Testing Patterns

After selecting three free crochet block blanket patterns as possibilities for my kit yarn project, I decided to make a block from each one to see how they worked up.

Bernat's Double Diamond Crochet Blanket pattern block was easy enough to work up. It produces a sturdy, solid block, and each one would use most of one of the smallest skeins. I found it a little tedious, however, as there are just double crochet stitches.

Bernat's Color Block Panels Crochet Blanket Pattern did not turn out as thick as they looked in the pattern photo, and you keep stitching with color changes to create blocks in long vertical panels, so there would be minimal joining work. The block used only about half a skein. That said, they're also a bit tedious to crochet, and just a bit too much like granny squares to suit me.

The Circle Takes the Square Blanket pattern was the clear winner for me. The block has stitch changes on the border so it's interesting to make, and I like how the finished block looks. It's an easy pattern to commit to memory so you don't have to keep referencing the pattern. I can use multiple colors to make the circles in the blocks, too, which is the most efficient use of the yarn bits. I'll need a supplemental yarn to serve as the outer row so I can make that all one color, but I have plenty of white and neutrals in my stash.

Some thoughts on kit yarn from working with it: as you might imagine this yarn is not the best quality. The feel is a bit scratchy, and the yarn itself is skimpy. The skeins from the smallest pack I thrifted are what I used to make the test blocks, and they all split and shed fibers like vintage acrylic does. They work better with larger rather than smaller hooks. I think the older some kit yarns are, the more brittle they become, so buyer beware.