The finished article: Cath Kidston-inspired granny square blanket.

I'm so pleased to be showing you this blanket today - it's always lovely to finish something. This blanket was inspired by the lovely colours Mrs K uses in her products; and is destined to be used in the boy's playroom/reading room. The room, as you can see, is brightly coloured, with red being the primary colour.

For this blanket, I used Hayfield Bonus DK wool; simply because it's a cheap acrylic available at a local wool shop: ten 100g balls for 12 pounds is hard to beat; particularly when you're on maternity leave. It's not as nice to feel as the lovely Debbie Bliss that I would normally use; and quite splitty; but it's sturdy, and not as difficult to crochet with as I would have imagined. I was going to block the squares, but I decided it probably wasn't worth the effort - I think in retrospect, I would the next time.

It's a very simple pattern - twelve granny squares of twelve rounds (two rounds of each colour); then each square ended with a white round. I joined them using Lucy at Attic 24's joining method; and then finished off with a few large rounds of the colours; and a scalloped granny edging with red (again Lucy - many thanks).

I'm very chuffed with it - as is my three year old, who has used it for picnics for him and the toys and a tent already. I hope it's up to the task ahead. In the meantime, I'm carefully considering a next project as my other two are slightly boring me.  I'm still in love with granny squares, and am considering making even more big granny square blankets as gifts for a couple of girls I know.  We'll see.