My daughter wanted a queen size blanket done in earth tones, and I decided to use these patterns again as guides for it. My stitch count for each row was 256, so if I used chains at the beginning I’d use 258 (I actually started using foundation dc). I used the border from the Race Car Throw pattern. Yarns used included Caron Simply Soft, Red Heart Super Saver, Caron One Pound, and Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable. Some of the yarns were from my stash. I bought Red Heart Super Saver for the earthy colors available and found a good sale on Simply Soft at Michaels. If I did it over, I’d use fewer colors, but it came out great as is! It measures 80” X 96,“ which makes it have 10” of drape on each side and 16” for the end.

I left out a lot of the plain stitch rows and put the more decorative rows closer together. Plus, as you can see, the Fantasy Blanket pattern was shown above as incorporated because I used stripe patterns from it. I found other stripe patterns I liked and used them. I didn’t keep notes of how the stripe patterns were used, but looking at the photos can give you some idea. I tried to vary color and stripe patterns in a way that was pleasing to me and went with what was in the original pattern. I was making the blanket for my older daughter, and she and I have similarities in taste for color and pattern. One of the things I like best about the Southwestern Rainbow Throw pattern besides its attractive design is being able to be creative, both with color and how to do the stripes. It’s one of my favorite patterns.

Examples of the kind of patterns I looked at to find interesting stripes (did not buy any that I remember)--https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mixed-stitch-stripey-blanket; https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/as-we-go-stripey...; https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/tooty-stripey-bl...;
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/seaside-stash-bu....