Stormtrooper Blanket

This was a gift for my brother-in-law for Christmas. We’re kind of a nerd family, so this seemed like the right gift for him. J

It was a simple enough to make, it was just granny squares. All that matters is getting the pattern right, which I have attached for your viewing pleasure, hehe.

All in all, it took me about 6 weeks to make. I finished about 10 squares a day. I could have finished in 4-5 weeks, but I wasn’t consistent. As far as size, the picture below of the full blanket is on my king sized bed. I made each granny square 5 rows and worked with a size H hook. So, all 224 squares put together came out to approximately 6 x 6.5 feet. Make each square as big as you'd like and connect each one attachment style to the next one.

Peace Sign Blanket

This peace sign blanket was a Christmas gift for my 12-year-old niece. She’s very into the whole peace sign thing right now (I guess it’s big with the tweens and teens) so I thought it would be a nice gift for her.

It is a modification to the circles-to-squares style of blanket. I found the pattern here (http://sofar-sogood.blogspot.com/2008/06/peace-granny.html).

The first few rounds can be a little rough, but once you get through them, this is a very simple pattern. That being said, I was not a fan of the original work entirely. If you take a look at the link, you’ll see that around the edge of the peace sign, there is a row of strange chain stitching. I’m more of a fan of solid work, so I decided to modify this pattern to be solid blocks without the granny-reminiscent holes.

Below is my modified pattern for each square:

With A: Ch 4 and join to form a ring (or use a Magic Ring). I used the magic ring.

Rnd 1) ch 1, work 12 sc in ring, join with slst in FL of beg sc.

Rnd 2) ch 3, dc in nxt st, dc in FL of next st. With B: dc in back loop (BL) of same st, 2 dc in nxt st, dc in nxt st, dc in BL of same st. With A: dc in FL of same st, dc in nxt st, dc in FL of nxt st. With B: dc in BL of same st. With A: dc in FL of same st, dc in nxt st, dc in FL of nxt st. With B: dc in BL of same st. With A: dc in FL of same st, dc in nxt st, dc in FL of nxt st. With B: dc in BL of same st, dc in same st (both loops), 2 dc in nxt st, dc in BL of same st as beg ch3, join with slst to beg ch3. = 24 dc

Rnd 3) With A: Ch 3, (dc in nxt st) x 2. With B: (2 dc in nxt st) x 5. *With A: (dc in nxt st) x 3. With B: (2 dc in nxt st). Rpt from * once. With A: (dc in nxt st) x 3. With B: (2 dc in nxt st) x 5, join with slst to beg ch3. = 36 dc

Rnd 4) With A: Ch 3, (dc in nxt st) x 2. With B: (2 dc in nxt st, dc in nxt 2 st) x 3, 2 dc in nxt st. *With A: (dc in nxt st) x 3. With B: (2 dc in nxt st) x 2. Rpt from * once. With A: (dc in nxt st) x 3. With B: (2 dc in nxt st, dc in nxt 2 st) x 3, 2 dc in nxt st, join with slst to beg ch3. = 48 dc

Rnd 5) With A: Ch 3, (dc in nxt st) x 2. With B: (2 dc in nxt st, dc in nxt 3 st) x 3, 2 dc in nxt st, dc in nxt st. *With A: (dc in nxt st) x 3. With B: 2 dc in nxt st, dc in nxt 2 st, 2 dc in nxt st. Rpt from * once. With A: (dc in nxt st) x 3. With B: (2 dc in nxt st, dc in nxt 3 st) x 3, 2 dc in nxt st, dc in nxt st, join with slst to beg ch3. = 60 dc

Rnd 6) With A: ch 3, dc in nxt 3 st, (2 dc in nxt st, dc in nxt 4 st) x 11, 2 dc in nxt st, join with slst to beg ch3. Finish off A or your preferred color change to color B.

Rnd 7: sc around entire work to create a hard edge

Rnd 8: (you should be in the middle of the top bar of the peace sign. Ch 1. Sc in each of next 3 sts. HDC in each of next 2 sts. DC in each of next 2 sts. Treble crochet in next st. 5 treble crochet in next st to form corner. [Treble crochet in next st. DC in each of next 2 sts. HDC in each of next 2 sts. SC in next 7 sts. HDC in each of next 2 sts. DC in each of next 2 sts. Treble crochet in next st 5 treble crochet in next st to form corner.] Repeat inside of brackets for 3 remaining sides. For original side, Treble crochet in next st. DC in each of next 2 sts. HDC in each of next 2 sts. SC in next 3 sts. Sl st to chain to join.

Rnd 9: DC sround, working 3 in each corner.

After this I switched to black and did a row of SC around.

As I made each piece, I connected them attachment style during this black round. It created a beautiful, solid piece of work. I’m very happy with it.

Viking Helm with Beard! *updated*

And so begins the long string of long promised post-Christmas crafts!

I had a ton of fun with this one. It was originally intended to be a gift for my other brother-in-law, but I decided I wanted to keep it and gave him a bottle of liquor instead.

I used this pattern (http://www.craftown.com/Viking-Beard-Hat.html) with the only modification being in the styling of the beard. I liked the idea of doing the lord of the rings style dwarven beard instead. (and obviously I had to add some length because of my giant sized head…but that should be a given at this point).

I wore it to my family’s new years eve get together, and everyone loved it! They all insisted on trying it on (even though it was huge on everyone- including my dad, lol) and we had a lot of fun wearing it around the house and scaring my 3 year old niece. We’re not nice people, haha.

To follow up, my brother in law was insanely jealous and begged me to make one for him, too. So, here it is. 

The beard is a little long on his face (part of the beard is supposed to be a 'stache) and I still need to fix it. But otherwise I think it looks great, and I love the mix of colors!