There are certain projects within the crocheting and knitting communities that act as levels of achievement when you are learning new skills. You always start small – scarves, hats, mittens. As you learn new skills, you move on to different variations of these things – different colors, knit/purl patterns, different crochet stitches, cabling. If you’re like me, you stick with learning skills in these areas before moving on to things like amigurumi dolls and knitted and crocheted covers (iPods, phones, seat, etc.). Eventually, of course, you get there and it’s time to move on to the big stuff.
I conquered socks last semester. Knitting socks feels like becoming an official knitter. The only real challenge left then is a sweater and then I’ll have officially become a crazy knitter.
I decided to do the same with crocheting. I attempted the granny square blanket. Who knows where my brain was when all this deciding was going on.
The thing about granny square blankets is that they are the marathons of crafting. It takes planning, training, and stamina. You have to plan out your colors, draw out the blanket, and count out how many squares you will need. If you are creating your own square pattern, you need to plan and experiment and develop that square. These things alone take time.
I determined immediately that I would use colors of yarn I already had in a kind of haphazard arrangement. I wasn’t planning colors or patterns, just texture. I did, however, work out the square pattern on my own. It is based on a square pattern developed by Attic24 here and comes pretty close, if I do say so myself.
Then comes the actual creation of the squares. This takes FOREVER. I opted for a blanket 20 by 30 squares, which is 600 squares. That is a lot of squares to crochet.
After that is the actual construction of the blanket. Sewing together 600 squares will drive you nuts, but it is particularly satisfying to complete. You feel like you’ve achieved something significant. It’s like winning.
Hook Size: USH8/5.00MM
Yarn Type: Red Heart Super Saver
1 comment:
Congratulations on completing your first crochet marathon!! This is an amazing blanket, and I think it does the notion of "granny square" (which sometimes gets a bad rap) beautiful justice.
You captured the experience perfectly, too - I crochet a lot of afghans, and you're right - the sewing together alone can drive you nuts, but it IS satisfying to see it coming together, strip by strip.
Fabulous work!!!
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