Self-Striping Blanket Yarn Trial

We’ve all seen the beautiful “cakes” of yarn in the craft stores and while I personally don’t use very much “skinny yarn,” I definitely think the idea of so many coordinating and complimentary colors on one skein is very appealing. So when I saw a cake of Bernat’s Self-Striping Blanket Yarn (my favorite yarn) several months ago, I really wanted to try it but didn’t buy it and forgot. As fate would have it, I later stumbled upon a pin all about self-striping yarn. Cintia from My Poppet didn’t use blanket yarn but she did go over a couple of different types and talked about techniques and provided some patterns. So off to the store I went and found two skeins of Bernat Baby Blanket Stripes yarn. I figured I’d better start out small to test it out. I’m so glad I did!

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This project is also part of the May Pinterest Challenge Blog Hop! The purpose of this Pinterest Challenge is to motivate all the participants of this hop (and you too) to not just pin, but to make it happen! Do you have a project in mind?

To join next month’s #pinterestchallenge, click here to sign-up ⇒ June Pinterest Challenge.

Does Self-Striping Blanket Yarn Work?

Before I tell you how I got this yarn to work for me, let me tell you how it didn’t work. I started with just a simple chain and then single crochet stitches. Since it was labeled as baby blanket yarn, I figured it wasn’t supposed to be very wide. I tried more than a dozen times, with different numbers on my chain to try and get the right width for it to change color at the end of a row like I expected. It never would. I guess I could have gone through 30 or 40 different counts, but who has time for that?

There were no instructions or pattern on the yarn like usual and I searched for instructions online to no avail. I even went back to my original inspiration pin to see if she had some insight. Nothing. Each skein of yarn started with a different color and length of the first color. It didn’t seem like the length they gave to any given color correlated to a pattern of any kind—it seemed random. I even tried making it into a hexagon like the original pin suggested but that didn’t turn out well with this type of thick yarn.

I eventually gave up and decided to force it to stripe by cutting the yarn at all of the color changes and then knotting at the end of color rows. On a positive note, you can save a bunch of money on yarn if you’re looking to make a multi-colored striped blanket by buying the self-striping yarn. All the colors look amazing together and you don’t have to buy multiple skeins that might not even get used up. I don’t see the “snuggle blanket” I created below as a Pinterest fail at all, though, but more like a Pinterest adaptation.

Self-Striping Blanket Yarn Snuggle Blanket Materials

• 3 Skeins Bernat Baby Blanket Stripes Yarn
• N/ 10mm Crochet Hook
• Scissors

Self-Striping Blanket Yarn Snuggle Blanket Steps

1: I unrolled the skeins and snipped the yarn where the colors met and wound them into balls. Mine was connected with white string wrapped tightly around both color ends, though, so I just unwound that.

2: Chain 58 plus one extra, turn, and single crochet into the second chain from the end.

3: Half double crochet into the next chain, then single crochet into the next. This is an adapted Griddle Stitch, the same one I used for my Santa Hat Crochet Blanket a while back. See that tutorial for why I adapted the stitch.

4: Do this stitch, alternating back and forth between single and half double crochet stitches until the end of the chain. The last stitch should be a half double. Chain one extra and turn.

5: Single crochet into the top of that last half double crochet stitch, then half double crochet into the next, repeating the two stitches for the rest of the row.

6: Repeat these steps to crochet 3 rows of that first color. (Or however many rows you’d like.)

7: At the end of the last row of that color, knot it to the end of the next color so that when you do your extra chain at the end, the loop is the new color.

8: Repeat the stitch for 3 rows of each color, but feel free to change up how many rows your stripes have like I did. I was trying to be economical with my yarn usage, so some of my stripe widths were determined by how much yarn I had left of each color.

9: Once you are done with the last row of the last stripe, chain 1, turn, then single crochet all the way across to the end of the row. In the last stitch, single crochet 3 times into that last stitch. Single crochet down the side of the blanket and all the way around the blanket to create a finished edge. Remember to put extra stitches in the corners. When you run out of yarn from that color, just knot on a new color and continue.

10: Once you have rounded the blanket, link the two ends together and then chain 2. Now you will make another loop around the blanket, but this time you will double crochet 2 times into each stitch. This will create a cute ruffle effect. If you don’t like the ruffle, don’t double up the stitches. Once you have completed the entire edge, link to the two ends together and tie it off.

Once I got past the hurdles of trying to figure out how this yarn worked, I was able to complete the blanket in just a couple of days. The little girl I gave it to absolutely loves it and she’s the one who named it a “snuggle blanket” since it’s perfect for snuggling under. She has tried to commission me to make a mini one for her toy pooch, but I haven’t made any promises lol. I would have been absolutely thrilled beyond belief if this “self-striping” yarn had actually lived up to my expectations, but I’m still very happy with the results. If you have successfully gotten this to self-stripe as advertised, please let me know and show me what magic spell you used to make it work! Let me end by saying Bernat’s Blanket Yarn, of any kind, is still my absolute favorite yarn I’ve ever used. Period.

If you’re looking for other easy baby blanket sized patterns, you should check out my very popular Quick & Easy Crochet Baby Blanket pattern. If you’re looking for loads and loads of free patterns, you should definitely go see the huge selection at All Free Crochet!

 

Now let’s see what other things Pinterest inspired! Head over and visit the other hosts to see what they crafted, cooked, built, or tried!

Erlene – My Pinterventures • Lauren – Mom Home Guide
Debbee – Debbee’s Buzz • Laurie – My Husband Has Too Many Hobbies
Marie – DIY Adulation • Julie – Sum of their Stories
Marie – The Inspiration Vault • T’onna – Sew Crafty Crochet
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Roseann – This Autoimmune Life • Terri – Our Good Life
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Kelley – Simply Inspired Meals • Joanne – Our Unschooling Journey
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