredible Granny Stripe blanket. Above are a handful of colors I really love and considered for the blanket, the off white is Antler, the top stripe is Edison Bulb (both used in my blanket), then Citrus, Napoli, Oceana and Denim. -Joelle
Update: New Version!
July 2017
We crocheted this version of our Granny Stripe Blanket with just one Cotton Pure on Cone for the main color and one skein of Cotton Pure for the stripes. A timeless motif, plus a classic cotton… Perfect.
Materials
- Madeline Tosh, Tosh Merino Light 10 skeins main color (I used Antler), 1 skein of contrast color (I used Edison Bulb.
- Crochet Hook, US size C – 2.75mm to 3.0mm
Size
Finished Measurements: approximately 50-inches x 56-inches wide.
Gauge
24 double crochets = 4 inches wide
Notes
- The hardest part of this project is the first part – making a very long chain, and then working into the very long chain for your foundation row. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I enjoyed this part, I didn’t! However, it’s totally worth it! Also, if you have some crochet experience, you can avoid all this with our step-by-step Foundation Single Crochet tutorial which teaches you to create the chain and first row of single crochets all in one step!
- The pattern stitch is a multiple of 3 + 2, so if you want a smaller blanket, it’s easy, just chain less, making sure that the stitch count is a multiple of 3, plus 2 stitches.
Pattern
With Contrast Color, chain (ch) 302.
Foundation Row: 1 single crochet (sc) into 2nd chain from hook, 1 sc into each chain to end (301 sc).
(If you’re an experienced crocheter, you’ll probably prefer to make a Foundation Single Crochet of 301 stitches instead of 302 chains and the Foundation Row.)
Foundation Stripe Row: 1 sc into each sc to end. (301 sc).
*Switch to Main Color.
Main Color Set Up Row: Ch 3 (counts as 1 double crochet (dc)), 1 dc into first sc, [skip 2 sc, 3 dc into next sc] to end (you will have: 2 dc stitches plus 100 dc groups).
Main Color Granny Row: Ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc into very first stitch, [3 dc into next space between dc groups] repeat to last space, 2 dc into last space and then 1 dc into 3rd stitch of ch 3 from previous row.
Repeat Main color Granny Row 31 more times.
Switch to Contrast Color.
Stripe Row Set Up: 1 sc into each dc to end (301 sc).
Stripe Row: 1 sc into each sc to end. (301 sc).
Repeat from * 4 times more.
Sew in ends and enjoy!
ps- For those of you asking for a photo of the edge of the blanket here you go!
How many hours did you spend on this project?
Hi Ire Iru-
Joelle estimates this project took her around 20 hours total.
Thanks for your question!
Molly
Hi Molly & Joelle, since one year I'm absolutely in love with this blanket only waiting for something special to make it for.
Now I moved in with my boyfriend and want to make this blanket to fit our huge bed.
Could you please let me know how much skeins (merino tosh) I probably need for size 86,6" x 94,5" (size 220x240cm)?
Thank you so much!
Absolutely beautiful!
Thank you so much for sharing this pattern! I would like to make a blanket, and I love the colours you used!
Just one question: you say you used Edison Bulb and Antler, but the blanket seems to be light grey, while Antler seems to be more white. Is the blanket you show here made with a different colour?
Thanks!
Hi Ineke-
The materials listed here are correct. Joelle used Antler and Edison Bulb. Antler is gray/ ecru-ish neutral color and it can look more or less white in different light. If you are looking for a darker gray you could try Dr Zhivago's Sky or Antique lace.
Thanks for getting in touch!
Molly
I've been waiting for another besides myself to to notice that creativity in crocheting, knitting and sewing, and hard work by grandmothers and mothers went into making the home comfortable, cozy and beautiful. At the center of these tag lines I believe is simply an appeal to Western fear of aging. Thank you. Rock on.
Thank you for reminding us that mothers and grandmothers have forever used whatever was available in providing their homes with warmth, comfort, coziness as well as creative beauty. Fashion, fabrics, and yarns have evolved to help show off a knitter or crocheter's skills.Updated patterns prove the timelessness of yarn work. Rock on!.
I love this blanket! how many chains would you recommend for a baby blanket?
I am finally ready to get started on this. But first I’ll make a gauge. I assume this means 24 dc stitches in the pattern given is about 4″. However, this purlbee pattern in ravelry.com shows a gauge of 32 stitches over 4″. I know it’s approximate. Based on the 302 stitches across, I’ll try for closer to 24 stitches per 4″ or 22 per 4″.
Please advise based on your experience with this pattern.
Thanks.
Hi Kristina-
The gauge listed in the pattern here is correct. We are going to change the Ravelry page right now- thanks for bringing this oversight to our attention!
Best-
Molly
I love it and going to try it . thanks
I wanted to check what the main colour was that you used in the granny stripe blanket. It looks grey in the photos, but you mention that you used “Antler”, which on the website looks more cream? Perhaps “silver fox” would give a closer result to the photos?
Love this!
Hi Lise-
This is indeed Antler which we love because it’s a great neutral but if you want a more gray blanket silver fox would be a beautiful choice as well!
Thanks for getting in touch!
Molly
i really would love to make this blanket. however, i am dirt poor. unemployed. living off of my husband like we did in the good old days. this yarn is a bit pricey for me to indulge in.
could you please lead me to one that is quite a bit less expensive. i would greatly appreciate it.
thank you.
Hi Berrit-
We are always happy to offer less expensive alternatives. In this case we don’t have anything that is the exact same gauge but if you wanted to crochet it a tad bigger we would recommend Cascade 220 Superwash Sport https://www.purlsoho.com/purl/products/item/8066-Cascade-Yarns-Cascade-220-Superwash-Sport
It comes in a lot of colors and it’s totally machine washable. Please let us know if you have any more questions and thanks for getting in touch!
Best-
Molly
thank you so much!!
what size hook would be used then? my son just surprised me with the c needed for this pattern. thank you.
Hi Berrit-
You can just follow the pattern as written and use the same hook (a size C) that is called for in the pattern.
Thank you!
Molly
Thank you. I thought a bigger yarn would need a bigger hook. I wonder will it have the same look? I will ck the yarn option. Thanks!
Molly, how many skeins of this yarn would I need? Thanks.
Hi there!
You need a total of 4200 yards of the main color.
Happy Crocheting!
Thomas
Hi… I made my contrasting color row of 302 foundation single crochets. Is it the same same Foundation Stripe Row: 1 sc into each sc to end. (301 sc). Or am I suppose to make an additional stripe row after the foundation single crochet row?
Hi Nakia!
If you use a foundation single crochet, then you need to only make 301 foundation single crochets. If you start this way, it combines the chain and the 1st row of single crochets into one step!
Happy crocheting!
Thomas
I love this pattern, but I’m curious if it could be made into a baby size blanket? If so, what dimensions would you recommend? Thanks!
Hi Jennifer-
Our most popular baby blanket is 26″ X 28″ so that seems like a good size. Or if you’d like it larger, 31″ X 39″ is also good!
Thanks for getting in touch!
Molly
This is a beautiful afghan. I personally do not like doing granny square afghans because you have to make all the squares, then sew them together. This afghan makes it a lot simpler and fun to make. I am going to enjoy making this. Thank you for designing this patter.
I *love* this blanket but I can’t crochet. Any thoughts on knitting this blanket? I tried a swatch using the Open Star Stitch (Barbara Walker) but wasn’t able to achieve a nice straight line of the contrast colour. If you or your readers could offer any support, I’d really appreciate it! Thank you! Erika.
Hi Erika,
Thank you for the comment! Unfortunately there are no knit stitches that would mimic the crochet stitch exactly. However you may be able to make something similar by doing combinations of knitting 3 stitches together and then making three stitches. I would just experiment with various combinations of doing these types of stitches and off setting them every other row. Here’s a tutorial on making a bobble which is how I would do the 3 stitch increases; https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2013/03/02/bobble-5-stitch-garter-bobble/
I’m sorry I can’t find you an exact substitute but I think with a little swatching you could come up with a wonderful alternative! If you come up with anything fun I’d love to see!
Good Luck and Happy Knitting!
Jake
I LOVE this pattern and cannot wait to try it…I am a huge fan of granny-stitch projects. I do have a question: on the “contrast color single crochet” rows, are we doing a ch1 at the beginning of the single crochet rows, or are we just joining to the main color and single crocheting the first stitch? Thank you!
Hi Melanie,
Thank you for writing us, I’m so glad to hear you are excited about this pattern! The pattern doesn’t call for a ch1 at the beginning of the rows, just to join the main color and do a single crochet.
I hope this clarifies and let us know if you need anymore assistance!
Happy Crocheting!
Jake
Hi. I had a question. I am a beginner crocheter.
Main Color Granny Row: Ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc into very first stitch, [3 dc into next space between dc groups] repeat to last space, 2 dc into last space and then 1 dc into 3rd stitch of ch 3 from previous row. – See more at: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2011/04/16/elegant-granny-style-the-granny-stripe-blanket/#sthash.14yHIW0P.dpuf
What do you mean by this last step?
then 1 dc into 3rd stitch of ch 3 from previous row.
Thanks!
Hi Anna,
That instruction means that you make a double crochet into the top stitch of the chain that began the previous row, i.e. the “3rd stitch of ch 3.”
I hope this clarifies that step for you. If not, please let us know and we’ll see if we can break it down further for you. Thank you so much for asking and good luck!
Jake
Just came across this by accident while looking for a duvet for my son, I immediately recognised this as I was inspired to learn crochet after seeing this pattern! Have you been collaborating?!
http://www.madeindesign.co.uk/prod-new-school-bedlinen-for-2-w-240-x-220-cm-refnewschool-yellow-240.html
Hello Shelley!
What a keen eye! We haven’t collaborated with this lovely company, but we admire their color choices! Best of luck on the hunt for your son! -Alyson
I’m from New Zealand and wondering what ply wool is this done in 4 or 8 ply?
Hi Helen,
Thanks for writing in! The yarn that we used is a fingering weight yarn. I have consulted a variety of conversion charts and fingering coverts to either 3 ply or 4 ply in UK yarn weights.
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Hey!
I am wondering if you can use a cotton yarn for this pattern, and if so, what weight would you use?
Thanks,
Yvette
Hi Yvette,
Thank you for writing us! The only cotton that we carry that is comparable to this weight is the Cascade Ultra Pima. Though the Pima is slightly thicker than the Tosh Light, it would make a really nice blanket. I also suggest you take a look at Habu Dyed Bamboo if you’d like to make something in a plant fiber. Good luck on your project!
Best,
Adam
If I was to make this in the Tosh Merino DK, how many stitches/crochets (sorry – still working on my terminology!) would I need to reduce it by to keep to the same width? I’m assuming if I kept to 302 it would be too wide.
Hi Helen,
Thanks for writing in. I suggest making a gauge swatch by crocheting a mini sample of about 20 stitches or so. Measure the swatch and you’ll know how many inches approximately 20 stitches makes. From there you can figure out how to make the blanket as wide as you want. Best of luck and let me know if you have any other questions!
-Adam
Hi, In the main color set up row you write “1dc into first stitch”, but in the main color row you write “1 dc into very first stitch”. Is there a difference between first stitch and very first stitch?
Thanks s.
Hello Sophi,
Great question! The reason it is worded like this is because in the Set Up row you are crocheting into the first single crochet while in the Main Color Row you are crocheting into the first stitch of the edge double crochet bundle. Ultimately there is no difference between first stitch and very first stitch. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any further questions.
Warmly,
Marilla
Hello! Any advice on modifying this pattern for a king sized blanket (110×90”)? How much yarn would I need? Thanks in advace ?
HI Elizabeth,
Thanks for writing in! What a great project! A blanket of 110 x 90 inches would be about 3.5 times larger than the blanket we have here. If you are using Madeline Tosh Tosh Merino Light, you would need 35 skeins of the main color and 4 skeins of the contrast color.
You can decide on your foundation row number based on the gauge here. For this pattern the gauge is 24 double crochets = 4 inches wide and the pattern works over a multiple of 3 + 2 stitches. So for the size that we have worked up a 56 inch wide blanket begins with 302. For a blanket that is 90 wide, you would chain on 542. This could change based on your personal gauge but I hope that this gives you a good idea where to start!
Best,
Cassy
I love this pattern so much and am an experienced knitter but have never done any crocheting. What are your thoughts about how difficult this project might be for someone like me?
Thanks!
Hello Ila,
Thank you for reaching out! I think this would be a great project for you. I would suggest knitting up a small sample to practice before jumping in, but I think this is a great opportunity for you to learn a new technique!
-Marilla
Hi
I’m doing a granny stripe throw but am finding it very heavy. Is there any way of doing it in sections without seeing the join???
Hi Amy,
Great question! You certainly could make this blanket in sections and then crochet or seam it together. I do think that given the nature of the design that these seams would show. With that in mind, you could make the seams using the contrast color. You could do part of the contrast stripe to end a section, begin the next section with the contrast color. When it comes time to seam, you would use the contrast color to sew them together using our handy tutorial! I think that this could work by actually drawing attention to the seam and making it a design feature!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Hello,
I love this blanket, but I can’t find the contrast color on the site. Is it discontinued or can I find it elsewhere?
Thank you for your respons,
Mirjam
Hi Mirjam,
Thanks for writing in! Unfortunately that color of Tosh Merino Light has been discontinued. I would suggest substituting Posy in Sour Gooseberry instead!
Best,
Julianna
Hi! I’m needing a king size finished product, and I’m a noob so I’m trying to figure out how to do this. I’m thinking I’ll do a 600 stitch foundation row. Does that mean I need to chain 600, then chain 2 in order to turn?
Hi Bethany,
Thanks for writing in! For this lovely blanket, the pattern stitch is a multiple of 3 + 2. With that in mind, for your blanket, you will want to chain 602 stitches and then move onto the foundation row!
Best,
Cassy
I want to confirm that for the Main Set Up Row & the Main Row the Ch 3 and 1dc BOTH go into the same first sc stitch? I think I have been putting 1 dc into the first sc next to the Ch 3, throwing off the stitch count. I have frogged the blanket a handful of times trying to get the stitch count correct and get stuck when it’s time to do the first contrast color stripe! I hope someone can help me 🙂
Hi Mandy,
Thanks for writing in! Yes, for this pattern, the first DC will go into the stitch immediately at the base of the Ch 3. The placement of the first stitch is a common question in crochet patterns, as different designers have different notions of where it should be! Some patterns will count the chain as the first true stitch of the row and have you skip the stitch immediately below it, while others consider the turning chain just a turning chain and not a stitch, so you will have to work your first stitch in the stitch right below the chain. For this pattern, since you will be creating a half cluster at the beginning of each row, the first DC will be in the very first stitch after the Ch 3! The very last picture in the pattern shows a close-up of the edge so you can get an idea of what that should look like.
I hope that clears things up!
Julianna
I’m loving this pattern, but about 8 rows in, it’s starting to bow like a banana. Any thoughts? PS- thanks for getting me throw a global pandemic with most of my sanity intact!
Hi Constance,
Thank you so much for the kind words and for writing in! It sounds like your starting chain is probably tighter than the rest of your stitches, so unfortunately, I think the best thing to do is to start over. I would suggest working your chain with a slightly larger hook to loosen things up, and then switch back to your regular hook starting with the first row of the blanket!
Best,
Julianna
When is the yellow color coming back?
Hi Cat,
Thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately, that color is no longer available. Luckily we do offer a few options that would work perfectly in its place! I would recommend our Line Weight in Cosmic Yellow, Linen Quill in Lemon Lime or Posy in Sour Gooseberry!
I hope this helps!
Warmly,
Gianna
Hello, Can you please tell me what yarn (that you carry) can be used for this granny stripe blanket (crochet) to match the originally used tosh merino light? I see above the suggestions used to match the original “Edison Bulb” color and they are great color wise. I’m just not very knowledgeable about weights, and types of yarn, so if you could suggest something I’d appreciate it.
Hi Gail,
Thanks for reaching out! The original MADELINETOSH Tosh Merino Light is still available on our site! However some of the colors we used in the blanket like the Edison Bulb shade is out of stock. The three I recommended above are yarns that are all lace weight like Tosh Merino Light so they are the same weight and gauge so they could be used interchangeably with the original yarn and work up the same way as we have written in the pattern. So again, the three I recommend in place of Tosh Merino Light are our Line Weight (the most similar to Tosh Merino Light), Linen Quill and Posy.
I hope this clarifies things!
Warmly,
Gianna
Just to be sure the main color of the blanket is Antler? Looks gray to me. The skein of Antler look so white; is it highly verigated to give it a gray appearance?
Hi Gail,
Thanks for reaching out again! Yes Antlers is what we used as the main color of the blanket! The shade Antlers is a variegated gray-cream shade, and since these skeins are hand dyed the color will vary a bit from skein to skein.
Warmly,
Gianna
Love this blanket any recommendations for in stock yarn choices?
Hi Tracey,
Thank you for writing in! We crocheted a new version of this pattern using just a single skein and a single cone of Cotton Pure! You can also check out all of our sport weight yarns here as well! I hope this helps!
Happy making,
Gavriella