Granny square blanket (Täcke av mormorsrutor)

I've been  making granny square patches since last November (2009) and today (30th of March) I finally crocheted a thin border around the whole blanket, and cut off all the tiny threads that I hadn't managed to "hide away" inside the crocheted squares themselves.

Oh boy, did it take time to make the whole blanket! One square in itself doesn't take that much time, but when you have to make 19 x 13 = 247 squares, then suddenly it becomes a PROJECT (notice the capital letters!). This blanket took a loooooot of time watching CSI, Lie To Me, House and other TV-series with Micke to get done. I think I've gotten the hang of "mom-multitasking": watching TV with one eye, keeping my hands busy with the PROJECT at hand, and talking with Micke during the commercials while crocheting.

What you need to make a blanket like this:

• Patience (well, duh!). I planned the layout of the pattern I wanted to make on a paper before I started crocheting. It helped, because then I knew how many squares with a certain color I needed to make.
• 247 squares:
• made with double yarn (the gray squares are actually made with yarn that's light and dark gray)
• crocheted with a BIG size 8 mm crochet hook
• these took at least 40 balls of yarn (one ball weighing 150 g, meaning you're gonna need 6 000 g=6 kg yarn!), but if you crochet with only single yarn you'll get away with less. Much less.
• To put together the squares once they're done, you can either:
• Sew the squares together, using a big darning needle.
• Crochet the squares together with slip stitches (swe. smygmaskor)
• Crochet the squares together with single crochet stiches (swe. fasta maskor) (this one I used!)

Check out either the descriptions from when they did it on Strömsö (THE Finnishswedish life-style program), or check out how they did it on the Purl Bee. Either description is great, and there's even more to be found about making these blankets on other pages online. Just google "granny square"

This is what the whole blanket looks like.
I had to drape it over a sofa to show you how BIG it is.

This is how it looks from the "right" side.

And this is how it looks from the "wrong side".

Me crocheting the squares together. THAT part felt like it took forever.

Finally - it's done! What a relief.
*phew*
 Only thing I now have to do is put it in the washing machine. And plan away on the next project.....