I’ve been crocheting for several years now. However, I don’t
consider myself good at it. I’ve never made anything with fancy stitches or
that involves a lot of different pieces. I mostly stick to blankets and skirts.
Pretty basic.
About a year and a half ago I read an article/blog/something
talking about Tapestry Crochet. If you don’t know what Tapestry Crochet is, it
usually looks something like this:
Or
I’ve made simple stuff using this technique, like pot
holders.
But I wanted to try something on a larger scale. I couldn’t
find any blanket patterns that I liked so I decided to create my own. I found a
picture of a simple cherry blossom branch and copied the image into Excel
making a cross-stitch-like pattern. It seemed easy enough. I would crochet the
image of the branch into the blanket and then add three dimensional flowers on
the top.
Unfortunately, when it comes to measuring estimating
height and width, it turns out I’m practically incompetent. I really wish I had
taken some pictures to show here, but in my frustration, it never occurred to
me. Here is a likeness to the pattern I used, to illustrate the disaster this
blanket turned into.
 |
| This is how it was supposed to look. Right in the middle. |
 |
| This is how it ended up. |
After months spent making and remaking this stupid blanket,
leaving it totally off-centered on my bed was just going to continually piss me
off. So, I took it apart. Completely. And I had a ridiculous amount of yarn. I’d
bought more yarn throughout each iteration of the blanket, so I didn’t realize
how much I had used until it was all rolled in balls and I had nowhere to put
it all.
Looking at this mountain of yarn, it occurred to me that I’d
probably spent an obscene amount of money on this little “trial project,” so I
decided to make it into a kind of blanket that left no way for me to take it
apart a hundred times. It’s still in progress, but I can finally see a light at
the end of the tunnel, so my aggression is slowly wearing off. Here’s where I’m
at right now:
Here’s what I have left:
It still looks like a lot, but by comparison, it’s almost
done. Jim will be so happy to have his half of the couch back!
Lessons learned:
1)
Follow someone else’s direction before making them up on
your own.
2)
Start small
3)
Consider the cost before attempting to make something,
it might be much cheaper and less time-sucking to just go buy the damn blanket!
Grrr….
