I purchased the first yarn for this blanket in November, 2010. I thought my life was busy then: my family of ten was moving to a new house and I was heavily involved in the remodeling being done to fit our needs.
I had no idea I would just be putting the finishing touches on this blanket seven years later or that my life would change so drastically in that time. When I made my first test square to see if the colors worked, I was single - not even dating anyone - and just approaching my 28th birthday. I was coming to the conclusion I was going to be the quintessential maiden aunt sitting in her rocker crocheting when I was 80.
But in the week I tested the first square, I received an email from a man named Ben who rapidly took up the bulk of my time over the next few months. We were married about a year later and moved to our new home to begin caring for his elderly grandmother. I was expecting our first child within three weeks of our wedding: and then I miscarried, became pregnant again and had our first living child two months after our first anniversary. Other children quickly followed, amid Grandma's final few bedridden months and a house under extensive construction.
Yeah...I've been busy. I look back on my life back then and laugh at the oodles of time I had no idea I possessed.
Making Time Again
Ironically, it was about the time our third child was born that I became organized enough to devote some time to needlework. So far, I've fit in a little crocheting, knitting and sewing. I haven't even tried to start any embroidery projects since I'm pretty sure the needles and floss would be problematic with my very inquisitive and proactive 19 month old involved. Maybe next year.
When I picked up work on this afghan again, I discovered that I had miscounted somewhere along the line and was twelve squares short of the number needed. Oops.
I'd also forgotten which hook I'd used, but that was easier to fix.
I thought about just making the afghan smaller, but when I pieced together all the squares I had I realized not only was it an awkward size, but I was going to have to rework all the border pieces. That's a pain in the neck.
The Color Conundrum
Deciding to make my missing twelve squares required finding more yarn, and predictably the colors I'd chosen from the local Hobby Lobby seven years ago were no longer all available. Someday I'd like to know why perfectly normal colors become discontinued all the time, but that's a subject for another post.
I ended up acquiring three of the four colors fairly easily, but the main color - a soft off-white appropriately called "Lamb" - had been discontinued and took quite a hunt to locate enough without breaking the bank. One by one, I've collected everything and I'm now waiting on the last ball of "Lamb" to finish up the popcorn stitches on one border pieces and the plinth block corners.
Nuts and Bolts
This afghan is from a collection of Vanna White patterns in the book "Afghans A to Z" which I received as a gift when I was 16 or 17. I've made a pretty good selection of the afghans in the book and am now on my second copy.
This pattern is called "Granny's Delight" and the first afghan I made from the pattern actually did use the mauve, royal blue, burgundy and off-white colors featured in the original pattern. I gave that one away as a wedding present. The second afghan used completely different colors (green, purple, brown and pure white) and was made almost exclusively while I listened to coverage of the 2000 presidential election. I think I was putting the last border strip in place while listening to Al Gore's concession speech. (That should tell you two things: how long that election dragged out and conversely how fast I made that afghan.)
This latest project color combination was chosen to match my family's new house since we didn't have any throw blankets to match the house colors at the time. Thankfully, my family hasn't redecorated and the afghan will be going to them when it's fully completed.
Assembly
The pattern calls for a J hook, but I typically have to drop the hook sizes down by two in order to make the gauge. I'm guessing I have a loose hand on the tension. The yarn is all 100% acrylic Vanna's Choice yarn - the center is "Burgundy", the next row is "Beige", the third "Seaspray Mist" and the popcorn border is the infamous "Lamb".
In an attempt to save as much of the hard-to-find Lamb yarn, I've used a slightly different shade of yarn to assemble most of the afghan. You can tell the color difference if you inspect closely, but at this point I'm fairly satisfied with how it all looks and figure this is the price I pay by procrastinating too long on finishing the project.
I used a tapestry needle and whipstitch to assemble my first two Granny's Delight afghans but discovered the weight of the overall blanket tended to cause the stitching yarn to break in places and the afghans would need repair fairly frequently. I've put this one together with a slipstitch seam and a smaller crochet hook and am hoping it'll hold up to use and washing better. The seams don't feel too bulky and aren't noticeable, so that's a bonus.
So there you have it: my longest ever crocheting project to date finally coming to a close. I think it might be my tenth or eleventh completed afghan, but I've lost count over time since I learned to crochet at age 10.
My next project is already waiting in a box to be started and I'm looking forward to a nice change of pace and some different colors!
