new earth toned comfy blanket story

Today, I am starting a new crochet project.....a journey, a story that I want to share with you. All three of you. LOL!!  I am calling it my 'new earth toned comfy blanket.  

I love looking back at what I have done in my past.  I looked at all of my crochet blogging, wondering if I posted them all on here over the years of my hit and miss blogging. Well, here they are!!

 (Due to the nature of this particular post, it is a looong one, sorry)

MY CROCHET FUN

This contains the crochet projects of my past.  Not all of them, of coarse. I have been crocheting well before the days of blogging about them. I remember dreading going to school because I wanted to stay home and crochet some more.

Then there is Braveheart. Oh, how I crocheted, while nurturing our son, especially after his transplant and his long stay at the hospital. I have fond memories of teaching many a med student how to crochet. I believe at least one gal is still crocheting to this day. It took me a long time after Braveheart went to Heaven before I could pick it up again. I 'knew' in my heart, it was ok, and I knew B would understand and even smile about it with pleasure if he were here, but it was a mental thing. So tangible, like it was just not right. How could I pick this up without him??? But...now I did. I am ready and at peace with it. Now, it is a good memory, like time spent with this dear one, missed so...ooooh, so much and each time I pick it up, I am spending a moment with him.

Crocheting always reminds me of our boy, as do birds. I love crocheting in my cozy little sitting room upstairs, with my feet up, the curtain open and all the little birds are chirping about. It is good.
 I took up crocheting during our many stays at the hospital. People donated their extra yarn they no longer wanted and I went to work making a 'crazy crochet blanket' for each child. I started with my oldest, knowing he was the first one nearing the 'leave the nest' stage of life. You can see those pictures from the posts above.

 For the 'crazy' project, I choose whichever colors I desired, to use for each blanket.  My second born and first born simply got a lovely mix of what looked good, since there were not many blues, (their favorite), but they still loved the earthy, guy colors.

  I knew, full well,  my third son, Ninja Boy, would desire a more red featured blanket, as it is his favorite color.

Then came my damsel, who received the girly, pink waves of candy like goodness.

                                      

 Then, there was the granny, crazy blanket....remember, all of this was the generous donations of people.

I, like many crocheters, love to have those 'easy, brainless' projects going. All of the above were simple single or double crochet stitiches. The kind that is relaxing, requires little thought, but exudes the pleasure of hooking stitches, getting all the benefits of creating something beautiful, while hanging with one's man or some similar endeavor. 

Now, like every winter, the fiber and crochet hooks call my name. This time, unlike times in the past, I will embark on a new idea..one that allowed me to pick out the very colors "I" like, by choice, completely, just for "ME"...for my taste, my earthy tone loving taste...oh, I am soooo excited!!

Now, here is my inspiration to whom I must give credit. Lucy at Attic 24. Although, I can safely say that I have likely been crocheting long before she ever picked it up, I found her blog back around the time B was first diagnosed, and so very much enjoyed her colorful, time consuming posts. It was always hit and miss with me, as I rarely have time to set and read blogs, but I tried a few fun projects that I likely would not have attempted without her inspiration. In addition, with all we were going through, I lost interest in crocheting for a bit and her blog, even if only once in a while. 
Well, I just so happen to check on her again, after a long absence and was please to see a new twist on a simple, brainless crochet blanket and I got all excited! I have never used so many colors, without it being a crazy blanket, of my own choosing, and this twist makes it a bit more interesting, although still easy. So, here's to a new twist on an old story for me. Thanks to Lucy and all the time she devoted to sharing it with me (us).  Wait until you see all of the color on her blog!!

Now, I will wet your appetite with pictures of the lovely colors that I have chosen. This blanket has been the most 'prep' I have ever done for a blanket. That is, thanks to Lucy. I will tell you more about that in my next post.

***THIS JUST IN....you and me and some of our friends, are joinging in, more locally, on this fun crochet story together, with the intention of working together in cyber fasion, sharing lots of good pictures and lots of fun awing and oowwing over all the fiber goodness. Do not be overwhelmed by Lucy's blog, I will show you what to do here as an America version. There are lots of choices.

You see, I love purples and I love earth tones...very much. I am very happy with this grouping of colors.

I hope to put better pictures here tomorrow.

So, for me, I decided NOT to order the yarn from the wool shop in England. (on Lucy's blog) I might someday, but this time I decided to go to my local craft store, where they had a lovely, set of acrylic yarn, on sale, very soft, with a large variety of juicy, good colors to choose from. These balls of yarn are twice the size needed in Lucy's pattern, but I knew I would use them anyway, plus, I am going to make a larger blanket than twin size.

As much as I would love to use a natural, wool fiber, it was not cost effective for me at this time, for this project. There are very lovely synthetic yarns out there nowadays.

So, be sure to go pick out your favorite colors, or use up your stash, or use less colors if you like, ok?

Stay tuned for more from this journey and encouragment on this project.