Katielee.co.uk

Screenwriter and crafty type

Return of the Granny Blanket.

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My life’s work has had another makeover, returning in a smaller, more manageable format, and with a whole lot more sturdiness.

You’ll no doubt recall that I’ve been making this blanket since before I can remember (so – what – like, 10 years or something) and it’s never really been finished off properly, despite the fact that it’s been put to use on many occasions.

Since the weight of it meant it was starting to pull itself apart, I finally got my act together and rejoined the pieces (properly this time), taking out some squares to make it less heavy, and actually took the trouble to edge it as well.

However, as you’d expect, I’m still not entirely happy with it. I want to do something a bit more fancy with the edging and make it a little bit bigger. But it will do until I have my next little blanket break down.

PS. You’ll note that I’ve left in the “bright orange monstrosity” that I so objected to last time. That’s because it’s grown on me and it’s now my favourite one. Further proof that I just can’t get enough of ugly crochet.

Crochet Blanket – my life’s work

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I learnt to crochet a while back now and just like most learner hookers, I started with basic Granny squares made out of three trebles (US double double crochet). Actually, I think they may have been double trebles come to think of it… Anyway, I started with granny squares and made quite a few squares , returning to it over the years as my interest came and went. At some point – though I forget the exact timeline and details – I’m pretty sure I unpicked the whole lot of the them and started again from scratch. The history of this blanket – when I started it properly and how long it has taken me – has fallen out of my brain for some reason. But there are two things I do know: it’s still very far from finished; I’ll probably unpick it all fairly shortly and start again. Again.

The very idea that I’ll unpick it yet again (as well as the initial unpick and re-start, I’ve unpicked countless squares as well as the white joining rows more times that I care to count) is sending my boyfriend into fits of sighs, but this time it’s not about me being all anal and overly perfectionist – it’s because it’s so weighty that it’s starting to pull itself apart. If I do end up unpicking, I’ll feel very sad, but also a little pleased that I can get back some of my favourite wool colours – and have the opportunity to create something even better that will be more sturdy. Those big double trebles, with those large squares (incidentally, trying to find 4 colours that look good together without repeating designs is frankly impossible – hence that bright orange monstrosity you can see) are just a little too volatile to survive standard blanket-based activities (sofa lounging, bed warming etc etc).

But even if I don’t unpick it and decide to carry on (maybe add a backing sheet that will help to hold it all together), I can’t imagine when I’ll ever finish it. It’s a huge beast of a thing, and there are loads more squares to add on – not to mention all those tiny joining squares to make and sew into the gaps.

Flower Cushion – Crochet granny squares with a twist

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I saw this pattern and absolutely loved it immediately. It was only after I made it and showed it to friends that I realised that my design tastes appear to have been stolen from an old lady. I’ve stuck to my guns, however, and this (still unfinished) cushion has pride of place on my knackered old green chesterfield (see what I mean about the old lady tastes). Still, I must still have some doubts about its design merits, because I bought two cushions to cover and not only have I not made the second one, I’ve not even finished this one off properly.

This was actually the first non-Granny Square-based thing I made. Until then, I’d only ever known how to create trebles and double trebles, and I only ever picked up my crochet hook (pinched from my mother’s collection) sporadically, usually to start a large blanket that would invariably be abandoned by the third square (ah, the folly of youth).

Since I was (and still am) a bit of an amateur at this sort of thing, I went online to learn how to do the basic double crochet stitches. Problem is, when I then made the thing, nothing quite looked right. Being a slow learner, it took me until I’d finished the first side to realise that the Americans have changed the names of all the stitches, so I was doing trebles instead of double crochets and double crochets instead of single crochets (oh, the larks!).

Being both lazy and stingey, I decided not to waste time and wool unpicking the whole thing, but simply made the other side correctly (which you see here now) and added a few extra rows to the edges to get them to meet. Incidentally, the guage was totally wrong for the smaller UK sizes – it would never have worked out the right size even if I had followed it correctly. So the extra rows would have been in regardless. Incidentally (mark II), you can quite clearly see that the lazy crocheter has used the older US large central yellow bit for the right-hand blue flower. Louisa Calder wouldn’t mind…

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