Embracing the dark side.
Progress so far with the Manghan or rather Boyghan I’m making for Master R aged 7.
His choice of colours.
He thinks the Square in the middle on the left is “Epic!” and the Moroccan window, middle on the right – which is a pig to crochet – caused a sharp intake of breath and a ‘Wow!” when he saw it.
Many of the crocheters in the Nuts About Squares CAL have finished stunningly beautiful blankets, and whilst it is a genuine delight to see them, I do find it frustrating as many of my squares do not end up being the right size – lots of ripping out and adjusting still to be done. By the time I’ve finished this one – please let that be not too long ahead!!! – I will have crocheted enough for about 5 blankets, with only one to show for it.
I’m not moaning (well I am, but don’t listen to me! or give me any sympathy!) the high class problem of a crafting Granny!
For now I will enjoy the gasps of joy and appreciation to keep me going.
Ravelry
Wild Daffodil 
The colours make it look like Moroccan tiles – shame it’s proving to be such a pain 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll try to think Moroccan tiles and other exotic places to get me through!
LikeLike
I meant Moorish but couldn’t think of the word at the time and Moroccan tiles are largely Moorish – but you knew what I meant!! Sorry they are proving to be such a pain 😉
LikeLike
An interesting blend of colour , good luck to the end result Sandra.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks – I need it!
LikeLike
I think you have managed to sneak in a lot of light shades and (to me) it is not dark at all, it looks quite intricate and not the simplest of patterns, watch out or the Misses may decide they want more intricate patters too, 😉
how wonderful that your hardwork is appreciated with such wonderful reactions, bless him, Frances
lol, I’ve just realised he has almost chosen the suffragettes colours of mauve and sage, sorry but it is making me giggle,
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha! Ha! yes! that’s a fun twist to this tale of the blanket. I think you might be right about the Misses, noises are already being made! 😉
LikeLike
His “seal of approval” makes the whole thing seem reasonable, doesn’t it? It really is such an intriguing mix of colors and patterns!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Intriguing! hmm! yes, that’s one word!!!! Ha!Ha!
You are right about the seal of approval Kerry. 🙂
LikeLike
The perfect reaction from him – brilliant!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it was lovely to see. Makes all my tussling with pattern and colours worthwhile.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Definitely! And the different squares will be interesting to do despite the colours😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am definitely learning a lot from the tutorials.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love all the squares. I think the colours work really well. Can’t wait to see the finished product.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you MM. I’m really encouraged by your comment – come on Granny, keep hooking!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
:):)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am just working the border for this lovely cal and have found the video tutorials by Esther were invaluable. My first square took a week following the written pattern, but after finding the videos I managed to keep up pretty well. Joining the squares as Esther shows really works and gives a great finish. Keep going, it will be worth it in the end !
LikeLike
I am just working the border for this lovely project and found that the joining of them was fine using the method that Esther demonstrates in her great tutorials. My first square took me a week following the written pattern but after finding the video tutorials I kept up with the cal easily. Keep going, its worth it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much for your encouragement Carole. Well done for getting to the border. Gosh I’m impressed you stuck with the written tutorial – i’m sure I would not have done any without the videos. Are you part of the Facebook Group? There are some wonderful finished examples being posted there.
LikeLike
This is so beautiful, Daffy and my favourite square has got to be the same one as Master R called ‘EPIC!!’ -)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Eddie. He likes that square because he says it looks like an army target. Does it remind you of your army days?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes I can see where he gets that idea from, and added to that the olive colour which was the colour of the uniform I wore, it does actually 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think he’ll be taking this with him to college unless it falls apart from overuse first!! EPIC really is the word for this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Kathy, what a lovely thought. It is made of acrylic yarn so it should be fairly robust – as long as it is not used for den building in the woods!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a keepsake and how especially wonderful that his self is part of the process! So intricate and beautiful!! Is there much more to go?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m just about halfway. There will be 18 squares, they will be joined with crochet and then a border of about 10 rows. I’m hoping it will be something that will hold happy memories for him and he will be able to keep forever.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A work of art!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ditto on epic! That’s going to be some blanket when it’s finished.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Laurie. I am finding it tough going, but everyone’s encouragement is helping me to want to get it finished.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Onward, ho! Can’t wait to see the finished blanket.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes! Onward! 🙂
LikeLike
I am with the Master, I think this whole blanket is EPIC. I love the colors. It is quite royal with the purples and quite manly with the camo colors. Perfect.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Royal and Manly! Maybe that is what he is going for! I saw him in his end of term drama play last night and at one point he was dressed up as the Queen – at another he was a Ninja fighter! “Royal and Manly”, I am going to embrace those two qualities and see if that helps me get to grips with this colour combo. Thank you Lisa – I think you might have given me the key i needed. 😉
LikeLike
Just think of the feeling of accomplishment you’re going to feel when it’s done. 🙂 What you’ve done already is gorgeous… or should I say epic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Robin, all encouragement gratefully received. I am going to feel a huge sense of relief when it is done to mutual satisfaction – but I’m sure the sense of accomplishment will also kick in! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, I think the whole thing is EPIC! Not just the centre square.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha!ha! Thank you Deb!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s coming along nicely – I’d be saying WOW too if I was him! I have a much loved mama-knitted blanket and can vouch for the amount of time he’ll spend examining each square.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, that is so good to know and spurs me on. Thank you! ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your new blanket looks much more exciting than previously – great!!!
I had problems with both size and shape of the squares for my CAL blanket because although the squares were nominally 6″ square some were even rectangular. There is ‘blocking’, the fact that joining will pull them or push them a bit to fit and with these sort of designs. I would be inclined to settle on a size (I had a piece of card with a square drawn on it!) and if the square is to small just do more rows of dcs until it is approximately right. My joining method for the CAL helped as well but I won’t suggest that as it is a lot of work.
Anyway, sounds as it you are doing well and you will have a very happy boy at the end, so it will seem worth all the hard work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Jane, good idea to have the piece of card. The CAL gives a method for joining which I will try once I have got to that stage. I’m intrigued to know yours now, did you blog about it?
Thank you for cheering me on.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If you choose ‘CAL’ from the tag cloud you will find lots of posts on the joining although no link to the method. It’s called a ‘Flat Braid join’ and one of the references I used is here – http://priscillascrochet.net/free%20patterns/Afghan%20Edgings%20and%20Joinings/Flat%20Braid%20Square%20Joining%20Method.pdf
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to send me the link. I will check it out. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is a really neat join – I will definitely give that a go – possibly for another project – I’m going to try the ‘Nuts’ one as there is a video tutorial, and I’m a bit hooked on those!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I used the ‘Nuts’ method to join the squares for one side of my cushion but on the wrong side so it didn’t show. I found it quite straight forward and even when the number of stitches was the same on the edge of each square.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. I’m longing to get to that stage!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are beautiful squares though, it will be stunning when it’s finished!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! Your encouragement is much appreciated.
LikeLike
You are doing just grand and the reaction should tell you that you are. Try changing a hook size. I know sucking eggs!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha! Thank you for your support Cathy. Yes I am trying changing the hook size and the type of stitch – ie. to make it bigger doing a double crochet instead of a single etc, lots of trial and error! ❤
LikeLike