About two years ago I started a crochet project that I had hoped would be finished quickly, but knew would take a while to complete. It was springtime and I figured that I could have it finished by December – as a Christmas gift for Abby. Christmas came and went…. twice, before it was finally completed! Abby finally got her blanket for her 5th birthday this year.
Abby’s blanket is based on the Retro Circle Blanket pattern by Three Beans in a Pod. I loved the look of the circles within the squares and little Abby did too. I picked the yarn – I Love This Cotton bought at Hobby Lobby – and Abby picked out the colors… with that behind us, I got to work.
Circle after circle was crocheted… I crocheted circles until my hands cramped up… and then I’d crochet some more. This was my first large project and I was excited to see it completed. For months, I’d bring my yarn and hook with me whenever and wherever I could.
I probably would have gotten finished with the blanket faster, had I not gotten bored with crocheting all of those circles… and then again when turning those same circles into squares. Oh, I did fine for the first 50 or so, but it was always those last 50 that took forever to finish.
I originally had planned to make a blanket large enough to fit a twin-sized bed, but after 9 skeins of yarn and making 108 circles, I just couldn’t bring myself to add any more to the bunch. It turns out that this size is just right for Abby though – it covers her perfectly from her neck to just past her feet, and is even the perfect size for an adult to use as a lap blanket.
I read once on another blog about the mental cycle of blanket making – when you start, you’re all excited, but that excitement wears off and eventually, boredom for the project sinks in. This lasts until you get to the point where you’re able to put all the pieces together. Then the excitement sinks in again and you start feverishly working on the blanket to get it done. After it’s finished, while admiring all of your hard work, you think to yourself “That wasn’t so hard” and then promptly start the next project.
My feelings while making this blanket were very similar to that, with one exception – I’ve not started working on my next blanket project… yet!