January 9, 2021
I’ve found the pattern I want to use for my Advent minis! I was inspired by my fellow Year of Projects blogger, Lucy Bowen, who is making the Battenberg Blanket with hers. This is a (free) pattern by Sandra of the Cherry Heart podcast complete with video tutorials.
I wound up the first mini and made as many squares as I could. It seems I can make 6 from each 10g mini skein. Each square is 2.25” across.
I ordered some Valley Yarns Huntington from Webs in Natural to be my neutral color. (The pattern is alternating colors and natural, like a checkerboard or Batternberg cake.)
24 x 6 = 144 colored squares
+144 Natural squares = 288
If I did 12 x 20, that would be 27” x 45” which is a small baby blanket size.
16 x 16 = 256 would be 36” square which would require just 16 / 2 = 8 more squares which I could make from left-over stash sock yarn. With the wider heart lace border from Sandra’s Nature’s Walk blanket, this would be roughly 40” square which is a perfect donation size.
Sandra’s blanket is king size and is 1020 (34 x 30) squares!
I don’t know how large I want to make mine but you make all the colorful squares first then use the natural to join-as-you-go. So, this will be a long-term project and I’ll just slowly work up the minis I have into solid grannies and then see what I feel like doing. Heck, maybe I’ll order another Yarn Advent calendar for next year.
January 5, 2022
I did order a 2021 Advent Calendar, again from Vicki Brown Designs, but it got delayed in the mail. It finally arrived two days ago. I didn’t get to open them day by day but I added them all to my project bag of minis and they’ll add a lovely variety of colors.
I’ve re-watched Sandra’s videos to rekindle my enthusiasm for the project and I’ve set up a basket by my bed with all the supplies. I’m going to have surgery on Friday so I’m going to use this as my recovery project.
Size options with 48 mini skeins:
576 = 24 x 24 = 54” x 54”
576 = 32 x 18 = 72” x 40.5”
January 6, 2022
My surgery went smoothly, the only excitement being the first major snow storm of the season that made getting there a minor adventure. But by around 1:00 I was tucked in my own bed at home with this project. I completed 10 more of the little solid grannies, which doesn’t seem much at only a few grams each, but everything takes longer in miniature.
I’ve now finished (and joined one of each of) the first eight mini skeins. I reached out to my friend Julie who has made several blankets using this pattern (and worsted weight yarn) for advice on joining because I am having trouble wrapping my head around the order to add squares. I still have to study what she sent me and get on with it! I’m regretting doing sc for the join and not ss since it would look the same from the front and be smooter on the back, but not enough to redo them. 
April 20, 2024
I’m picking this up again as my next monogomous make as I make my way through my pre-2024 WIPs. (This is WIP #9 of 11.)
I think I’ll do 27 x 21 = 60.75” x 47.25” = 567 squares (!)
But I can worry about making a final decision once I make up enough squares to at least make a few rows at the width.
Going into this, I’ve got 8 of the 48 hand dyed mini-skeins complete. I’m going to work up 1/4 of the minis then do some joining, then keep going doing 12 minis, and doing some more joining. Then, I’ll join the second squares randomly, then the third squares randomly, and so on until I get to the sixth squares. This should distribute the colors pretty well around the blanket. (And keep me from getting too bored just doing squares or joining.)
Today I spent some quality time (several hours) with my yarn swift, hand winding the mini-skeins into balls. It felt like Easter again with them all in my little basket. However, after retrieving one from the floor and finding a several-yard piece chewed off, I’ve transferred them to my favorite Meghan Makes Do project bag to keep them safe from the kitties. I also found a box with a lid to keep the completed squares in after Java, one of the miscreant kitties, tried to make off with a few.
April 23, 2024
Only three days later and I’m done with 18 minis and half way through the 19th. These are going faster than I expected they would! I didn’t stop after 12 to join any because these don’t require any thinking so are good evening, after work crochet. I think I’ll make squares in the weekday evenings and join squares on the weekends.
I’d also like to save some square making for next month when we’re flying to DC to visit my oldest daughter. The squares would be perfect for working on while in an airplane.
April 27, 2024
I completed the 24th mini yesterday, so I am half done with the colorful squares. I also added 4 or 5 more Natural squares, doing the JAYG with them. My brain is still not grasping the idea of the right way to add each new set of squares. That may be because I’m trying to build out the top row first and Sandra’s instructions are more for going on a diagonal. But it is growing.
It’s Sunday and we’re driving out to Amherst to tour UMass Amherst (Jeremy, me, B and C), so I’ll get some more minis made up on the drive. We went to UMass Lowell on Friday (minus C) and B really liked it. It’s going to be a tough decision for B between the two.
May 25, 2024
Almost a month since the last update and I’m still plugging away at this. I finished the last of the colorful squares today and I’ve joined the second set of the 48 so I am a little more than 1/3 done with the main body of the blanket.
This second quarter of the year is going to be the season of little squares for me. After doing 5 projects made from little squares made from the Catona Colour Pack, and now these endless tiny, solid grannies I think I might need to choose the amigurumi dragon to be my next project. Even though the remaining blanket I have left to make from my pre-2024 WIPs (the Shiny Blanket) is a lot different from these, it’s still squares!
I underestimated how long this project would take and it’s unlikely I will get this blanket, plus the remaining two projects, done before the end of the quarter. We’ll see. I am itching to move on to some knitting!
The trip to DC was very fun and these little squares were indeed a great thing for the airplane. And, since I mentioned it earlier, my son ended up choosing UMass Lowell as his college for September.
May 27, 2024
It’s Monday evening of Memorial Day weekend and I put a crazy number of hours into this blanket. I am now 50% done with joining the top!
June 15, 2024
Half-way into June and I am 80% done joining the squares of the main body of the blanket. 5 more rows to go and their colorful squares are already done.
June 23, 2024
I have finished joining the last row of squares! On to the border.
June 28, 2024
And she’s done. I’ve decided there’s no need for blocking. The blanket has a lovely weight and drape.
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