I've been on an unplanned hiatus simply because it has been summer when the sun is out from behind the clouds, days are long, the beach calls my name and it has simply been too hot and sticky to think about crochet (or sitting still, for that matter). However now summer is now gone for another year, and (because I am obsessed with Game of Thrones) winter is coming... But not just yet, as Sydney is in the midst of one of it's most pleasant autumns for as long as I can remember! Autumn is when sun baking on my couch is possible, and when I begin covering my shoulders with cardigans or throws in the evenings. Speaking of throws... I have finally finished the granny square throw I began last winter!
Voila! Here is Inuka (my polar bear plush from Singapore Zoo) with my very uneven and puffy granny square throw which I have bittersweet feelings about. I am excited and overjoyed that I have finished the first ever crochet project I started! The mint yarn was bought at the Camberwell Markets in Melbourne when I was preparing for my crochet class. The same crochet class where I learned to read my first crochet pattern - the granny square. However I am unsatisfied with the lack of uniformity of the granny squares, which contributed to the unevenness and puffiness of the throw. I also am remorseful over the chosen sequence of the squares as some patches have too many dark colours neighbouring each other. And the colour! The colour is one of the bigger disappointments... I chose these colours with D in mind, as I wanted the throw to be gender neutral. Some colours were pastel and some were solid, which made the throw look very haphazard. Anyhow, I think over the past few days I have begun to embrace all these mistakes I have made and have come to love this imperfect throw. The different sizes of the granny squares show how I was refining my crochet skills over time and the mismatched colours just emphasises how overwhelmed I was when I made my first purchase at Morris & Sons.
Another year, another throw... For 2013 I am planning to crochet a throw not made up of granny squares, but granny triangles! I toyed around with the idea of hexagons, but decided on triangles in the end because of these beautiful throws. To avoid another colour mistake, I spent too many hours pacing around Morris & Sons um-ing and ah-ing over colours. In the end I decided to run a poll on Facebook and Instagram on which colour combination I should choose.
I got an overwhelming response! At the moment it is a tie between 2 and 3. I may end up going with 2, just because the yarn is cheaper. I did my calculations and I am going to need 18 balls of yarn! With each ball of yarn costing between $6 to $8, I may have to decide on the cheaper (and itchier) option. Who would've though wool would be cheaper than cotton...
Hopefully this throw won't take as long as my first throw to complete as I am faster and more skilled in the art of crochet! It has almost been a year since I picked up crochet and I am so glad I did it. I promise to update this blog more often and will post up pictures of this throw's progression! Thanks for reading!