Jeez Louise

I crocheted a blanket for Erik back in...um....1993? I think so. It was back when I all I knew how to crochet was a simple shell pattern (5 double crochets per shell) and I cranked out 6 or 7 baby blankets, plus his blue striped blanket.




He's been bugging me for about a year now to mend a place where there was a hole, and to please make it more cozy by adding a denim backing and a layer of quilting cotton. On the last post I wrote (right before my laptop stopped working ~ thankfully an easy fix of a new cord, and a cheap fix of my mom had an extra cord that worked!) he wrote a comment ~ and let's point out now that it was his one and only comment on this blog! ~ that he would boycott the blog until the blanket was done.

I can't blame him...something always seems to come up!

Anyway, I finished it in a few hours over a few days, and I thought it might be worth noting that you can sew a crocheted blanket! Is this news? It kind of was to me, the first time I did it. I've been hand sewing linings into bags for years, but the idea the you could essentially "quilt" a crocheted blanket using the tied quilt method was something I figured out on a lark when I made Maia's blanket last year. I just decided to sew through the crochet, using a sewing machine, and it works like a charm.

For this blanket, I laid down a denim backing (right side up), and taped that to the ground. Then I laid down the blanket, and taped that down, matching all the edges. The batting came last, and taped that down, matching all the edges. I didn't bother doing any measuring, I just laid it all down, matched corners/edges, and then trimmed it all. I didn't cut the crocheted blanket at all, I just cut the other two pieces to match it.

I then safety pinned the entire blanket around, about an inch and a half from the edge. I made a simple seam, through all three layers, and left about a two foot opening down one side... huge opening! Huge. Unnecessarily large, really, but I didn't want to wrestle with it, so I don't regret it. I easily turned the blanket (between the denim and the crocheted blanket) and pushed out the corners. Then I closed the opening by folding in the seam and using a whipstitch. Then just use embroidery thread through all three layers, tying off every 6 inches (more like 12 inches for me...I like the push the envelope!). Here's a handy tip for tying quilts that I use and like; it's about not cutting the pieces you're using for tying until the very end. You know, I didn't even bind the edges, because sewing the seams and the turning it inside out left such a nice finish all on it's own.

The blanket hasn't left his side. He carries it from room to room with him.

I do feel a little bit bad...you know, for waiting so long to do it...but I'm ready to move on. :)

[Edited: Pictures of Erik removed for marriage maintenance purposes....though I personally think he's adorable, a handsome duck, always and forever. However, I did get a picture of the blanket, which Kitty obviously loves, very much. And cats know cozy! Plus, I can tell by her regal expression that she thinks she looks fabulous.]