My grandmother lovingly taught me how to crochet when I was about 8 or 9. I learned to make simple grannie squares back then, and even tried my hand at several simple things for my Barbie® dolls! Over the years I’ve expanded my repertoire to make a lot of afghan blankets for my family and some sweaters. But it’s been a while since I’ve crocheted anything.
Fast forward to five years ago. My mother-in-law was an incredible knitter. I never learned to knit but I do enjoy crocheting. When my MIL died, I was the lucky daughter-in-law who received her incredibly beautiful yarn collection from all over the world! Oh my, I can’t begin to describe pretty they are and how luxurious they feel! When they arrived (in several large boxes from New York), I lovingly organized them on my shelves by colors so that I could plan my crochet creations. And there they have been since then. I would occasionally try to plan a project, but paper crafting and work seem to take up almost all my time.
Fast forward again to 2020 and with this “stay at home” mandate, I decided it was time to start crocheting again in the evening as we watched news and our favorite programs. Here’s my first finished project. I got the pattern from a blog I follow, Daisy Cottage Designs. – I love her patterns! This pattern, I think it’s called a “V” stitch was easy to quickly pick up – remember it’s been probably 20 years since I’ve crocheted anything! I chose the blues and greens that I had in my yarn collection and that went with my living room colors. Yes, this first one is ours! My next ones will be Christmas gifts for family members!
It’s a little “off-center” since I wasn’t sure how many rows I could make with the yarn I had. Remember, I’m using my mother-in-law’s stash so I was limited. One end has more light turquoise blue and the last 1-1/2 rows are a slightly different blue…I ran out of that beautiful turquoise. In a perfect world I would have had 4 stripes on each end and made it a little narrower so that it could be longer, but I still love it! And I’m sure no one will ever notice the color change, except for an expert…and there are none in my family!
So this is what I’ve been doing in the evenings to expand my creative efforts. I’ve got at least 6-8 more sets of yarns ready for planned projects. However I need to get a few coordinating skeins of yarn to complete each blanket. And to do that I have to wait until the stores are open so I can take my yarns over to match them. I tried looking online, but I’m horrible at matching on the computer screen.
Thanks for stopping by today to see another side of my creative efforts. And be sure to stop by #daisycottagedesigns to see her beautiful creations!
Janice B at JB Stamper
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