Checking Off Another One

Ooh, I love the feeling of completing a project! Taking pictures and updating it as "finished" on Ravelry give me a nice warm fuzzy feeling. Even better, I then get to share it with you! So, here you are, hope you like it!

Spring Roll by Cori 2012.

Pattern: Circles to Squares Afghan* by Shiri Mor
Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Real Teal (8 skeins)
Hook: J

*If you are familiar with the pattern (or clicked over to the link to see it), you might be wondering why I am listing it for this blanket, since clearly, this is not a blanket consisting of many squares and colors. I actually had a completely different ripple/chevron pattern picked out for the blanket but I got about three rows into that and realized I would not be able to keep it up for the long haul without a) hating the blanket fiercely, and b) going more than a little nuts. I wanted something simple because this yarn is so soft and pretty I didn't want to distract from that. So, I decided instead to make a glorified granny square, but with a little more elegant twist. I worked square number three from the Circles to Squares pattern (minus the color changes) and then instead of finishing off and making more squares, I just kept going. So basically, double crochet all around, super simple! But it features this nifty little wheel in the middle:

It kind of puts me in mind of the center of a flower, and as the color makes me think "spring," I thought that was appropriate. It's a wedding gift for a couple that has been through some very rough waters over the past year and come out together on the other side even stronger. So I like the spring/floral theme that I am feeling for this blanket. It represents the start of a new life, full of all of the hope and promise of a new season. I don't know, maybe I am reading too much into it, but sometimes when I am making these projects, those are the kind of things that go through my mind. I can tell you that this blanket is imbued with a lot of love and hope for good things for this couple. It is just going to be a blanket to them, but that doesn't diminish the love I put into it, if that makes sense.

Anyhoo, for the border I wanted something that felt leafy, and after a a bit of searching online, I found one I thought was perfect. Kim Guzman offered up this border for a blanket made of friendship squares, but it worked quite perfectly for this project too. Since I already had a solid base of double crochets, I just worked rows five through seven of the border. I am super happy with how it came out.

I will definitely be keeping that border in mind for future projects. It was simple and fast and looks very nice.

So, now that I've crossed that off my list, I am back to my two lingering unfinished projects--the scarf and the sweater--as well as six more blankets. I've got the yarn for two of those and I bought swatching yarn for the dragon blanket, so I am in good straits there. My plan is to focus on the scarf and get it knocked out in the next week or so before I jump into another blanket. Then I can figure out what to do about this poor sweater! So, lots to do, as always. But approaching the pile doesn't seem so daunting with a freshly finished project under my belt, I can tell you that!

Happy crafting friends!