Sweet & Simple Checkered Blanket

At its core, this is a very simple pattern: worked entirely in double crochet, each checkerboard square is 10 stitches wide and 6 rows tall. However, I have lots of pointers on how best to accomplish that (and easily manage the many color changes!). • This pattern is worked by carrying the inactive yarn all throughout the blanket. It’s a wonderful way to do all the color changes without having a million ends to weave in, but the carried yarn does show through a bit in the end result. For that reason, I highly recommend choosing your colors carefully — a lighter, more mellow/pastel color won’t show through white or ivory nearly as much as a brighter or darker one will. • Always change color as the final yarn-over of the 10th dc • Yarn management tip: Keep your skeins about a foot apart from each other. When changing color, yarn the new color over relative to where the skein is next to you so that the two yarns don’t become crossed as you constantly swap the colors. (This will make more sense after your first couple of color changes!) • Crochet OVER the inactive yarn, tugging lightly on it before each color change to keep it nice and flat. • When doing the turning chains, alternate the colors to “walk” the colors up so they are both at the height of the new row. • I typically use Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn for this pattern and it uses ~1.5 skeins of each color (about 1000 yards total).