The blanket which started it all...

I set up this blog aaaaaages ago and have just left it sitting here empty, waiting for this big 'new blanket ta-da' moment. However, once I started writing today I very quickly realised that I was trying to cram two blog posts into one. I wanted to explain about the blanket which started it all off before I got round to talking about the new one, so this post can act as a drumroll to my actual ta-da moment...

Last July I started my first ever crochet project, which was also a giant granny-square blanket. I had literally just taught myself to crochet using YouTube videos and decided to take the bull by the horns, order £30 worth of wool and start a blanket right away. I found a pattern I liked on Ravelry (look me up, my username is BizBaz) and off I went! I worked on the blanket day and night, not stopping until a row was completed. It was a hot summer and the flat where I lived at the time had leather sofas. Leather sofas + a heavy woollen blanket in your lap during the month of August is not a great pleasure, let me tell you! A combination of the heat, the excitement of actually being able to crochet and the satisfaction of finishing each row drove me forwards and I completed that blanket in a month flat.

 

Just one month! It was a work of love (and involved watching many, many films and TV shows when I should've been outside enjoying the sunshine!)

 

Choosing the colours alone was a joy. I actually made a really pedantic pattern which takes a long time to explain and makes me look like I may have a teeny tiny bit of OCD, so we'll skim over that. I prefer the term METHODICAL!

I love everything about this blanket. Its colours are great. It's warm and heavy and comforting when I'm poorly. It makes my room look bright and cheery. I just love it. I don't think I've ever felt as proud of something I've created myself.

I finished it all off with two rows of double crochet* and some scalloped edging which I also learnt from YouTube. Sorry I don't have the videos to show you - I didn't make a note of them at the time.

(*I am a horror for using US terminology instead of UK, so I had to look up what that was in UK terms. The US terms make more sense in my opinion).

And so that was it! I'd got the crochet bug! I've worked on a few projects since then but this one is still definitely my favourite. I'd like to try a ripple blanket soon, but there are some more pressing sewing projects I'm going to crack on with first.