Five and a half months on, Maybelle is still in progress. I'm getting very close to being finished now, though, with just 28 squares left to make. I'm still enjoying the work - these squares are easy and fun to crochet - but I have to admit that I'm starting to get a little antsy. I want to be joining them and watching the blanket take shape. But as I keep reminding myself, I'm almost there, it won't be long now. Maybelle will be a blanket before I know it. (Maybelle is made with this pattern from the blog My Rose Valley).
I think this angle gives a good idea of the sheer quantity of squares. There will be 169 when they're all finished. I've made more than that for a blanket before, but they were smaller, and faster to make. I've been bundling the squares when I've finished with each center color. This has really helped me keep track of everything as I've worked. I'll do this again with the next blanket that has individual motifs. I've come to appreciate this kind of blanket more lately. I generally prefer stripes, for the soothing back-and-forth crochet. I still love that, but I'm realizing that the instant/delayed gratification of individual squares is not to be underestimated. Me working: there, I made a square...45 minutes later...there, I made another one.
I like all of my nine center colors (all my yarns are Stylecraft Special DK), but I think the squares made with Parma Violet are still my favorite. I like the softness of this color. Sometimes I think my color aesthetic is sort of stuck in the early to mid 90's, when I was a teenager and really started noticing such things. I loved the lived-in, casual, semi-preppy look - washed-out jeans, rugby tops, button-down Oxford shirts, cotton sweaters. I often bought boys' or men's clothes because they were even more worn and faded-looking. Everything I wore was blue, teal or purple. Those have always been my favorite colors. Looking at this blanket, as well as the past few I've made, I see now that those will always be my colors. Even now, it's almost everything I wear too. I'm happy with it - to be frank, I'm kind of old, soft and faded myself.
I'm so excited to have this blanket on our bed. For one thing, it's cold back there in the winter, our bedroom being at the northwest corner of the house, with little sun exposure and plenty of wind. But also, I can't wait for the colors and the visual interest. Our room is boring. That's deliberate - we both feel more relaxed in a very neat, lightly-decorated bedroom - but I think this blanket will go a long way toward making the room a little more interesting. I still might want to replace the duvet cover and pillow shams; I'm leaning toward plain off-white, just crisp and bright. Right now, we have a small floral pattern. I had told myself that when I finally finished an afghan for the bed, I'd treat myself to a new duvet set, but now I think I'll wait and see how my blanket looks with the current one, which I really like and is still decent. Decorating is fun to think about, not to mention all the online cart-filling-up (the online cart-deletion is decidedly less fun).
Grape and Petrol are numbers eight and nine. I'm halfway through my Grape squares, and after that, it's just Petrol left. Then it's a-joining I will go. I'm still thinking JAYG, because I like the lacy look. And would you believe that I'm already thinking seriously about my next blanket. I know...cart before horse and all that. But I have a good-sized stash of worsted-weight I Love This Yarn that I need to pare down. I'm thinking about large solid-colored grannies joined in cream. I really thought I'd want to run back to the comfort of stripes after making squares all these months, but I'm feeling the love for squares now, thanks to Maybelle.
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I'm starting to think about my Winter Project Link Party for 2017-18. I hope you'll want to join in! You can read more about my link party by clicking on the photo in my sidebar. The first party will be in early October. I'll be partying with Maybelle, at least at first. Thanks for your consideration!