Striped Chevron Blanket Legacy

My Grandmother has made countless chevron striped blankets for our family, I honestly cannot say how many she actually made, but its a LOT. I personally am the proud owner of 3 of them. The first, pictured below on the left was one she made for me when I was younger because it matched the wallpaper in my room growing up. The one on the right was made for my sister around the same time.

The second one she made for me I think while I was in college and I wanted something not so “girly”, hence the colors:

My 3rd blanket was given to me while I was living in my condo in Atlanta, so I got it in colors that matched the walls, a soft blue, medium blue and white, which is in storage right now so I don’t have a photo. We as a family would take turns with our requests so it was always a few years before it was our turn again. We would buy the yarn, and she would make them. For many years, this was all I knew about crochet. She tried to teach me when I was younger, I only recall vaguely what she showed me, but it did not stick, until recently at least.

So the years past, blankets were made and everyone always enjoyed getting theirs when it was finished. She passed away almost 2 years ago and having begun one of my own for the first time, it is something I know is a very sentimental project for me, and will be every time I make one. They are not complicated, or difficult to do, there are hundreds of ways to make them, and while I do not have her “pattern” I knew enough having crocheted for a few years now what the basics were to get started.

So shortly after we became pregnant I knew this was a great chance to start one of my own for the first time.

I decided, since we did not know yet what the gender was, that I would keep it neutral and in spring colors, since I am due in mid-May. So I ended up going with Lion Brand Pound of Love Yarn in Turquoise, Yellow & Lavender. I got one skein of each, since they are so big.

I needed a pattern initially to give me a chain length and decide on the number of stitches for each V so I used this pattern as a starter guide. Chevron Blanket – Andrea Baker (Ravelry Link) and using a 5.5 Hook I made a foundation chain of 330. I did not want a huge blanket, but a nice lap size one so this seemed to turn out ok after a few rows and measuring. It is about 50 inches wide, so I am happy with that.

I changed the way I ended and started each row than what the pattern describes, I opted for the sc decrease in the last 2 stitches, then again I did a sc decrease in the first 2 stitches of the next row, I found that this makes the edge a lot nicer looking.

I really like the repeat (pictured above is 1 full repeat) I came up with, it just sorta happened on its own.

Overall I am enjoying working on this blanket and know my grandmother would too :) It is so nice to think that I am able to carry on this tradition for my family, and share this great legacy she left for us.

More pics of it in progress are below, will update again once it is finished with final stats, thanks for stopping by!

Completed Update: 3/2015

I am happy to finally report that this blanket is finished! It took a little longer than I had thought which is why it does not have a border of any kind right now, I have some left over yarn that I could probably do a sc border around the whole blanket but that will have to wait for another time as I wanted to get going on some other projects.

Final Stats

Size: 50in wide x 46in length
Since it is wider than longer which is simply due to only using the 3 skeins that I had and not really wanting to buy more right now, it will work out as a great lap blanket for the rocker so I am ok with the size. Eventually I will make a full size chevron blanket, but knowing the time commitment to them now (it’s a lot because it is all sc rows) I can plan accordingly.

Threads by ionyka - Chevron Blanket8

I wanted to fill in the zig zags so it had flat edges. At first I wasn’t sure exactly how to do it but I took my own approach after doing some online searching but not really finding a solution I liked.

Threads by ionyka - Chevron Blanket10

I followed the standard pattern, but started and stopped my yarn at the peaks where you would have normally put a 3 sc. Then I did my sc decrease at the beginning and end of each row to keep it flat. Here is a better picture of my fill in and a corner below.

Threads by ionyka - Chevron Blanket11

It turned out exactly like I wanted so I am super happy I opted for my own solution here.

Here are a few more photos of the completed blanket, I look forward to using it in our nursery!

Threads by ionyka - Chevron Blanket9 Threads by ionyka - Chevron Blanket12

Questions or comments? Leave me a note below! Thanks for stopping by!

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