Evolution of an Afghan

My journey with yarn & needles started a few years ago.

It was actually Kim who taught me to knit during our downtime from the Living Christmas tree performances at our church. 

It was super exciting to learn a new craft, but I never really went beyond the square. Knitting is hard, there is a lot of things involved to make it perfect, and the risk of dropping a stitch and making a giant hole is huge. 

I have picked up and put down knitting projects over the years, never quite growing the passion that I needed to be successful. I've been seeing neat crochet projects all over pinterest and the internet lately, and I remember growing up that my grandmother would make me some beautiful stuff with crochet. 

I decided that in 2013 I would learn to crochet. It looked easier and a lot more fun, and the projects looked like I wouldn't get bored with them!

First thing I did was buy a book, which wasn't really good for this visual learner. You laugh, visual learning is obviously through pictures, but these days with the evolution of videos I realize that I depend on videos to teach me things! The book was ok, but I turned to YouTube to help me with the basics. Once I learned the basics I yearned to start learning granny squares.

I started looking online at patterns for different granny squares and practicing them. The techniques for making granny squares varies, so I had to make a few of the same pattern before I got the hang of it. Even though my current project is a huge undertaking for a novice crocheter, I am LOVING how it is coming out. I love even more than you can see how much I have progressed in making the squares over the last couple months. 

The beginning: I started with a handful of squares with the same color pattern. It's easier to make multiples at a time working progressively. I make 6 small circles, then do the 2nd layer, then the third on all 6. You get the picture. 

After making a few with different patterns, using the same 3 colors, I decided to try and connect them. 

It's MUCH harder than it looks. Especially when you are not used to having a consistent needle tension. My first few connections were really tight and puckered in random places. Now that I have the hang of it is getting a lot easier to connect them. 

On superbowl Sunday instead of watching the game, I decided it was time to stitch together everything that I had so far to see how many more squares I would need to complete it. 

I saw that I would need A LOT of complete squares to make it as big as I want it.

But that's ok, I keep learning and growing and its fun!

I'm also learning how to hide my yarn ends and to make sure the connections are solid. This has been a frustrating process indeed, I would be checking my connections and pull something random, and 3 pieces would suddenly unravel. 

As of today...this is how big it is. 

ah! I just love it. I think I will put a dark blue border around the whole thing when it is finished to give it a polished look.

Next time I will up to connect them as I go instead of stitching them all together when I have a certain amount of squares done...that makes for less cutting yarn and hiding ends. 

Thanks for following me on this journey.

I am so excited to show you the finished product when the time comes!

Happy Saturday :)