A Tale of Five Blankets - Chapter 2

Welcome back to my Tale of Five Blankets!

Today let's talk about this Granny Square Blanket:

Again (like the first blanket in the series), this is one that I had already worked on before my blog break, so here's the end result.

It's the classic Granny Square pattern, joined with a continuous join-as-you-go method. I ususally end up making Granny Squares, when I've frogged another project and don't really know what else to do with the left-overs. Just like in this case. :)

For the border I've used a pattern that goes by the name "block stitch" I think. A round of 3dc/ch1, followed by a round of 1sc/ch3 worked into the ch1-gap of the previous round, followed by another 3dc/ch1 worked into the ch3 of the previous round and so on. For the last round I've just worked reverse sc's - that always makes for a nice edging, I think.

The blanket is again made with Stylecraft Special DK acrylic yarn, and the final size is 78 x 78cm. I think, a blanket made with squares looks best, when the final form of the blanket is a square also (and not just any kind of rectangle).

It's funny - although there are so many amazing square-patterns available, somehow I always end up with the classic version. I don't know why, maybe it's just pleasing for the (i.e. "my") eye, or maybe it's just so satifsying and relaxing making them, almost like some form of crochet meditation *lol*

I guess, when I've found something that I really love, I always come back to it - it's the same with food: I like to look at the menu, but I always end up ordering the same. Schnitzel in a German restaurant, Pizza at an Italian place, and combo no.11 supreme at Taco Bell *lol* - god, I miss Taco Bell over here in Germany!! :)

So please tell me your opinion on that - what is your favorite go-to pattern when it comes to Granny Squares? Do you also like the classic one? Is there another alltime favorite? Or do you like trying fancy new and interesting squares?

I'm looking forward to your comments on that and will be back next time with a completely different blanket.

Have a great week-end everyone!

A Tale of Five Blankets - Chapter 1

Hello, hello!

In my last post I've already showed you a glimpse of the five blankets I've got lying around here.

Today let's start with the pink one in the middle, shall we?

In fact, before my long blog break I had already showed you this blanket as a work in progress, but never the final result. Well, it' finished now :)

Once again, I've worked with my favorite double-ended crochet pattern, which is available for free on Woman's Day. It's made with Stylecraft Special DK acrylic yarn in the colors Candy Floss and Bright Pink. I still love the reversible effect this pattern creates, don't you? (Spoiler: this won't be the only blanket in this series made with this pattern...)

The blanket measures 85 x 75 cm, and has a simple *(sc, ch-1, sc), skip 1 stitch* pattern as a border. (I don't even know which kind of border the original pattern suggests, I always decide spontaneously when I get there *gg*)

I actually made this blanket for my Etsy-Shop but never got to put it up for sale. Truth is, I never really felt comfortable with my shop, because there were so many difficult things to consider, like international shipping conditions, taxes, general business terms and conditions - all that stuff frightened the hell out of me. So I basically had two options: consult a lawyer and get it right, or drop it completely. I then decided to drop the shop completely, because by then I had already lost interest. But - right now I feel like I want to give it a second chance and maybe start a shop on a german platform, we'll see.

Coming up next in the "Tale of Five Blankets"-series: another Granny Square Blanket...

Meanwhile in k-town...

Hey there,

Thank you so much for all your nice e-mails and comments on my last post! It's so awesome that you're still here with me after my long break! Guess I have to stick around a little longer then... :)

I've already mentioned in my last post, that I haven't been lazy those past years (at least not when we're talking about crochet *gg*), so here's a little teaser of the blankets I've hooked up while I was away from blogland:

Plus, there were four more blankets that I've made for friends. Unfortunately I gave them away without taking pictures, because I was not blogging at that time... :(

Hey - maybe I could call them and ask if they can send me pictures and then I'll do a "The Lost Blankets" post, wouldn't that be fun?

Anyway, I don't want to bore you with a looooong post today, so I thought I'd show you my current blankets one by one, each in a separate post, starting this week. Sounds good?

Okay, then I hope to see you soon back here in k-town! :)

PS: my "Patterns and Tutorials"-Page is up and running again, thanks for your patience!

Anybody out there?

Hello, hello!

Well, it's been a while, since you've last heard from me - something like three year-ish or so ;)

I guess I just got overwhelmed with the whole blogging stuff, opening an Etsy-Store (and closing it a while ago), keeping up with my Facebook- and Ravelry-Page, answering e-mails and so on. It just didn't feel like fun anymore, more like a full-time job without time for the things I really enjoy, like being creative for example.

Over the last few years, I kept thinking about what I want to do with this blog: Starting over? Keeping it like it is, so you still have access to my patterns? Closing it completely?

Then something happened last week: we did a little bit of decluttering here in our apartment and put lots of stuff on Ebay, like old cell phones, cameras, books, etc. (you know, the same stuff that you, too, probably got lying around in your drawers and cabinets). I also went through my crochet books and my yarn stash and put together a few packages. And then, when I was seeing all my beautiful yarn being sold on Ebay, I thought "wow, those are some gorgeous things, I sure would bid on something like this" - Stupid, isn't it? :)

Anyway, it reminded me of all the fun I had hooking up all those projects, big and small, and sharing it with you here. So I opened the blog again, read some of my old blog posts and your lovely comments on my work. And I thought - well, maybe this wasn't it, yet.

So I decided to stop by today, say hi and spread some love on Valentine's Day :)

Just because I haven't written a single blog post in the past few years, doesn't mean I haven't been creative, though. Every once in a while I play around with my Stampin' Up things, doing some paper-crafting. I discovered Zentangle (some kind of meditative doodling), and recently I've made my first book-folding project, which you can see here:

And - of course - I've been crocheting some things over the past few years: blankets, potholders, coasters - you know me :) (And you didn't really think I've got rid of ALL my yarn, did you? *gg*)

So, what are my plans for the blog now? I'm not sure yet, seems I have to clean up here a little, first. Unfortunately, all the link-ups have expired, so my patterns-page looks pretty naked right now. I also want to check my Facebook and Ravelry-Page and put everything up-to-date. Sorry for being AWOL (absent without leave) for so long and not answering comments or questions, but I had turned off all notifications after a while to take a breather. Other than that, I wanna take it slow, just writing a post now and then, when I feel like it.

So, but how have YOU all been doing? Who's still there and who are the new kids in town? :) Let me know in the comments!

Wish you lots of love today,

Happy New Year!

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