Project Linus Blanket #34

“Verdant Pastures”

You’re probably wondering where I came up with that name. Usually they are self-evident. After I finished weaving in the ends I tried figuring out what to call this blanket. I was going to go with something like Forest Canopy, but that didn’t feel right. Suddenly “Verdant Pastures” popped into my head. Most of you have probably never heard this phrase. It comes from a version of Psalm 23 that I’ve sung at church. Instead of making me lie down in green pastures (as found in most Bibles), this sung version says, “In verdant pastures he gives me repose,” and that phrase has just stuck in my head. ‘Verdant’ definitely sounds more lush and beautiful as compared to just plain ol ‘green’. 

Anyway, back to the blanket. This pattern actually comes from the February 2021 issue of Crochet World. The pattern is called “Scrappy Shells” and this is the picture that really grabbed me:

Typically I’m not good at visualizing what a pattern will look like if you change the colors. I change them anyway and hope that it turns out okay. This time, though, for some reason I saw this blanket with an ombre pattern in different green shades. I became obsessed with finding a line of yarn that had the right shades of green that would allow me to make this blanket as I saw it in my head. 

After I became terribly angry with the entertainment center Jay sent me to Hobby Lobby so that I could improve my mood. He told me to go play in the yarn until I could smile again. So I did.

It was a week when their yarn was 30% off. Now, this yarn is not cheap, but it’s one of my favorite brands of acrylic. I didn’t really want the yellow in the very middle, but I thought it might give it just a little bit of character. They didn’t really have anything else that would work. I think it looks fine.

It was a very simple pattern to follow. After the first several repeats I didn’t even look at the pattern. Also, they claim that this should only have 54 rows, but I know that I went way past that number. At one point I decided that I was just going to make it as large as I wanted. I think that when it was finished, per the pattern, it was supposed to be something like 50″ square. When I got close to the 54 row count I decided that they must have blocked the blanket to get it to that size. My goal is to have a blanket that can be instantly used when it comes out of the dryer. So I kept going.

I had to get this blanket washed and handed in so I couldn’t wait for natural daylight before taking the pictures. So these colors look a little brighter in that center than what it looked like in person. It looks like it is holey, but you don’t really notice them when the blanket is draped on you.

I really enjoyed this pattern. I will probably use it again in the future. I don’t think I will ever make it like the picture shows with the different colors, but that’s just because I’m lazy and don’t want to weave in a billion ends. This one was great because I had two ends to weave in when I was done. As I was changing colors I just used a magic knot. If it didn’t change exactly when it should have I didn’t really care. It was close enough. Whatever boy gets this blanket isn’t going to point at one of the joins and scream about how it is completely ruined because the color changes one stitch past where it should. I think they will just be happy to have something soft and warm to snuggle under.