Thursday, November 12, 2009

Crochet comeback

I am a crocheter.

dotty quarter
Really, I am. I know I have shown very little evidence of it in the lifetime of this blog—notwithstanding this post, which has more hits than any other post I have written—but I was a crocheter long before I was a knitter.

Mainly I crocheted afghans. Between the ages of 15 and 30, I crocheted well over 100 afghans. You can imagine how I might have gotten a little burned out. But when my friend commissioned a baby blanket a couple of months ago, I knew I would crochet it rather than knit it. Crocheting is just faster. Or so I thought.

dotty bed
The whole project turned into a bit of an ordeal when I decided to design the pattern myself and crochet it out of fingering weight yarn. This blanket is based on a very similar design I did several years ago, except that the previous version had flowers around the border. Since this blankie had to be gender-neutral, I decided that flowers were out. Bring on the dots!

dotty folded macro
I crocheted the border motifs first and sewed them into strips. From those strips, I measured the dimensions of the center section. After doing a gauge swatch, I determined the number of stitches needed for the center, and away I went. When the center was almost done, I realized, to my great annoyance, that it was a bit narrower than I needed it to be. (Gauge swatches can lie!) Rather than rip out all that work, I added some rounds of single crochet around the edge before attaching the motifs.

dotty rumpled
I used Cascade Heritage sock yarn for this project, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. The blanket is so soft and cushy. If I had to make one complaint about the yarn, it would be that the it tends to be a bit splitty. But I think that mild annoyance was worth it in the end.

18 Comments:

At 11/13/09, 4:03 AM, Blogger LittleBerry said...

Lovely blanket... you certainly have hidden talents :o)

 
At 11/13/09, 8:18 AM, Blogger knottygnome said...

i love the blanket. such a nice combination of color and different stitch patterns!

 
At 11/13/09, 10:42 AM, Blogger mle said...

That is a gorgeous blanket! It really turned out great!

 
At 11/13/09, 1:22 PM, Blogger Knitterwockey said...

This blanket is gorgeous! I can't imagine doing a whole blanket out of fingering weight. You are a trooper. Do you plan on sharing your pattern for this blanket?

 
At 11/13/09, 6:38 PM, Blogger Ann said...

The blanket is so lovely & the dotty border is a great feature. You are amazing crocheter!

 
At 11/14/09, 9:50 AM, Blogger Jodi said...

Just gorgeous! I love how the colors of the dots pop against the green. I can't believe you did the whole thing in sock yarn! That's hardcore.

 
At 11/14/09, 4:46 PM, Blogger peaknits said...

What a great blanket - it looks purchased! You are a crocheter alright!

 
At 11/16/09, 8:33 AM, Anonymous Monet said...

The annoyance was definitely worth it...the blanket is beautiful!

 
At 11/21/09, 9:16 PM, Blogger Sinclair said...

That is absolutely wonderful and makes me wish I could crochet more than a single chain 100 miles long.

 
At 11/26/09, 4:36 PM, Anonymous Oiyi said...

Omg, That is just stunning! I love making blankets and love seeing all kinds of designs. I love it!

 
At 12/5/09, 5:06 AM, Blogger Rima said...

This is so very beautiful! Great colors...

Rima
www.yarnydays.com

 
At 1/3/10, 9:06 PM, Blogger renee said...

SO lovely! I love the little "accident" of the sc border all around the inside edge. IMO it absolutely makes this blanket. Crocheting with sock yarn has become my new obsession lately. I have two pairs of crocheted socks that I made and I'm so glad that Christmas is finally over so I can finally make myself some more, free of the I-really-should-be-making-a-Christmas-gift guilt.

 
At 1/5/10, 9:13 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

That. Is. Stunning!

Absolutely stunning!

 
At 3/17/10, 8:25 PM, Blogger Knitterella said...

That is awesome - love the colorful circles!

 
At 5/23/10, 9:53 PM, Blogger Girl Meets Needle said...

This totally makes me want to re-learn crochet and get better at reading crochet patterns (I'm not entirely sure why I have such an issue with it since I can read knitting ones...hehehe), just so I can make this. Best. Crochet. Afghan EVER!

 
At 7/25/10, 10:22 PM, Blogger lross said...

My daughter-in-law saw your blanket with the dots and asked me to crochet it for my first grandchild to be. Is there a way I can get the pattern for it? My email address is lajems6@yahoo.com
Thanks

 
At 6/20/11, 7:22 AM, Blogger bethrecordcollector said...

That looks very nice.

 
At 1/24/12, 6:30 PM, Anonymous Brandi said...

LOVE it!! I know I'm late replying but I just started crocheting about 3 weeks ago and am going a little crazy looking at everything. I would love the pattern if you were willing to provide it. Do you have an etsy shop?

TIA
toyboxplayground@gmail.com

 

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