Crochet update - finished blanket

This is one heavy blanket! It's been a great one to work on because once it got big enough it was a nice blanket to use while I added rows to the end. Let's start with the details:

Pattern is from BagODay Crochet on YouTube and it is very easy and the blanket is 112 stitches wide. The multiple is 8 stitches plus 3.
Yarn is Herrschner's Chunky Plush and I used 4 skeins of Aran and 3 of Tropical Green
Hook size 9mm (M/N)
​Finished blanket is 50' x 64'

Yarn review: I liked this yarn a lot better than I anticipated when I first received it. It crochets up easy and fast. It's rated a bulky 5 but it has to be a 6 and it makes a very heavy blanket, weighing in at 60 ounces. In the end it was quite stressful on my hands so I'd probably avoid using a super bulky yarn in the future.

The story behind this one is that I bought a kit from Herrschner's that was deeply discounted. I think I paid $19 for 7 balls of yarn. I figured that if I didn't like it that I could donate it to From The Heart and some of their dozens of volunteers would make something with it. When I first got the yarn I was not impressed. It felt very rough so it was slated for donation. But before I gave up I decided to make a swatch and see how it handled and I was surprised to find that I didn't mind the yarn at all.  

I knew that I didn't want to make the pattern in the kit. It was a shell type stitch that I felt was way to bulky for a yarn that was already way too bulky. About that time Crystal at BagODay posted the tutorial that I linked above. I liked the effect of the drop down double crochet stitches and thought it would make for an interesting stripe effect. Because I had 4 balls of the tan and 3 balls of the green I decided on doing 8 rows of tan to 6 rows of green. Size wise, that worked out close to perfect.

After I finished I decided that I didn't want the edges to be the light color because they would show wear and dirt faster. I added 3 rows of single crochet to each end and that also added some stability to the edges.
I don't know what I'm going to do with this one. I think it's way too heavy and bulky to be a chemo or dialysis blanket. For now it will go in the gift closet. I'm sure there will be a need somewhere where this one will find a perfect home. I'm contemplating starting another big blanket so that I'll have something to keep me toasty through February. But I also have a baby blanket to make.

In other crochet news, I'm working on a wheelchair blanket while I wait for the delivery of the baby blanket yarn. This will finish about 32 x 44 and I think I have enough of this clearance yarn to make 2. This will be a nice manly one. The corner to corner goes so fast and this is a great mindless project to do while Chris and I finally watch the Ozark series. So far we are enjoying it. The humor, quirky characters and brutality reminds me of Justified, one of my favorite series of all time.

I officially put away the duster for a while and started swatching for a sleeveless summer top. This is the Lion Brand Coboo yarn after going through and hot wash and dryer. It's awesome! As soon as Lion Brand has any sort of sale I'll be ordering yarn for the summer top. It will be an easy first garment to make.