Giant Granny Patches


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U P D A T E

This blanket is now available as a downloadable PDF


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Yay, my knight on his white charger did work his magic.  The internet back again and I can post again.  Yippee!

Thank you everyone for all of your lovely comments and congratulations recently.  I’m afraid I’m finding time a little short at the moment what with illness and babies and holidays to content with and so I’m struggling to get back to everyone.  I do try, but if I didn’t manage to get around to you this time, then I’m sorry, but thank you very much!

I’m very excited about what I have to share today though.  It’s a huge ta-dah moment for me, that’s for sure.




Do you remember me talking about my Giant Grannie Patches blanket?  You’ve seen it in various stages of completion but guess what?  I did it. I actually finished it.  All 672 squares and 11 border rows of it!  See what I mean? Pretty exciting, I hope you’ll agree.



I can’t really say why on earth I took it into my head to start such a mammoth project.  I think it was mostly because I still hadn’t got that blanket fixation out of my head and for some reason or other I fancied taking on something big.  Maybe just because it’s been a while since I tackled something that would take me longer than a few weeks.



Whatever the reason, I went to my trusty acrylic store and started picking out colours.  Don’t you just love this bit?  A whole world of possibilities and combinations, which to choose?

I didn’t want the colours to be too fresh and bright this time, I wanted more of an aged, vintage, ‘granny made this one years ago’ type feel to it.  I also knew that I wanted a lovely strong, deep red to pull it all together and so, slowly, selections were made and the blanket was begun.



With all of these millions of squares to make there was no way I could face sewing them all together, so I had to go with the Join As You Go method.  Although this should be the perfect solution to joining, it’s not my favourite to use.  I have to say though, 672 squares later I don’t think I have any problems with it any more and I certainly wouldn’t have got this blanket done without it!



The border is of my own devising, although I’m sure it’s not a remotely new idea.  I thought this part would be so easy as I had this border idea in my mind from almost the start of the blanket.  I wanted it to be wide and I wanted it to be colourful.

So often you see, I have these grand plans to do a wonderful colourful border, but by the end of the blanket I’ve wimped out and decided that it’d be too much and overwhelm the colours and pattern of the blanket itself.  Not this time though.  This time, I was determined!



It wasn’t easy though, oh no.  What you see here is the third attempt and quick frankly it’s still not right.  The pattern of it, I love.  It’s nice and colourful and wide, which is just what I wanted.  It lays  flat and doesn’t wrinkle or wave, which is great.  But... I’m still not completely happy with my colour choices.  The red, purple, pink, teal at the edge is perfect but those middle greeny, peachy, bluey colours don’t sit right with me.  They are a little too pale for my liking.

I wanted the border to reflect the overall ‘feel’ of the blanket and it doesn’t quite do that.  I guess you might think I’m being very picky and maybe even over critical and you’re probably right but there it is.  It doesn’t ruin the blanket for me or anything, I still love it to pieces but it's just not perfect, ya know?

Anyway, enough of my whining, let’s have some more blanket shots:







Huge isn’t it?  That’s my king size double bed and it’s even draping down the sides of it!  I didn’t think I had it in me, I honesty didn’t.

And, for everyone who wants to know the more practical details, here’s a breakdown for you:

The Stats

Ravelry page: Giant Grannie Patches
Weight: 2100g
Size: 178 x 188cm / 71 x 75”
Yards: 6825 (approx)

Yarn type and colour:



















1 - Stylecraft Special DK, Grape (1067)
2 - Stylecraft Special DK, Pale Rose (1080)
3 - Stylecraft Special DK, Silver (1203)
4 - Stylecraft Special DK, Teal (1062)
5 - Stylecraft Special DK, Cloud Blue (1019)
6 - Rowan Wool Cotton, Goldilocks (971 - discontinued unfortunately)
7 - Stylecraft Special DK, Claret (1123)
8 - Hayfield/Sirdar Bonus DK, Teal (890)
9 - Stylecraft Special DK, Shrimp (1132)
10 - Stylecraft Life DK, Mint (2342)
11 - Stylecraft Special DK, Copper (1029)
12 - Stylecraft Special DK, Aster (1003)
13 - Stylecraft Special DK, Soft Peach (1240)
14 - Stylecraft Special DK, Sherbert (1034)
15 - King Cole Big Value DK, Lawn Green (011)
16 - Stylecraft Special DK, Mocha (1064)
17 - Stylecraft Special DK, Raspberry (1023)

Number of colours used: 17
Yarn weight: DK
Hook size: 4.00mm (USA - G)
Square size: 6 x 6cm / 2 1/2 x 2 1/2”
Square pattern: 3 rounds of granny square
Number of squares: 672
Border thickness: 9 cm / 3 1/2”
Number of border rows: 13 rounds (11 colours used)

Well, that’s everything I can possibly think of but if I missed something, let me know...



I hope you like my huge, huge blanket of tiny, tiny squares. 

I confess that I do and I feel like I’ve passed some sort of crochet milestone or a right of passage or something.  Maybe my self belief even grew a little bit today...


S x


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U P D A T E

This blanket is now available as a downloadable PDF


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Comments

  1. I think it's beautiful. :-D And I am in awe of your perseverance! So many squares!

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  2. Oh my word! This is stunning! You did such a great job! I must make a patchworky afghan now :)

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  3. Oh I LOVE this!!! I have still got to get round to my crib size one for my (no longer a) baby! This is tremendous. 2 Kg!!!! Stunning x

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  4. Wow, that's a great looking blanket! And all the patience that's in it: respect! Liz

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  5. I am speechless--- It is so beautiful and I really enjoyed reading about your journey too! I really suffer a crash in confidence when selecting colours. I am confident with the blue spectrum but suffer severe collywobbles moving away from my comfort zone. I love the border and actually I love it all

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  6. This blanket is really beautiful and I find the fancy edging finishes it perfectly and is so pretty and unusual! Well done for all your hard work!

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  7. It is a wonderful gorgeous blanket and I can not but congratulate you on your patience ...wooow! You did an AMAZING job and you must be soooo proud! It is beautiful!
    Angie

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  8. What a fabulous blanket Sansra. Gorgeous colours and I love your border design.

    Carole :-)

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  9. Wow - so beautiful! Everything you make is perfect! I can't believe how big it is either - that is some achievement!
    Maria x

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  10. Love it, love it, love it! It looks gorgeous, great colour choices, especially the dark red, and only my two pence, but I like the border colours just as they are, great balance.

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  11. Beautiful colors!!
    I love your crochet!
    Greetings from Riga (Latvia)

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  12. WOW!! I love the look of this blanket - using block colours for each square rather than different ones each round - it gives it a wonderful bold and striking style! You did amazingly well to persevere with that number of squares!! I'd love a blanket that covered my big bed!! I've recently taught myself on you tube how to crochet a granny square so maybe in 5 years I'll be able to tackle something like this!! No wonder you were excited to post about it. Well done! J9x

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  13. Wow, this blanket is beautiful! I love that you made each block a solid color. I had to show it to my husband, he is a fan of granny squares. :)

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  14. I just spied on Rav and am so utterly in love with your huge huge huge and beautifully made blanket. As the above poster says, I also love the look of block colours, and you got the vintage look just right, I had been trying to work out the mustard/gold colour in Stylecraft and now I know why I can't!

    I've just spent a lot of time today doing my "done" post of my ripple....it's so satisfying documenting your growing process and "journey". 6oo and something squares, hats off to you girl!

    Fiona xx

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  15. So beautiful:-) so much work but the result is perfect...

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  16. Gorgeous!
    Well done to you- a real labour of love!
    I really love the colours, too.
    Have a great week!
    X

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  17. I am seriously in love with your blanket!! Well done you for having the patience and persisting, it is truly stunning and you must be so proud!

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  18. I am completely in awe, GORGIOUS!!! What a lot of work, what a lot of ends to weave in :-) I am going to London tomorrow, for the Olympics (eek!!) but also hope to pick up some lovely stylecraft there. If you have any idea where to get it: please let me know! Enjouy your wonderful blanket!
    Esther.

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  19. SUPERWOOOOOOOO!!!!! congratulatios!!!!!!!!


    Esperanza✿⊱╮

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  20. CONGRATULATIONS! You've finished the most awesome project and it's gorgeous. Beautiful colours and gorgeous granny squares. You should be SO proud of yourself for completing such a project. Enjoy!
    Anne xx

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  21. Wow That is one gorgeous blanket. Congratulations on persevering to the end.

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  22. Sandra this is so beautiful!! You did such an amazing job!! Love it, and thanks for sharing the details about it!! So fun!! Have a great week! xo Heather

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  23. It's an absolutely stunning blanket! You should be so proud!

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  24. Love love love your blanket of tiny tiny tiny squares. We've done a much smaller version, so can imagine the TON of work that went into yours.
    Beautiful.
    That raspberry must be one of my new favourite colours.

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  25. Wow, I love your blanket. It is so wonderful. And so many squares. How long do you work on it?

    Lisa

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  26. My daughters have recently started on granny-patch blankets, and this masterpiece is an enormous inspiration! Well done.

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  27. Your new big blanket is absolutely gorgeous, well done finishing such a big project! Wendy xx

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  28. Sandra, I hope you don't get tired of me commenting on this blanket in every possible way ;-) Absolutely GORGEOUS!!! ♥ And why on earth I took it into my head to start my own? Why, I have you to blame of course! :D Just wanted to add that I love the border, it looks absolutely perfect to me. Thank you for the inspiration!! xxxx

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  29. Hi Sandra, I LOVE your latest blanket....it's wonderful. You are right the deep red pulls it all together and the more muted colours make it easy on the eye....it's just stunning !
    Jacquie x

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  30. it's gorgeous! and the border is perfect!

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  31. It stunning! I like the border because the lighter inner bits draw the eye into the lovely middle part. What a sense of achievement. xxx

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  32. Dear Sandra, I have to say: WOW!!! Your qilt is sooo lovely! and for me something impossible to do. Great, really great work! :-) Have a nice friday and weekend! Jolana

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  33. Your blanket is absolutely beautiful! I LOVE the color combinations. Big Congrats are in order for finishing such a mammoth project!
    Smiles, DianeM

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  34. Its beautiful. I can do the granny squares biut cant quite manage to join them so my crochet blankets just end up been a giant granny square.
    S x

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  35. Oh my my!!!!! What a lovely blanket..... absolutely stunning

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  36. Absolutely fabulous - and I love the little sneak in one of your pics of the patchwork bedspread beneath.

    Have a great weekend. Ruth

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  37. I think your blanket is beautiful and the colours compliment each other really well. Thanks for listing the colours you used :)

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  38. Very pretty ! Thats alot of squares !!

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  39. Wow, gorgeous blanket. It's huge! And very colourful and pretty too. Such an achievement, well done.

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  40. Sandra that is a glorious blanket, I love everything about it, I would love to have that on my bed all snuggly. I made a singish size ripple blanket last year and vowed to make a large one for our bedroom, now g've seen how fabulous yours looks I'm thinking I'll make that my winter project! Now what colours shall I use! x

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  41. Maravilhoso trabalho, obrigado por compartilhar
    abraços

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  42. Completely Stunning!!!!! A lovely choice of colours and such a lot of effort has gone into making such a marvellous piece. I'm with you on the join as you go method, it's not my favourite, but on big patchwork projects, its so much easier and you have more of a will to carry on when you see it growing in one final piece rather than lots of little pieces. Well done on such a big project!

    xxxxxxxxxxx

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  43. Congratulations! Absolutely gorgeous!

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  44. I think it's absolutely beautiful! I love old things, vintage things and your blanket definitely has a vintage look. I can only imagine the number of hours you put into it. As much as I dislike projects that take forever, I'm tempted to one day make one of these for myself. It's something that will be passed down from generation to generation, to someday become truly vintage. Love it!

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  45. I don't think you should feel bad about starting a project like that. I myself decided to start a project very similar to this at the beginning of the summer and I am starting to see that I have bit off way more that I had anticipated. I absolutely love what I have so far, but it is such a pain in the butt! Yours turned out so gorgeous! It is so worth all of the torture!

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  46. Oh!my oh! my oh! my that is one mammoth task but a fantastic result....incredible!!!
    The border is perfect!

    Finally got my giveaway on the go and it open to everyone,pop in when you can :-)

    Amanda :-)

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  47. This blanket is absolutely gorgeous. Everything about it is stunning. I do have a question, how did you decide which color to use next since you were doing join as you go?
    Teresa

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  48. It's gorgeous! I love the colours and I'd love to know how you get your blankets to come out so flat with the join as you go method. I always end up with ridge. Although like you I much prefer it, as I'm not keen on the sewing together after I can't seem to make my blankets flat. I am in awe of your perserverance!
    Happy weekend!
    x

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  49. Spectacular! I can't wait to try this.

    -- Colleen @ Made by Colleen

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  50. It is amazing! Simply beautiful!
    I bought a pile of acrylic last year intending to create a smaller blanket made from plain patches but I only got as far as five squares. Your blanket has rekindled my desire to make it! Must get started and it might even be ready for next winter!

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  51. Wow! I think the sheer number of comments here tells you that we all think this is one gorgeous blanket. I can really appreciate the time that's gone into this!

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  52. Wow! Beautiful! I love granny squares but i think they take forever! (Done my fair share of them as a "New" Crocheter years ago.)But this puts me in the mood to do some more!! :) And i absolutely LOVE your border! Isn't it always the way though.. when we make things there always something that's not quite how we pictured it in our heads? :D Thank you for having such a fun blog to follow!

    Cami Lynn

    randomobsessionsofcami.blogspot.com

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  53. Love it, love it!!!! What a great way to brighten up a room. And what a great accomplishment, because it is BIG! I am sure you will enjoy it for many days to come...
    ♥ Ana BC

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  54. It's brilliant! I utterly, utterly LOVE it, along with everyone else by the looks of it. You've made a treasure there :D

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  55. Your blanket is stunning!
    Victoria x

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  56. Thats a lot of squares! and it's gorgeous of course!

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  57. Hi Sandra, thanks for taking the time to visit my new bit of blogland and commenting!! I've followed so many creative blogs for a while and never realised the difference an simple comment can make!! It made my heart skip so want to do that for other people too!! Thank you! J9 x

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  58. is a huge job! Wonderful! your bed with a blanket and pillow is a garden of colors! and you've had a lot of patience! I love this blanket! congratulations for your work!

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  59. Absolutely beautiful. I must stop looking at your blog because everytime I do I feel the need to make your latest offering :)and this one is no exception.Well done.

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  60. I just stumbled across your blog and I love it. This afghan is gorgeous and I love the way you joined the squares. I love grannies, but hesitate to do them because I hate putting them together.

    This is a fun place to be!

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  61. Huge lovely colorful blanket!
    xxxx Alessandra

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  62. I already said this on Ravelry, but I really LOVE this blanket. The colours are just purrrr-fect ;)
    I always like your colour choices, the slight vintage feel to them, but still cheery and bright. Love it!!

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  63. How on earth did i miss this post. That blanket is stunning. My jaw dropped a bit. Looks like it must have taken ages. How do you find the time! Super woman!

    Amazing, well done!

    Helen xx

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  64. A little late to the party I know (what can I say, summer hols?!) but......What an A-Maz-Ing blanke! The balance of colours and little blocks of colour is just fab. I can't imagine the hours of work that has gone into it, but can imagine many hours snuggled underneath it!!!!

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  65. Wow, that is amazing and beautiful, after recently learning knitting, I am definitely getting on board crocheting as well. You have inspired me.
    Ren

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  66. Really very beautiful and simple.

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  67. Hi, this is the first time I have left you a comment. I love the blanket you have just finished. The colours are lovely, the way it is put together is lovely. Well everything is lovely. please can you let me know how you did the border? thank you vina x

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  68. It's gorgeous!!!! Love love love the border. Xx

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  69. This is just fantastic! I've just finished making a cushion cover like this and I've just worked out that you have made about 27 times what I've made, can that be right?! it is! amazing, maybe I could carry on going.... Heather x

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  70. wow, that is gorgeous :) what a mammoth effort :)

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  71. All I can do is chime in with all the other commentators. This blanket is a wonder! So very beautiful - it makes my fingers itch. Should I start one too? Still contemplating! Greetings from Germany

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  72. Woow, what a great work, hats off! I really love that blanket :-)

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  73. I'm making one huge blanket of 3-rows-squarea and I calculated I'm gonna need about 800 of them! I have 88 by now!
    You did a great work,I hope mine will look also this great!

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  74. Oh my! That is a beautiful beautiful blanket Sandra. Well done - 672 squares gosh!! It looks absolutely wonderful. xx

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  75. I really love your giant granny blanket, and I think all the colours are wonderful - well done!

    Jen

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  76. Your blanket is so amazing, beautiful work! :)
    Vivienne x

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  77. This is a wonderful blanket, congratulations for the finish. You have a ton of patience to have accomplished this:)

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  78. OMGolly gosh i am in AWE!! WOW you should be doubly thrilled, it's HUUUUGE and it's GORGEOUS!! cheers...Marian

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  79. Oh what a beautiful blanket.

    I wonder if you could share how you joined the squares togther please. Am currently working on a blanket for my son and am not sure of the best way to join. I do like how you've done it though.

    Simmy xx

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  80. You are my new role model. I think your blanket is a work of art and an excellent example of perserverance that most of us seem to be missing.

    Bravo!

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  81. How fantastic! My eye was drawn to your thumbnail photo as I'm building up to a big blanket project and am giving some thought to the design at the moment. Also love the patchwork quilt shown in one of your pics x

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  82. What a beautiful blanket. I found your site through Bunny Mummy. Have a wonderful day. Heather

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  83. Dear friend Sandra, I see that is dedicated to various types of crafts you loved their work is to be congratulated, and I'm following you forever be here hugs and have a great day.

    http://crochesartesanatosvanda.blogspot.com.br/

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  84. Oh for the love of crochet lol. You have done a fabulous job on this and have inspired me to actually set myself a goal for me.. How many projects we do for others but never ourselves. I just ordered the wool (slightly different colours).. I am looking forward and scared to take on such a mammoth task..

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  85. oh once again you've created a simply STUNNING piece Sandra!

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  86. Dear Sandra, Thanks for truly being an inspiration to me! I worked my way thru this blanket and would very much be pleased if you could have a look at it here - http://diapermum.blogspot.hk/2013/01/gaint-granny-patch-blanket-ta-daah.html

    Again, lovely works, great blanket and thanks for providing us with such color and crafty love everyday..

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  87. I absolutely love this blanket. I don't think I would be able to make one quite this big, but you have inspired me to make a smaller one for my lounge. Thank you. Angela

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    1. Thanks Angela, so glad you like it and it's always so lovely to think I might have inspired someone else. :)

      S x

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  88. What a stunning piece of work. Thank you for the inspiration to get crocheting again...

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  89. stop fretting Sandra!! This blanket is absolutely gorgeous.. it's my favourite one I've seen, (and there are a lot of them out there). The colours make it look so stylish, you've inspired me to choose more vintage style colours to make this blanket. x

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  90. Your blanket is just splendiferous! Soooo many squares - I admire you for making it so large! It is really just gorgeous! Thank you for giving all the woolly details.

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