What better time than Valentine's week to post about finishing a blanket I've dubbed "Sweetheart Blanket".
So that's two blankets now on the books in my quest to burn through some yarn stash this year.
Also crochet related... In January I decided to join again with a Block-A-Month Crochet-A-Long (BAMCAL, for short) group on Ravelry. The idea behind this group is that you crochet along with others two different blocks each month (that are picked out by the moderators of the group), and by the end of the year you've made enough blocks to make a large blanket. I think it was 2017 that I joined this group and crocheted my first block for my "blanket of many blocks". It is now 2024 and I have taken stock and see that I've made a total of seven blocks in all this time. In case I've lost you, let me do the math...
That's an average of one-block-a-year!
Now, a lap blanket is made up 12 squares, a throw is 20 squares, and a full size blanket would be made up of around 30 squares. Clearly, I need to rethink this project, as I will not live long enough to complete a blanket at the rate I am going on this.
Fortunately for me, I've learned some things in my 7 years of slow-poking my way to a blanket made of various and diverse squares.
While I love the idea of crochet-a-longs, I have questionable follow-through. What I love is the camaraderie and encouragement one gets when doing something as part of a group. What I don't love is making something (anything, really) that someone else has picked out. So, just a month after declaring I was rejoining the 2024 BAMCAL, I'm parting from the pack and going my own way on this. Fortunately, the group has a thread where participants can share their "non-cal" squares, so that will allow me to be in on some of the fun. And no one seems to mind if anyone completes a blanket made up entirely of the monthly squares, so it appears I can still hang out with these peeps and do my own thing to some degree.
I've already created a file on Ravelry of square patterns that look like ones I'd enjoy making, and ought to work well with the colors I've chosen to work with.
Currently, I'm working on a square called Sage Advice (which, actually, was one of the January BAMCAL squares):
It looks like a mess, and like something that would be tedious to do. While I don't love this part of a project, if I put on the right mindset, I can find sewing in ends almost as meditative as crocheting. It's all a part of the process.
Now, that I've gotten some clarity about how to finish this blanket-of-many-squares project, wish me well on the follow-through and execution!
That square is gorgeous. You have a fabulous eye for putting colors together. I had joined mooglys block a month years ago and only made 3 squares before I decided it wasn't for me. I too like to pick my own patterns.
ReplyDeleteI wish I was as confident about picking colors, as you feel I am, Marsha. You may have the impression you do because I'm not likely to show a color combination here I'm not happy with. ;^)
DeleteYour approach to crochet alongs reminds me of my semi detached membership in book groups - I enjoy the emailing, but may not read most of the books nor attend the meetings!
ReplyDeleteYour crochet work is beautiful!
A friend of mine talks about her book club and I often think it would be interesting to belong to one. Then I remember that I have a great aversion and resistance to reading anything I've been assigned, and I quickly put the notion out of my head. :)
DeleteI love your blanket and yes I can see the hearts, Good luck with your squares, Sage advice is beautiful. xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda. :)
DeleteWonderful blanket, Becki.
ReplyDeleteYou have a very good eye with colors and a lot of talent.
Good luck and God bless.
You are kind, Linda. And make me feel very good. :)
DeleteThe blanket is absolutely gorgeous. I just love the colors.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sandy! I love the gradient pinks. I probably have enough of these yarns to make another blanket like this. Not really wanting to make this blanket again, though I'm going to put my thinking cap on and maybe find another blanket pattern that would work.
DeleteThe blanket is very nice, Becki. Cheery colors.
ReplyDeleteThanks, TB! :)
DeleteThe blanket is absolutely gorgeous. The colors are very bright like flowers! Barbxx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Barb. Flowers, yes! It makes me feel kind of springy. :)
DeleteI see hearts in that blanket too. It is beautiful! I love the colors.
ReplyDeleteAnd your colorful square is gorgeous too.
My two daughters and I, plus an 8-year-old granddaughter, are doing a crochet-along of our own with temperature blankets. We vary in crochet experience. My NV daughter had the idea, and her 8-year-old has crocheted more than she has, so she's looking to her (and YouTube) for help if needed. We were late getting this idea, so we started in February and will end in January 2025. My daughters and I are all using the same colors of Lion Brand Heartland yarn. They are using moss stitch and I am making 2-round granny squares. My granddaughter is using bright colors from her other grandmother's stash, and single crochet. So far it's been a very fun way to stay connected.
That dies sound like fun, Mrs T. It would be interesting to make a number of temperature blankets over the course of several years, using the same colors, just to see how varied the temperatures are from year to year.
DeleteOh, and isn't this funny? I looked back at your ill-fated temperature scarf and see that you used the same yarn! Thankfully, we are using only nine colors and a neutral (Grand Canyon) to cover an entire year. So far (in NH; NV is of course somewhat different which is why we thought of tackling this in the first place) we have had temps in the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s just in February, so it's been interesting. And all of the blankets are looking good so far, thankfully!
ReplyDeleteYes, think I had too many disparate colors in that scarf, Mrs T. It was doomed from the start. 😆
DeleteI learned a long time ago that it's just not in my makeup to follow through with 'alongs'. I would start off really well and then fall off the wagon before I got anywhere near the end. Now I tend to avoid them like the plague. There's been some really beautiful CAL's on Ravelry though that certainly have been tempting.
ReplyDeleteMary Anne, I did a few mystery CALs and I learned the hard way that I was driven nearly mad trying to pick colors for something I didn't know how it would turn out. Since then, I've only done a CALS that I knew what the finished project would look like. Much more to my liking, but if resistance start kicking in, I'm a goner.
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