I learned to knit and crochet when I was about 8. I was taught by an aunt who remained my “go to” resource throughout my life. She gave me a pattern for afghans in the late 90s that I have used ever since . I have made between 30-40 baby and adult afghans using the same pattern. The pattern allows me to play with color and size and does not require a lot of focus. I always make the baby blankets out of cotton yarn because it is cooler for the baby. Some of the afghans have been specifically planned for colors, some have been made from yarns and colors that I have available and recently I have just finished 3 that are truly “leftover” yarn baby blankets.
With every afghan, there are always leftover parts of skeins and often leftover skeins. Over a couple of decades I have accumulated quite a lot of yarn. I moved 2 big plastic bins of yarn to Nashville and two weeks ago when I went to empty a closet of “stuff” I have not looked at since I put it in there a year ago I saw these bins of left-over yarn. I thought I could donate the yarn but then I wondered how many afghans I could make only using the leftover yarn. I took it as a challenge and I have made 5 baby blankets now. All I have left of the cotton yarn is part of a skein of white yarn that will be easy to use up after I get more yarn. Before I get more yarn I have to use up all of the acrylic yarn that I have for adult lap blankets or single person afghans. Large ones just get too big and hot to make.
These are the last 3 and include color combinations I would generally not think of using. These are made on a diagonal. I tried to start new colors at the beginning of a new row and it was always a guessing game how much yarn would be necessary as I got to the middle or widest part of the blanket. By the last afghan on the far left with the lavender border, I was just ending one color and starting another independent of where I was in the row. As I finished the last round of the border on the last afghan, I had ONLY 6 inches of lavender yarn left. I felt VERY SATISFIED. I like these 3 “leftover” blankets so much that I may just keep them for my grandchildren and great grandchildren (from my step grandchildren). They are truly one of a kind. These project totally engrossed me (and Carli) for two weeks
Carli spends a lot of time napping between my legs on the sofa and she got increasingly tolerant and at times helpful in the process. She did have her limits however and would when she had enough she would just come and lay on the blanket I was making:
She got used to having yarn being pulled across her body while she was sleeping:
Her tail was even useful for maintaining the correct tension on the yarn:
While I am now working on a adult afghan, I feel like I have accomplished a small goal with completion of 5 baby blankets and can now focus on things other than crocheting – like blogging!
Tamara Unleashed 