A little progress goes a long way

I taught myself to crochet shortly before starting this blog. You can see my first project in a previous post of mine, Catching Up to Christmas. A small scarf that I made and remade until I learned the stitch. Back then I only knew a few stitches thanks to YouTube. Now I have taught myself so much more. I know all the basic stitches, a few combinations, and I can finally read patterns and diagrams!

I should have posted this before my I Taught Crochet Classes post, cause I know y'all are all thinking 'she taught those people without knowing it herself!'

No, I just haven't gotten around to posting a lot about my crocheting. This is mostly a craft and DIY blog. But then, I guess crochet is a craft you DIY, right?

Well, now you are getting that. I have been working on a blanket for my mom's birthday for about a year now. It's been one of those on-and-off projects that keeps getting set aside.

A photo posted by Emily Bishop (@emilybishop14) on Jan 17, 2014 at 3:40pm PST

I stopped working on it for a few months so I could make a baby blanket for my niece. I mentioned her in my post, What's Up?

Axle is always wanting to help me with my crocheting.

A photo posted by Emily Bishop (@emilybishop14) on Nov 24, 2013 at 11:48pm PST

A photo posted by Emily Bishop (@emilybishop14) on Nov 24, 2013 at 11:54pm PST

Once I finished and delivered the baby blanket I was able to get back to my mom's blanket. I'm finally able to start joining them all together now! All 216 squares of them! Here they all are ready to be joined.

A photo posted by Emily Bishop (@emilybishop14) on Apr 21, 2014 at 2:28pm PDT

Now, my mom knew I was making her this blanket. Heck, I've been making squares everywhere I went. How could she not know? So when the day came to start joining them, I told her she couldn't see the rest of the process. It would spoil the ending. So I invited her to come and see the pile before I started joining them.

This is what she did...

"Oh, they are so soft! And cuddly! I just want to bury myself in them!"

And that's exactly what she did! And I got a photo of it!

A photo posted by Emily Bishop (@emilybishop14) on Apr 21, 2014 at 2:50pm PDT

All you can see is the top of her head and ponytail. She just laid on my bed and covered her face with them! We both got a good laugh out of that.

Here you can see my joining method. Its just a simple slip stitch, but it works beautifully!

Axle really enjoyed this blanket. He was always either on it, or under it. And occasionally he wrapped himself up in it!

A photo posted by Emily Bishop (@emilybishop14) on Jun 11, 2014 at 10:08am PDT

So, now comes the worst part of crocheting. For me anyways, it's the weaving in the ends!

I still have a long way to go with this blanket, but I'm well on my way to being finished with it. Once these dreaded tails are gone, I can start the border. Then a wash, and I can give it to my mom for her birthday!