Wednesday 30 November 2016

whipPINg up …

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… a creamy frothy foamy edging around a surging sea of flowers & wooly memories !

Can’t believe it’s taken me this long to present my ta-dah post. Well, I can finally strike it off my list.  

Although completed much earlier, I am entering this as my pinterest challenge again because it took me many searches through pinterest, many cloudy moments, many trials & errors to finally settle on what was the best or closest fit for what I wanted. It is also the first time I have done something like this in crochet.
My goal : Keep it simple, but keep the focus on the elegant curves & diamond points of each motif around the edge.
When my earlier ideas didn’t quite work the way I would’ve liked them to, another option dawned on me. 
Let me walk you through the process & a few tips that work for me …

Border 1
I had some strong advice to go with lighter shades for the border. Always heed to experience & wise counsel. Decided to make the penultimate round all cream, with only a touch of colour. This made work so much easier ! I could crochet Round 1 all together; then choose the colours & crochet Round 2 ; then the cream for Round 3, attaching on the go.
This pic shows how much fun it was.
Sorry, no pics for the finished penultimate round. I was simply enjoying the rhythm and it was too cold to arrange & take pics. Also, I had begun working at a frenzied pace, coz I had to knit leg warmers before I could get back to tatting (major withdrawal symptoms ☺) Or maybe I just forgot!
Pics lower down give a fairly good idea of the penultimate round.

TIP 1 - how to remember colour choices
As I neared the last rounds of the project, colour choices & combos became more of an issue. Choosing colour combos for specific area took a lot of consideration. Then remembering those choices! I hit upon a simple way. 
After selecting, I crocheted the 1st round & loosely attached it to the adjacent motif where I wanted it. Thus I could cover larger areas quickly & fearlessly, spreading out the shades as much as possible.

Border 2
By now I knew what was required – a cream-only half motif to fill in the triangular space.
Never done it before, and didn’t want to have to cut after every single triangle. Solved it with a couple of trials. TIP : Always use the same yarn for final trial .
Made the 2 center rounds individually; keeping only half the pattern (in center of collage)
Then the last round was crocheted around, joining to the border, and continuing to the next triangle, all in one pass. After 220 motifs (not counting the triangles), each requiring tie & cuts & hides for each of the 3 rounds, this round was a breeze! I could finally crochet all the triangles in one pass !!!
I slip stitched around the corner motif, continuing with the next side till it was all done.

TIP 2 - how to store work safely
Large projects always require stops and starts over many days. Crochet stitches are very easy to unravel – one tug by a curious child or pet, and a whole day’s work may get lost! Here’s what I do to avoid any accidents.
Start to make a chain as usual but pull out a loop long enough to pass the entire yarn/thread ball through ; tension the loop just a bit so as to avoid snarls. That’s it. Even an accidental pull will only end up tightening the ‘noose’ into a stitch; it will never unravel the previous work.
When one is ready to pick up the project again, pass the ball backwards out of the loop & continue as per pattern.
I already delineated some of my tips on how to keep large projects clean when working over a length of time.

My Rainbow !
I’ve always admired Lucy’s cheerful colour palette & wished I had those many colours/shades. Well, guess what, I did !!!
This pic is only a slice – shades chosen from the already crocheted rounds. If I had the patience, the spectrum could’ve been much better. These motifs have the crochet hook inserted through their center.

Final Edging
I had bought this beautiful blue shade just a few weeks back, and it was perfect to rein in the creamy foam of the sea of flowers. 2 rounds of slip stitch (I think). 
All ends trimmed 
So that’s it. Ta-Dah ! Hoped to block the edge before taking pics, but didn’t get around to it. I can live with it, hopefully you can too ;-P
Pattern : Floral Fiesta Afghan by Maggie Weldon. My immense thanks to her for sharing this pattern ! I enjoyed every bit , including figuring out a personalised finish !
Total Motifs : 
Main body - coloured : 12x18 = 120+36=156
Border 1 - complete motifs : 13x2 +19x2 = 26+38 = 64
Border 2 - triangles : 18+18+12+12 = 60
Crochet hook # 9 (3.50 mm)  
Final dimensions : 44" x 64” ; 112cm x 162cm (approx)
Each motif : 2.5" x 2.5" (sides) or approx. 3.25" x 3.25" ( diagonals )
 It’s already in use and is adding such a fantastic splash of colour & cheer ! Although many colours appear same or similar n the pics, in reality, there are differences, and many more shades are visible than in the pic.
It does look like a textured sea of flowers when spread out ☺☺☺☺☺

Just one more pinterest challenge left for this year. 
Let’s see what the talented pin chicks have been up to this month ….

Related Posts :
Pinterest Challenge (click on the tag in right panel)


21 comments:

  1. A beautiful blanket with such bright and cheery colors! I cannot imagine how long it must have taken to complete, especially with all of those little squares and ends to hide. Bravo!

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  2. This is beautiful! So many ends to hide, and all those little motifs to crochet, but it definitely was worth it. What a stunning blanket.
    StephanieW

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  3. oh wow this is beautiful, I can see why it took you so long but its been well worth it. its gorgeous! you have shared some great tips too, thank you for those and thank you for sharing your beautiful work with the pinchicks again this month.
    Suzanne xx

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  4. Beautiful blanket, love it and the wonderful colours all put together. I can't crochet but when I see beautiful things like this I feel I wish I could but you can't do everything.
    I agree with Suzanne thanks for sharing your beautiful work with the pin chicks,

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  5. Thank you so very much ladies ! Truly appreciate your comments.
    Robin & Stephanie, hiding ends did not bother me to much because the charm of working with different colours & yarns, memories attached with them, the puzzle over choosing which colour/colour combo, and the mystery of the finish kept me alive.
    Suzanne & Margaret, this was completed in Jan, but took pics only this month. Haven't been keeping well enough to work an actual challenge.
    I'm so glad you liked my humble tips, though :-)
    Sue, my DH thinks this is the best among all the afghans/blankets I've made so far, so Yay !

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  6. This is magnificent! 😊👏🏻🌟🌟😳

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  7. Oh my!.. what a gorgeous one.. I admire your effort in completing this

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  8. Beautiful! When I was a little girl, my mom would quickly crochet her bits of yarn into granny squares. When she had enough for an afghan, she would put them together with a solid color. I remember one bordered in black, one in navy blue, and one in cream. I think my mom would love what you've done here, although she no longer crochets.

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  9. Beautiful blanket! I like such joyful colors :)

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  10. Wow fantastic, I remember some of this from before and wondering how you would make it out of your edging crisis, and you did a 5 star job on this:) I have too been wanting to crochet or knit something and you all are tempting me something awful :) have a great end of the month Pinchick and hug from Carollyn

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  11. Thank you so very much everybody !

    Fox, this frothy finish wouldn’t have happened without your suggestion to go light :-) (Hugs)

    Usha, it was fun all the way through – no effort :-) Playing with colours & memories!

    Anetta, to ward off the winter greys outside, bright cheerful colours inside are a must, aren’t they .-)

    Diane, that is so inspiring & I am touched to think your Mom would appreciate it! I must do the same, rather than hang on to scrap yarn & clutter up my stash. My Mom & MIL crocheted only with cotton thread. It’s only on the net that I came across these great projects, including amigurumi, etc. done in wool.

    Carollyn, the chorus goes up – “we want to see you crochet/knit” – you’ll do a rocking job of it :-) I liked the shape of my earlier edging attempt, but practicality triumphed. Having all 4 sides with points did not seem very practical to me. I’m happy with this solution, too.

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  12. Przesliczny koc.Swietna kolorystyka.Serdecznie pozdrawiam.

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  13. I am so pleased you liked the afghan Jane, Marja, Małgorzata, & Bernice !
    Thanks a heap :-)))
    Małgorzata, I just visited your blog & you have such beautiful crochet work!!

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  14. Beautiful :) I love the light cream border and how you colored it with slip stich, absolutely pretty

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    1. Thanks, Ninetta :-) Yes, the simple slip stitch edging in blue seemed more than sufficient - didn't want to take away any focus from the actual motifs.

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  15. Wow! That is gorgeous! Love love love! I've always wanted to crochet a blanket made up of motifs but sadly I always lose motivation by the time I made ~35 motifs.

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    1. Thanks Jenn :-))) May be you could assign it as stop-and-start project & avoid the 'guilt' ;-P For me, the colours & mystery kept me motivated. I counted last night - 60 colours/yarns/shades used !

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