Crocheted Mario Mushroom Blanket

I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday yesterday! My husband and I had Christmas with my family last weekend, so we spent the day chilling out, maxing, relaxing, and watching movies and basketball. I was also finishing up crocheting this granny square Mario Mushroom blanket! Finally! No joke, I’ve been working on this on and off for about three years, ever since I saw this post on Craftster. I showed my husband the pictures (well, he was just my fiance back then) and he was like, “I NEED ONE!” Because what 20-something man (well, ladies too!) doesn’t love Mario? So after three years, 11 skeins of yarn, 256 little granny squares, and lots and lots of hours crocheting, my 8-bit, pixelated mushroom afghan is finally done! Now I can hit up the after-Christmas sales and pick up some supplies for a new project!

Supplies:
4 skeins of black worsted weight yarn (I used Red Heart Super Saver)
2 skeins of red worsted weight yarn
1 skein of peach/beige worsted weight yarn (I used Red Heart Super Saver in Buff)
4 skeins of white worsted weight yarn
H (5.0 mm) crochet hook
Tapestry needle
Scissors
After coupons and sales on yarn, the total price for the Mario Mushroom blanket is about $25.00 — not too shabby for a large, awesome present!

Following the pattern for classic granny squares that I posted back in September, crochet lots of granny squares. To be exact, you’ll need:
78 black squares
46 red squares
32 peach/beige squares
100 white squares

This will create a 16 x 16 square afghan that ends up being about 6 feet by 6 feet. It’s pretty huge! If you want it to be a bit bigger you can use a larger hook, just be sure to use the same hook size for all of your granny squares!

Once done (or perhaps before, if you’re looking to break up your work a little bit), follow the pattern and connect the squares whatever way you choose. I used a whip stitch because I wanted the blanket to be pretty on both sides, rather than having a visible slip stitch seam on one side.

When I finished connecting all of the squares, I put a two-row single crochet border around the edges to finish it off (using an H hook). For the corners, I added a couple extra single crochets in the three corner-most stitches. I followed a pattern of 2 sc, 3 sc, 2 sc in the corners and 1 sc in each stitch the rest of the way around.

When done, weave in the ends with a tapestry needle and trim off with scissors.

Okay, I just have to share one of my Christmas presents with you all! My parents got me three of these Crochet Lite crochet hooks and they’re so cool! The grip is really comfortable (a nice change from the aluminum hooks I usually use) and the top lights up. I was able to use the H hook to finish off the edging while watching movies, even though it was dark! It’s also helpful for working with black yarn, because sometimes it can be difficult to see the loops in such dark thread. My Mom found them on Amazon, but it seems like other people have found them at JoAnn’s or Michael’s too.

It was super hard to take good pictures of this blanket, because it’s so huge… but I love it! This is by far the biggest crochet project I have ever finished, but it was so worth it! I just love looking at its little mushroom face! What are some of your biggest crochet achievements? Let us know in the comments below!