granny

I am lucky enough to have two granny blankets, one each from both my Nanas. I have carted them around for many years, and they have served me well. After years of service, they are only just now starting to wear, despite my painstaking repairs and careful cleaning, and I know their days are almost over.

I treasure these two blankets, because they symbolise memories of two women I loved dearly, and who's hands worked steadily, constantly. Both instilled a love of handwork in me from a very tender age, and both were beautiful craftspeople.

In these blankets, I can see both their personalities so clearly - the clean, even (slightly tight!) tension of Nana Rob, and the free-and-easy stitchwork of Nana Button (yes, that's her real surname - isn't it fabulous?).

I have wanted to create a granny blanket of my own for a long time - something to pass onto Lily. I have started a couple of times, but always seem to become overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.

So when I read about Pip's idea of "A Granny a Day", naturally my interest was piqued. I can, I thought, manage a granny-a-day, surely?

Here are my first three...

Turns out I will need approximately 100 of these to make a decent size blanket, and broken down to one a day, well, that just seems easy!

I am desperately trying not to plan these squares too much - I don't want this blanket "styled", I'd rather stay close to the original concept of using up your odds and ends, bringing them all together into a lovely item. My only concession to order is to work the last row of all the squares in cream, so when time comes to sew it all together, the process (hopefully) won't be so arduous!

Let's see where I am in 100 days!