Crochet Adventures: Chevron Blanket

So, you want to know what it really takes to crochet a nice sized blanket? I wondered the same thing. I scoured the internet searching for how long does it take to crochet a blanket? What is the average time it takes to crochet an afghan? I read all of these articles about how these people had finished his/her blanket in about a month. A month? That sounded reasonable to me. I scoured Pinterest trying to find a pattern that I liked. I wanted something simple.

No complicated stitches or patterns. Something that would stand the test of time. I stumbled upon this pin.

It’s a tutorial for a chevron baby blanket, and I fell in love. So, I drove myself to the craft store and picked up four skeins of yarn and a pack of crochet hooks. Keep in mind that I had only been using one hook size for all of my prior projects and decided to invest in a multi-pack of crochet hooks. I was armed and ready. One month. I could do this. It really couldn’t be that hard, could it?

Yep. Well, that was over a year and a half ago, and I’m still not halfway done. Yes, you read that right. A year and a half. You probably need to know that I haven’t been crocheting for hours at a time every single day for the past year and a half. I work on the project for about a month, crocheting probably 20 or 30 rows, and then I get bored, so I stop for a couple of months. I usually crochet the most in the late fall/winter/early spring because there isn’t much else to do, and it’s a wonderful excuse to watch a couple episodes of Chrisley Knows Best or New Girl.

The original dimensions for the blanket in the above link is 28″ x 38″. Now, I wanted my blanket to be substantial and doubled the width. At the moment, my blanket is 46″ x 25″. I’m wanting the blanket to be about 50″ or 60″ in length.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love this blanket, and I love what it’s turning into. It’s going to be a wonderful item to pass down in the family. I am using Caron with a size H hook.

I am following the directions and using single crochet, but if you love the pattern and want the process to go a bit faster, you could easily do double or even triple (or treble) crochet. At this point, I have already gone through three skeins of each color and am currently working on the fourth. Even at this size, the afghan is already relatively heavy and really thick. I can only imagine the weight when the blanket is complete. It’s going to be so nice in the winter!

Some days I think to myself and wonder why on Earth I thought it was a good idea to crochet a blanket that is now, at least at the current pace, going to take me a good eight years to finish.

Let me know in the comments what current crochet projects you’re working on! You can also check out my Pinterest board of crochet projects!

-Abigail Thomas