St. Basil's Afghan / Chart

My friend is Russian.  As in, he's an American, but really, really Russian.  He works for the Russian Orthodox Church.  And when he asked me to make a blanket for his first child, I said sure - how Russian can we go, here?

Nick's first idea was a two-headed eagle on a field with many family shields and crests.  This was a little ambitious for a chart crochet project, or at least a little ambitious for me, so I suggested we go with something a little easier to accomplish:  the St. Basil's Cathedral featured in the Nintendo game, Tetris.

I modified the design so that it looks less Nintendo-y and more true to the real-life colors of this beautiful church.  Not including the white space around the cathedral in the chart, this design is 67 stitches (i.e., pixels) square.

You can use the above chart for any project, but it is large enough that I think it lends itself to blanket format.  Here is the pattern for the afghan I made Nick:

St. Basil's Afghan

You will need the following colors:

• Hunter Green (approx. 360 yards)
• Light Blue (approx. 500 yards)
• Tan (small amount)
• Cherry Red (small amount)
• White (small amount)
• Kelly Green (small amount)
• Bright Yellow (small amount)
• Brick Red (small amount)
• Royal Blue (small amount)
• Optional: Gold (small amount) for tops of church steeples, otherwise use Bright Yellow

Using Hunter Green, chain 128 (chart pattern of 67 stitches, plus 30 stitches on each side of pattern, plus 1 turning chain)

Rows 1-30: Sc in ea st across.  Turn.

Row 31: Change to Light Blue; sc 30 and then begin chart pattern above.  When first row of chart pattern is complete, sc 30 in Light Blue.  (You can add markers in this row to separate the 30 stitch Light Blue border from the chart pattern; it will become more relevant later.)

Continue with rows 32-98 as Row 31, using chart pattern to complete center of blanket and using Light Blue to sc 30 on both sides of chart pattern.  Continue moving markers if you are using them.  Weave in ends as you go if you want less pain later.

Rows 99-127:  Using Light Blue, sc in ea st across.  Turn.

Weave in all remaining ends.  (This took me 4 hours.  Ugh.)

You can add any border you choose.  I did a round of Brick Red in single crochet, then a round of Gold in single crochet.  Here is my finished product:

I can't wait to see Nick's face next week when he sees this!