Sunday, December 6, 2009

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.]

2 comments:

  1. As I am reading this blog, I happen to have my blanket tucked all around me! Truely, I don't know what I did without it. It won't get me to stay in London for an extra year, but it does help me cope with living in such a cold, wet place. All bits have held up wonderfully!

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  2. Mai-ita~ Love! I'm especially pleased that all bits have held up (spoken, so you know, with a British accent in my head :) because you know that I was quite concerned. I spent a bit of time lovingly reflecting on my Maia during this blanket-update-project, as it was, in fact, the very blanket that you're now cozying up with that made him request the extra layers! He was quite taken with how warm and comfy your blanket came out (I forced him to test it before I could deem it Bromberg-Ready) and yes, that was about a year ago! LOL

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