Finding comfort when people are sick and dying, how ? For example, knitting and crochet is one way.

It has been a while now since my last blog post. With Baggy cat’s passing, I did not have the energy to sit and write about something I created or learned. Slowly as time went by, I took to hook and needle to seek some comfort.

My comfort has been knitting and crocheting afghans, lap throws, baby blankets, table toppers. On average, the big blankets can take 2-3 months from start to finish. When my hands are stiff and achy, I give them a break and I continue to sew facemasks. As you can see from the photos here, I have been busy.

The patriotic throw came to me during the summer. I wanted to do a solid granny square, and instead of just one color, I wanted to use several colors from my yarn stash that I have.

The baby blanket with tassles uses the technique called Join As You Go Corner To Corner. I learned this from a YouTube video by Fiber Spider. There are 3 parts to this video and the designer is very thorough in his instructions. It uses the same technique as Corner To Corner, but instead of working from one corner to another corner, you crochet in squares and rectangles.

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The knit log cabin baby blanket was a custom order for a friend. She requested 2 blankets, about the same size for her grandbabies. Looking at my yarn, I chose this stripe yarn that has 4 colors in it, and to finish it off, I framed it with crochet edging.

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Plus my knitting guild has been doing a year-long knit-a-long and crochet-a-long. Even though we do not meet in person, there is a monthly zoom meeting. Each month, in our newsletter, a sample of a knit square and crochet square are given. You are learning a new technique that will, at the end of the year, create something as small as a lap throw to as large as a blanket. These are a few samples of what I have created. I stepped aside from these blocks for other projects, and now have 3 months to catch up.

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This is my current comfort project that I just finished a couple weeks ago: Oversized Granny Square Blanket . The original design was going to be solid squares, but after crocheting a few rows, I would run out of yarn quickly. Therefore, I ripped back a few rows and continued by changing colors every round. Furthermore, gray is a great accent color.

The queen size granny square blanket took on a life of its own. Each square consists of a rainbow of color interspersed with several shades of gray. The 16 blocks are 20 inches square and are stitched together using the slip stitch method. Each row is one color of the blanket along with each column.

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The blanket lays on top of our quilt which adds a layer of warmth. Gizmo kitty takes full advantage of the blanket, as its his favorite spot to nap. As sleeps against my legs, the blanket keeps him warm, likewise my legs stay warm too.

Be safe, wear your face mask and don’t stress. Here is a sneak peak into my next project: Crocheting with gradient yarns.