Joining Unusual-sized Crocheted Blocks to make Charity Blankets
Sometimes, those who donate crocheted blocks to be used to make charity blankets make them in the desired size.
But sometimes, they don't!
The photos on this page feature blankets that are NOT made with 8" square blocks, as requested by Blankets for Canada. For me, an "unusual" crocheted block is one that is NOT 8" square, and the number of squares in the blanket may not be the usual 4x6=24.
So it may be necessary to do some interesting design work, in order to get a blanket that looks kind of nice and is at least 32x48" in size.
Here are the photos and design thoughts.
Dealing with Multi-sized blocks
Crocheted blanket with different sized blocks
With this blanket, I had a collection of a lot of blocks that more or less went together color-wise. But there were two different sizes: one pile of 25 squares about 6" square, and another pile of maybe 30 squares about 6 1/2" square.
I had thought about working a row of single crochet around each of the smaller squares, to make them the same size as the larger ones, but I decided that was just too fiddly.
So I sewed the smaller squares into 5 rows of 5 squares each. And I sewed the larger squares into two sections, each with 2 rows of 5 squares each.
Then I worked several rows of single crochet around the 5x5 big block, until it more or less matched the sizes of the two big rectangles. Then I sewed all of these pieces together, worked a round of single crochet around the entire blanket, and it was done.
For seaming the blocks and for working the extra rounds of crochet, I unraveled the extra larger blocks. This solved two problems: the fact that I didn't have any matching yarn in my stash, and the issue of having just a few blocks that were not the correct size (8" square).
Four-inch motif blocks
One of the donations was a collection of 64 coordinated 4-inch square motifs. If I made 8 rows of 8 motifs, the result would be 32" square, or 2/3 of a standard blanket. Adding other squares to this mass would have looked ugly, in my opinion.
After thinking about it, I decided that I would do a bit of work, and crochet bands between each of the rows of 8 motifs. I found yarn that matched one of the colors in the motifs, grabbed my crochet hook, and started making those bands. Here are some photos of the blanket in progress.
Crocheted Charity Blanket - Motifs - First 3 rows
Crocheted Charity Blanket - Motifs - 4 rows
Crocheted Charity Blanket - Motifs - 4 rows - Closeup
Crocheted Charity Blanket - Motifs - 7 rows
Crocheted Charity Blanket - Motifs - 15 rows
For the border, I found yarn to match the dark purple in the motifs - I felt that this would have a bit of a calming effect, since all of the other colors are quite intense. Here is the final result:
Crocheted Charity Blanket - Motifs - Done
Fat Yarn
One of the donations was a collection of 19 granny squares, all made out of at least a #5-weight yarn. The blocks were so thick that I really didn't want to combine them with the usual donation of worsted-weight (#4 yarn) blocks. The colors were somewhat coordinated. I made 5 granny squares out of some #5 yarn in my own stash (the multi-toned brownish blocks), and was able to complete the blanket. I decided to use that stash yarn to make a single-crochet border, but I ran out! Hence, the bit of turquoise on the border. Just adds to the scrappy look!
Crochet Charity Blanket with Granny Squares
By the way, granny squares are probably the easiest blocks to make if you want a square block - you just keep on working more rounds until the size is right, and then stop!
Nine-inch blocks
I received a collection of 21 9" blocks - just 3 short of the required 24 blocks needed to make a somewhat oversized blanket. But I also had 3 blocks that were about 8.5" square, so I worked a row of single crochet around the blocks in almost-matching color, and then sewed the blocks together.
There were 6 each of the yellow and blueish blocks - after several attempts at laying all the blocks out in a reasonable attractive format, I decided to try the blue/yellow checkerboard effect down the middle. It's definitely an interesting design, right?!?
Crocheted Charity Blanket with 9
Big Motifs but Too Small
This includes a collection of 10 motif blocks, bright colors framed in ivory. They were only about 7 1/2" square, so I added a row of half-double-crochet around each. And then pondered how many ways to position these blocks among other ordinary blocks. This photo shows my final design. (It would have been so much nicer with either 12 blocks or 8 blocks!)
Crochet Charity Blanket - Brights with Big Motifs
More to come
Watch this space for more examples of how to deal with non-standard block sizes.
