Last autumn mermaid blankets were all the rage and I desperately wanted one – being cozy whilst looking like a mermaid, what is there not to love?! So, in November I decided to make my own. I opted for Mad Hooker‘s free crochet pattern, because it looked straightforward and I’m a faster crocheter than knitter!
I pulled from my stash 2 large balls of Hayfield Bonus Aran Tweed in Fisher that I had found at a car boot sale over the summer (bargain!). The yarn has a lovely weight to it without being too unwieldy to work quickly.
On my goodness that first row of chains took forever – at this point I was used to working in the round and had not discovered foundation SC/DC chains which are much less fiddly.
Then I embarked on many many rows of shell stitch!! Over the next year I took this to soft play centres and Home education groups, working between other projects as, lets face it, 100 and something rows of shell stitch is pretty repetitive!!
I joined the stitches at the back in the summer and, looking back on mad Hooker’s pictures now, I did that a little differently than suggested in the pattern; joining the 2 edges directly rather than compensating for the pattern at the join, but it all worked out fine.
I continued in the round for a while longer and then started to become frustrated – I had technically done the required number of rows but had to add on extra due to my height (I am 6ft tall), but I continued on with the end in sight and started decreasing early to try and speed up the process!!
Once I reached a length I was happy with I decreased and closed off the end, and made and attached the fin all in an afternoon – hurrah! I didn’t bother finishing the slit at the back as I wasn’t sure I’d have enough yarn, I might do this at a later date.
I’m really pleased with my mermaid blanket. The yarn is lovely and warm and it was easy to work with. The pattern is fab – thank you Mad Hooker!! Now I get to be a mermaid whenever I want!!
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