I Zig, You Zag (or, 2 new blankets)

I have two new blankets I’ve finished up recently to show off, but before I do, I wanted to give you a heads up about a crochet along starting now. ChiWei from One Dog Woof is starting up a crochet along this week, and it’s going to be geared toward beginners with plenty of easy introductions and tutorials to help you get started. So if you’ve thought about learning to crochet but haven’t known where to begin, or need a refresher course, or just want to crochet along whether it’s your first project or your 50th, join in! You can vote on the project now at this post, and the lessons will start next Monday. Head over and check it out!

Now for my recent projects. Of all the things I enjoy crocheting for my etsy shop (or just for myself), I think my favorites are baby blankets (which is kind of a shame since they are far from my most frequent sellers . . . such is life, my friends, wo is me). A blanket pattern that I saw months ago caught my eye, and this seems to be my routine: see a pattern I like, ponder making it for 6 months or so, then finally get started on it after months of intense and frankly quite ridiculous inner monologue deliberation over color choices, longevity of style, etc.

I always gravitate to neutrals, or, if I venture into colorful territory, tend to stick with just one color. I decided to go wild this time and combine a few fun colors for this pattern. It was kind of scary for me, although I am willing to acknowledge that green and pink aren’t really all that wild of a color combination. Baby steps.

But I love how that apple green and deep raspberry pink look together, and I think the cream stripe keeps it from being too loud (thanks to my instagram friends for the color advice and input—I can never seem to make decisions on my own, but luckily no one seems to mind stepping in and sharing their thoughts. You can find me on instagram at maybematilda if you want to toss in your 2 cents next time I get crochet angst, which will probably be in like 4 minutes. It happens quite a bit.)

The pattern was a pleasure to make—it worked up quickly and was very quick to memorize and make from memory. The perfect ‘mindless crochet while watching a movie’ type pattern. My only complaint is that it wasn’t quite as detailed as I would have liked—no suggestions on different starting chain lengths to change the size of the finished product, or when/how to carry vs. cut your yarn, etc. As written, it comes out in a small baby size—probably best suited to be used as a crib/stroller blanket. But other than the lack of help when it comes to variations like size, stripe width, etc, a great pattern. The only downside was the zillions of ends to weave in as a result of cutting the yarn after every row—tedious.

I actually enjoyed making it so much that as soon as I finished the green and pink blanket, I immediately started in on another one. I thought it would be stunning in more neutral tones, and I think I was right. I love how it looks in silver and white.

I made a few changes when making the pattern a second time—I started with a chain of something like 220 (I don’t remember the number exactly, but something like that) to end up with a bigger blanket. Still probably best suited for a baby/toddler, but definitely large enough for snuggling with a little one, or tossing on a chair as a throw blanket, or cuddling up with while reading. I also doubled up the stripes—two rows of each color meant a bigger, bolder chevron, not to mention I could just carry the yarn up the side after switching colors instead of cutting at the end of each row, so I only had a handful of yarn tails to weave in at the end instead of, oh, 40,000 like in the green/pink blanket. And since the scalloped border hides the sides, no one will ever know that I carried that yarn along instead of cutting after every row. Except for all of you reading this. Don’t tell. I love the ‘open’ look of the stitches in this blanket, and I think the chunkier stripe came out nicely.

I’ve been wanting to crochet a throw blanket for the couch in my living room, and out of curiosity, I tossed this one on. I think the chevron blanket combined with chevron pillow may be a bit too much zig zagginess, but I love how the subtle gray and white look in my room.

So, in conclusion, great pattern, fun to make, and I’m loving the finished products. If you are interested in either of these blankets, they are both listed in my shop. You can find the green/pink blanket HERE and the gray/white blanket HERE.

Are you feeling the zig zag thing, too? I resisted it for so long (the more popular something is, the more I feel the need to resist it with all my body and soul), but I have to admit . . . they are so fun to crochet.

{I’ll be sharing my blankets at Sarahndipities, The Girl Creative, and Sew Chatty.}