Charcoal Blanket

I like to give blankets as wedding presents, so it would make sense that my friend since kindergarten, who happens to be married, would have a blanket from me.  Well, she didn't because she got married over 8 years ago, when I didn't know how to crochet.  So I decided to give her one for Christmas this year. 

I don't know what she was thought about my weird text of 'What's your favorite color?', but she responded 'Gray'.  When I saw that, I went hmmmmmm.  What to do with that?  So I decided I'd make a solid, dark gray/charcoal blanket. 

The only problem?  I Love this Yarn, the yarn I use to make blankets, only had 3 colors of gray: Light Gray, Gray Mist, and Graybeard, and none of those are dark.  So, I thought I'd have to branch out into another brand of yarn, uggh.  Well, I went to Hobby Lobby to buy yarn for another blanket, and lo and behold, they had a new color: Graphite, which was exactly the color I wanted.  So, I scooped it up and got started.

I decided to use stitch 1 from the new book I'm reviewing because it's such a simple, quick stitch that looks great in a single color.

Chain 180, then work stitch until work reaches desired length.  Add a border to finish.
Round 1: sc around, 3 sc in corner 
Round 2: dc around, 5 dc in corner
Round 3: sc around, 3 sc in corner
Round 4: dc around, 5 dc in corner
Round 5: sc around, 3 sc in corner

I made this with I Love this Yarn in Graphite with a J hook.