All my Easy-Care Acrylic Blankets are shipped ready to enjoy! Before every afghan is shipped, It has been soaked overnight in lavender *Eucalan Wool Wash, spin dried on a delicate setting, then laid out with a final straightening on the bed in the spare room to air dry. Laundering is tough on blankets, so skip the temptation to wash it upon receipt.

When your afghan needs laundering, soak overnight in the tub of your washing machine or a tub* with cool water and a mild soap (like baby shampoo or Woolite). If there are stains, spray or spot treat with an all fabric safe spray (like Zout, Oxi-Clean or Spray ’n Wash) prior to soaking.

After an overnight soak, spin dry on delicate stopping as soon as the water is spun out. Your blanket will be almost dry.

​Lay it out on a flat surface (a bed is perfect!) and gently shape if necessary. Do not use fabric softeners, bleach or an iron!

After laundering, you may have a couple "tails" pop out. These hardly noticeable yarn ends have been woven twice to lock them in, but washing/spinning can cause a couple ends to work their way out out. Simply weave them back in with a darning needle or tug gently and snip close to afghan after a gentle pull to be sure that tail is long enough to ensure it won’t unrave! Gently work  the fibers straight after doing so. It is always best to reweave rather than snip!​

*No washing machine? Try this: soak overnight in a large tub, then drain the blanket in a large sink or tub and press out as much water as possible. Do not wring! Fold the blanket between 2 big towels, roll the towels and blanket, put the rolled blanket on a clean floor and gently press more water out by walking or pressing with your bare feet (yes!). This will gently force more water out. Now, unroll the bundle and lay flat to dry following instructions above.

You will need:
•  Wood (see note)
•  3, 1/4" x 48" Wooden Dowels
•  Pencil & Felt Marker
•  Ruler
•  Power Drill with 1/4" Wood Bit
•  A Light Cutter or Small Saw
•  Optional Pencil Sharpener
•  Sand Paper
•  Thompsons Water Seal Spray or a can of spray paint.

WOOD Note: You can use scrap wood on hand cut into a square at least 1" larger than the finished size of your yarn squares. I used a length of 2 x 8 pine cut off to make a 7-1/4" square* which is ideal for these 5-1/2" grannies. However, a larger or smaller piece of scrap wood that's bigger than the finished size of your squares will do. If your scrap wood is thinner in depth, you might want to glue 2 pieces together to make the drill holes deeper to give extra support to the dowels. The 2" depth shown here is perfect. *Most 2x8 pine boards are 2" deep x 7-1/4" wide; not 8"!?

Make them mass production!

You'll Need:
Lion  Mandala Ombré Yarn (for throw size)
    4 Cakes Mantra (Aquas/Blues)
    2 Cakes Harmony (Lt - Dark Denim Blues)
Hook: 6 mm (J), or size required for gauge
Scissors, Yarn Needle, Stitch Marker
Substitutions: Acrylic Yarns with a Weight of 4 (Medium)
(My) Finished Size 44" 68" +/-(Throw).

​I started the Healing Granny Ripple Blanket with the darkest* of the "Harmony" yarn for first 6 rows, then switched to the "Mantra" until I got to 6 rows short of my desired length switching back to 6 rows of darkest Harmony to anchor my waves. 

*Lion Brand Ombré Cakes have several color bands. Mantra cakes have 6 shades of color while the Harmony cakes had 3 varied tones of the same shade of light to dark blue denim. To create the beginning and end rows, Granny Points and foundation for the blanket edging I wound a ball of each color from the cakes, joining with an invisible knot as necessary, unwinding a cake in each color (larger blankets my require more border yarn). 

SKILL LEVEL: Easy (with basic knowledge of crochet techniques).
SIZE: Small; approx. 18” x 24” (46 cm x 60cm). Medium +10 ST; Large +20 ST.
REPEAT: 5 pattern REP, increase as desired to any size in multiples of 5.
GAUGE: Not necessary. Cats don’t care what size their blanket is!
US TERMS

US Terms
You Will Need 

• 5, 3.5oz skeins 5 colors, #4 worsted weight cotton or acrylic make 4 placements; 14 - 16" diameter*
• 5mm hook
• 1 tapestry needle

​
Abbreviations
st(s) stitch(s)
ch chain
ch-sp(s) chain space
sp(s) space(s)
sc single crochet
dc double crochet
hdc half double crochet
tr treble crochet
sp dc spike double crochet
2dc-cl  2 double crochet cluster 
ss slip stitch ss slip stitch    
sk skip
yo yarn over hook

Notes All Rounds:
• All rounds are worked front side facing 
• Pattern repeat in bold type for each round makes pattern reading easy once you know how to start each row.
• Join new yarn at the beginning of each round.
Count/fasten off:
• Count after every round, if stitch count is off, pattern won’t work and you’ll need to inc/dec as necessary or frog!
• Fasten off every, weave in tail in well.
​
Special Stitches
Spike dc (sp dc): Yarn over, insert hook into indicated stitch in row below, and draw up a loop to the height of the current row. Yarn over and draw through 2 loops twice.
2dc cluster: Yo, insert hook into stitch and draw up a loop (3 loops on hook). Yo and draw through 2 loops. Yo. Insert hook into the same stitch, and draw up a loop (4 loops on hook). yo and draw through 2 loops. Yo and draw through remaining 3 loops. 
Picot: Ch5, ss to 1st ch.

 Handmade_Trim_Sheep.pdf
Easy option. These tags are ready to download and print with no customization necessary (sheep graphic at bottom of tag).