I’m joining Kat & the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday Thursday!
KNITTING CROCHETING:
I’ve been crocheting squares for my Fair Square Riff… using Purl Soho’s Fair + Square Blanket, Crochet Version, as a starting point. (There’s a Knit Version, too.) I went with the crochet version because it seems like it might be a little quicker to do and it just seems like it’s a bit more portable, too.
The Purl Soho blankets also each have two color versions — one uses 16 colors and the other uses four. I have SIX colors, so… riffing! I don’t even remember exactly how I made the calculation that I came up with — do not ask me to show my work — but I came up with color combos for each square, each using two to four colors, always bordered with a row of white. I tried to employ the Granny Squares Color Pattern Generator, which I used so successfully to generate a chart for hexie love (read/see that here), but I needed something more random pattern-wise. I used it to give me the colors for each square, then used whatever calculation I came up with for the row counts, and employed one of my other favorite design tools — a spreadsheet — to make my chart!
I’m working top-to-bottom with this as my guide, and have the top row & three squares of the second row finished.
Obviously, my colors are a little different than charted. I kind of like those brighter colors, but I’m working with what I’ve got/was given (and the guidance for those choices was “jewel tones”). The colors are a bit richer & more vibrant in person — I ran outside to take photos last night as the light was fading.
Anyway, I’m sort of single-minded about this project & want to get it done so I can move on. I’ve been knocking out about one square every evening during TV time. We were watching a Swedish series for a minute, so reading subtitles slowed me down a little bit, but more recently we’ve started watching some historical docu-dramas — Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War, and The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen — which are more crochet-friendly.
READING:
I’m a bit more than half-way through Kaffe Fassett: Dreaming In Color: An Autobiography — there are a lot of photos & photo spreads (it’s a workout holding that bulky book up in bed) which are really fun to look at, and it’s interesting to read about his (really rather) charmed life. And I’m even more interested in meeting The Man next month.
Discover more from knitorious
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I like your planning process and your crochet squares, even if you don’t show your work! At some point you just have to stop calculating and start crocheting. Hope you have plenty of crochet-friendly TV in the queue.
Your squares are looking awesome – so even and straight! Having that chart to follow must make it so much easier, too.
I am likewise loving your granny squares! That granny square generator… mind blown! I love it! I have signed up for the virtual Kaffe talk… I can’t swing a trek into Nashville right now but gosh it was so tempting!
Sometimes the internet can be a bit much, but finding out that a granny square generator is a thing that exists? Mind blown! I always find your blankets to be inspiring, and this one is no exception. I’m excited for you to meet Kaffe and tell us all about it!
I have an old (very old now . . . because time clicks on . . . ) granny square afghan that I made for my parents as a Christmas present when I was in college. I own it now, and it is a thing of lasting beauty and questionable color choices — because it was crocheted with earth tone shades of Red Heart acrylic. Anyway. I have been considering re-making it . . . with better yarn and in more modern-and-happening colors. Learning that there is a granny square generator may help that become a reality! Your inspiration may just get me started! Love your progress – and process, Vicki!
A granny square almost every day should mean you have an afghan in no time. I missed this Purl Soho pattern so thank you for sharing it. Enjoy the weekend.