Return of the Scrap Eating Blanket!

I've finished my Virus Blanket that I made of leftover fingering scraps.  It's just under 36 inches square, which is perfect for a lap blanket if you sit Criss Cross Applesauce (which I do).  The pattern is the Virus Blanket which is free.  The written pattern has a You Tube link in it and honestly I used them both.  The verbiage in the written directions was inconsistent and confusing (to my brain at least), so when I started the project I used the video to clarify things.  Once you get going, it's an easy pattern to memorize and you don't need the directions.  It's a great pattern and obviously perfect for using scraps.  It will work in any weight of yarn just by choosing the appropriately sized hook.

I went through my leftover, plied fingering weight and sock scraps and found some that would work for a fade and just started crocheting.  I used a 3.25mm hook and 1,531 yards of yarn to get this size.  The nice thing about this pattern is that you can keep going until your blanket is as big as you want or until you run out of yarn.  I crocheted each color until I had about six inches left, and then started the next color.  I didn't stress about where I was in the pattern because I figured the fade would deal with any color changes.  I'm happy with how that worked.  The only exception was the white I was using at the end.  I stopped after working a Round 4 even though I had a little bit of yarn left and switched to my edging color.  I worked a round of single crochet as an edging, decreasing in the V shaped dips of the pattern to keep the edge from flaring. 

This is the second scrap eating blanket I've made and I've pulled yarn and selected a pattern for a third one.  I can say that my bag of fingering weight leftovers is getting smaller!  I've decided that I like having a blanket going along with my other projects, so for the foreseeable future (or until I run out of yarn - like that's going to happen), I'll continue making them.

Have a great weekend! 

Hexagon Update

I am moving right along with my hexagons for my scrappy English Paper Pieced quilt.  I have 450 basted hexagons now!  I don't know for sure how many I will need for a lap quilt, but I'm guessing 1500-2000.  I don't think that's going to be an issue.  This began as a way to use up quilting scraps and I was inspired by the Buttonbox Throw blanket that I finished at the first of the year.  I had so much fun using up leftover sock yarn scraps, I decided to start another scrap sock yarn blanket (the Virus blanket), and decided to start this English Paper Piecing quilt to put a dent in my quilting fabric scraps.

Initially my plan was to get some hexagons basted (they're basted around die cut, cardstock hexagons so they're all the same size), and then sew them together, and then baste some more, and so on.  I realized that that would mean the different fabrics wouldn't be scattered around the quilt if I did it that way.  So the current plan is to keep basting until I run out of scraps (I have a tote filled with them and I'm just cutting them in batches as I go).  Once they're all basted, I'll toss them into a bag or something and mix them all up before I start sewing them together.  I'm stacking them in a plastic organizer box in rows of 150 in the meantime.  I'm not fussy cutting any of the scraps, but I did end up with a bear on one of them! 

It's Getting Bigger!

My little Virus Blanket made of scraps is moving right along!  It's just eating up these leftovers and I'm really happy with the way it looks.  Working in fingering weight scraps means it's not growing very quickly, but this wasn't started as a project I need to finish quickly.  I started it to get sock leftovers under control and have something pretty when I'm done.  The pattern is easy to work (the video included with the free pattern is very helpful for clearing up anything that isn't quite clear in the written pattern), and easy to memorize.  Since I'm working with leftovers, I just join the next color wherever the previous color runs out.  As I've got kind of a fade going, it's not super obvious where I switch, and I'm able to use every inch of my yarns. 

Since I last blogged about this project, I've added Three Irish Girls Adorn Luxe in My Cherie Amour and I'm now crocheting with Farmer's Daughter Fibers Rocky Mountain Purls in Strawberry Shortcake. I've got two more yarns planned for this, and I might or might not use a darker color for the very end, just so the edges aren't white, but I haven't decided yet.

Have a great weekend, and stay hydrated! 

Still Crocheting Away Here

I've gotten into some color changes on my crochet,scrap blanket now!  As the blanket gets bigger and bigger, it eats yarn faster and faster.  It's about 18-20 inches square right now (maybe, I haven't measured and I'm not looking at it right now so this is from memory).  As before, I don't have a definite size in mind for this, I'll just quit when I run out of yarn that works with the colors I've chosen.

I started with Malabrigo Ultimate Sock in Sabiduria, followed by Dream in Color Smooshy in My Fair Lady, Sweet Georgia Yarns Tough Love Sock in Mink, and Madelinetosh Twist Light in Kitten (which is photographing much lighter than it is in person).  I'm not really doing anything special when I run out of a color.  When I get to the last six inches or so of what I'm using, I start the next color and crochet over the ends.  There's no thought or planning as to where I change colors, it just happens when I run out.  If I was only using two or three colors that might look weird, but I think with as many colors as I have pulled out for this blanket, and the fact that they blend into a fade of some kind, it's going to work.  Fingers crossed!