Happy Monday and...Eclectic Blankets!

I don't know about anyone else, but the weather here has turned positively rude. It bounces from gorgeous sunny days reminiscent of mid August to dour, drizzly days with temperatures dripping down low enough to nip at your toes (today it was a frosty 3 degrees C when I left for work). As much as I love the sun and fun of summer (and I really do--I mourn each minute lost to darkness as the days shorten), I love the cold season for its own reasons. Namely, as my boss puts it, hibernating. There is nothing better on a snarly cold night than hunkering down on the sofa with a mug of steaming hot drink (I like tea) and some yarny goodness. Yep, blanket making season is upon us.

So, in the spirit of that...blankets! A while ago, I saw a blanket on pinterest. It was done in rows using all different stitches and stitch combinations. I was so in love! The texture! The colour! So vibrant and exciting! What fun!
But, it was just an experiment someone was doing and had no pattern, so I figured I'd eventually get around to figuring one out for myself. As luck would have it though, lots of people are thinking about multi-stitch blankets, and some of them are posting the free patterns they've come up with!
Here's three patterns. Because they all use a whole pile of stitches, they actually end up looking kind of similar, even though they're different patterns.

First, there's the As We Go Stripey Blanket Crochet-Along by Hannah over at Not Your Average Crochet

It is a crochet along, but luckily Hannah is very organized and has links to each week in a handy sidebar. You just have to pick which week you're onto next and you're golden! I love this blanket, the colours are cheery and lovely, the stripes are brilliantly random. It's just too fun! 

Next up is the Mixed Stripes blanket from Elizabeth from Another Vegetarian. Elizabeth was actually following little woollie's crochet blanket, and making adjustments, so you can pick and choose from them. The start of her blanket adventure is here. Her blanket is no baby blanket--it's enormous (it's 7 1/2' WIDE), which sounds so awesome to me. The ripple blanket I am currently tackling is about 5' across, and will hopefully reach about 6' long. I just can't be bothered with blankets that don't actually cover me, even if they're just for snuggling on the couch--doesn't help that I get cold very easily and cocoon myself. But, back to the blanket! Here it is:

Finally, there's the ultra convenient downloadable Fantasy Blanket pattern from Ana Contreras on Ravelry. Although it is a baby blanket, it would be easy to adjust to a larger size if desired. The beautiful thing about these blankets is how flexible they are--really, once you have an idea of which stitches you like, you can mix and match anything about the pattern to your heart's content! That's the best kind of pattern, in my opinion.

 Did I mention that all of these are free? Yeah, free! I love free, and I especially appreciate it when I know how much time and effort goes into creating these patterns and then writing them out. So I love that these girls have taken the time to document their blanket making, even if they drew from another pattern (especially since credit was given where due). So, if you decide to make one of these up, please take a minute to go give some love to the girls who helped make it possible!

Happy Monday!