Sunday, August 10, 2014

Mondrian-Style Blanket

I have a bad habit of starting a yarn project, getting partially done, deciding I don't care for it, and frogging* it. My husband is amazed at how many different things I can make with the same yarn... I tell him this way I never have to buy more yarn. But... it also means I rarely finish something. 



I don't like to admit it, but I can be a real stinker when it comes to finishing a project. Once I know how it will turn out, I find it less compelling, and if I don't like what it's shaping into, I'm even less interested. I have this trouble with books and movies too. It's one reason I dislike seeing movies of books I've read (unless it's been awhile), and I never read the last chapter first. 

I started this blanket the second winter in our current house, almost five years ago. It was a struggle. Mostly I fought with carrying the different colors. I admire color-work, but it's too fussy for me. I wanted the blanket to be viewable from both sides; carrying yarn along on one side was not possible. And the endlessly repetitive single crochet was, well, endlessly repetitive (but I repeat myself...). The yarn and partially crocheted portion sat in a large multi-colored lump in the corner for three years. I ignored it and made other things. Socks. Sweaters. I'm pretty sure the lump was mocking me. I ignored it some more. 



And then, I thought: I will not be brought to heel by the mocking lump. I decided not to allow myself to start any new project until I finished or disposed of this, or any other, existing WIPs. This blanket was first on the list (mostly because of the size of the lump. And the mocking). I devised a mostly acceptable, not too annoying, method for trailing along several separate balls of color (full disclosure: I confess to several bouts of whining). But: it is done. At last. And it is good. And the peasants rejoiced. 



I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease and adapted the colors to suit our living room. The Mondrian Blanket pattern is available free from Lion Brand, but you have to register/log-in to get it. I like how the colors interact, and I imagine you could substitute other color sets with equally good results.  



*rip-it, rip-it, rip-it (get it?)

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