Temperature Blanket Reworked…

I "frogged" the first version of my temperature blanket.  When I initially saw the term, I guessed that it was giving up on a project.  But further digging taught me that frogging means unraveling a piece of knitted or crocheted work.  It’s frogging because rip it, rip it, sounds like ribbit, ribbit.  Frogging. 

Original Temp Blanket

Up until the pandemic and my acquisition of a good cell phone, my knitting and crocheting was a solitary activity.  I never joined a knitting group, or participated in classes.  The pandemic gave me more time to do needle crafts, and my new phone facilitated all kinds of pattern research and inspiration from others.  Some of my favorite sites and posts for inspiration are listed below.  Ravelry is the site that taught me frogging and helped me put a nicer, cuter spin on undoing hours of work.

While I liked my first blanket, it began to reveal problems as it grew.  Because I changed color at the end of each row, the blanket was becoming misshapen.   I also realized that by crocheting in rows, I didn’t get to see enough of the colors I so painstakingly chose for the project! For me, it's all about the colors.

A fellow crocheter on Ravelry said that she would make squares for a temperature blanket.  Thank you to Laura.  After measuring and tinkering, I came up with a plan for a C2C crochet blanket--crocheting one square per day.  C2C is corner-to-corner crochet.

Reworked Temp Blanket (and kitty bum, sorry)

I found out about C2C on a site called The Patchwork Heart when I was looking for a join-as-you-go afghan design to use up scrap yarn.  I knew I wasn't experienced enough to neatly sew a bunch of squares together.  The Patchwork Heart had the best idea for my blanket. Not only did I join as I crocheted, but I was able to weave the ends in after each square. The instructions on The Patchwork Heart are superb, and I recommend them to anyone who wants to take on a C2C project.

I’m current on my daily crocheting, and couldn’t be happier about the switch.  I am enjoying the colors so much more, and am so glad I “frogged” my first try!

Ravelry.com is a huge community of needle crafters. I keep track of my projects there, participate in groups, and find patterns and inspiration.

The Patchwork Heart (https://www.thepatchworkheart.co.uk) is a beautiful site with tons of inspiration.

On Instagram, I follow brightbag from Ventspils, Latvia, for her amazing, colorful designs and tlyarncrafts, Columbus, Ohio, is a must for daily, upbeat crochet inspiration. Toni's enthusiasm is unmatched! I'm excited to have such a gifted artist in my hometown!