Pink On Pause

 Instead of a cozy picture of my beagle wrapped in a completed I Love Pink Blanket, here it is, set aside in a bin for the nonce.

 Sometimes you have to walk away then come back fresh. I tried to join the squares four ways.

The stitch according to the directions, which was very loose and looked terrible. Maybe that’s why the original border is in black so the stitch definition isn’t so clear, and you go ack.

I tried half double crochet stitches. It looked more solidly held together, but again there was a Frankenstein’s monster look to the stitches.

Double crochet, worse yet.

Single crochet looked best and had the nicest look, but it still isn’t quite right.

I’ve picked up my long in the works Green Granny which just needs the squares joined and a border.

Never fear, no weekly updates on that afghan.  

Mondays revert to a hodge podge sort of posting like Wednesdays are.  

Should I complete the Pinkie, I'll have it here.  

Thanks for following the blanket progress :)

Red Heart I Love Pink Blanket Part 9

All squares are made but those last two that I finished need an edge.  I did find a layout I like, so progress indeed. The blanket seems small, but it will be cozy enough.

However, I am just not seeing how the assembly instructions work.

ASSEMBLY With right sides facing, arrange all squares as shown in Assembly Diagram on next page. Horizontal Join (right side): Holding first squares of Strips 1 and 2 with wrong side together and working through both thicknesses, join D with sc in first corner, **ch 2, sc in space between next 2 hdc and first 4-hdc group, *ch 4, sc in space between next two 4-hdc groups; repeat from * 4 times, ch 4, sc in space between last 4-hdc group and next 2 hdc, ch 2, sc in next corner**, ch 2, sc in first corner of next squares; repeat from ** to ** once. Fasten off. Repeat Horizontal Join to join remaining strips.

 So. What is a strip? These two, then go down?  This does not seem "horizontal".

Now this below looks horizontal, but does not seem to involve "the first squares of strip one and strip two."

 

How have I gotten this far, you ask?  Looking at the Yarnspirations site to look at the pattern and copy it here, I noticed a review! I'm certain it wasn't there when I started. It says it is " super easy".  I had a moment reading that, but it is true, once you decipher the instructions and are working on the pattern, it seems easy enough.  That deciphering though!

I'm going to do what got me through last time, just try to follow the pattern directions stitch by stitch.  Stay tuned for the gripping finale.

Red Heart I Love Pink Blanket #8

 I’ve only three squares left to put edging on, then it’s the dramatic assembly and a border.  I’m considering putting the darker colors at the outside and lights in the center. That’s likely not as pretty as a mixed pattern of shades. This may be one of those rare projects that I complete in less than a year (or longer).

Stay tuned!

Red Heart I Love Pink Blanket Part 7

 Only one square left, all of the edges, assembly and a border.  I did manage to lay the squares out in an initial pattern.  I think that may be the toughest part. Keeping a good mix of darks and lights, and no two of the same color next to each other. Best be careful they’re all right side up, too.

Red Heart I Love Pink Blanket Part 6

 I have made progress since last week. I’m on the second to last color, Light Raspberry.  The edging instructions were making me buggy, so I dove in on a few squares to see how it went. 

The essence of the instructions are to do a half double crochet in each stitch along the sides. On the top and bottom of each square, do a set of four half double crochets in the spaces created by the double crochet groups of four. If this is wrong, it will show up in the next step when I attempt to “assemble” the squares.

I’m pulling the Jazzy yarn from the center of the skein, and so far there’s no color change. It’s all very crimson.  Somewhere in the edges and borders, those lighter colors should appear.

Red Heart I Love Pink Blanket Part 5

Little progress this week, except I finished one Shocking Pink Square and half of the second one. I’m hoping to have all squares complete by next week, and have a start on the edging. 

Reading the directions, though, it is completely unclear if they want me to put half double crochets in the stitches or the spaces at the ends of each row. It may be neither. Decipher it and drop me a line, thanks!

I Love Pink Blanket Part 4

 I’m working on the sixth of eight colors which will comprise the loveliest pink blanket I’ve done.  Just two more colors after this, and the edging goes in. I find the directions for the edging to be a bit obscure. If I can’t figure it out, I’ve a whole book of blanket edgings to turn to.

I Love Pink Blanket Part 3

I meant to have at least two new squares done for this week, but no luck.  I have started my fourth color : Red Heart With Love Sweet Pink.  You can't tell here just how soft the color is, but it is sweet indeed. Next week more progress!

 

 

I Love Pink Blanket Part 2

 I’m working on my third color in the I Love Pink Blanket. It is so pretty and a pleasure to work on. I’m doing all of the squares first, then I’ll add the borders.

The colors so far are Baby Pink, Perfect Pink, and Pretty N Pink.

When It Takes 10 Tries To Get The Pattern Right

I mark and print out many patterns. Eventually, I try out some with new stitches that are slightly above my pay grade skill wise. Normally I’d give up, if there's too much trouble getting a good start, but sometimes, I like the pattern so much, I just keep trying. 

In the case of Red Heart Yarns I Love Pink Blanket, I was sure I could master the stitch, after watching several YouTube videos demonstrating the Crossed Double Crochet stitch, which the pattern uses. I knew I had yarn colors that would look nice with it. 

As it turned out, all of the videos have you working this stitch into another double crochet stitch. After several tries, I thought I had it right using a test swatch with Red Heart Retro Stripes Yarn.

Oops. Reading the pattern carefully, and writing it out longhand without the pattern abbreviations, I saw the Double Cross Stitch here is worked into a Space, not a stitch.

Try, try again, and in Baby Pink, I now have the pattern down.

The next step was to dig through my massive yarn stash for the required three pink shades plus a border color, which would never have been black as in the original.

Look at all of those pretty pinks!  Red Heart Super Saver Jazzy is a great choice for the border. It incorporates several of the shades I have.  Seeing all of these together, I want to use them all.  If I do two squares of each shade I have, I'm just one skein short of the sixteen squares.  Unless! I dug through a third time and I have a Caron One Pounder in Soft Pink that is absolutely compatible with the Super Saver Yarn.  Now I can do 2 squares of each of eight colors.  So mathematical!

I have more fun than you do, just sayin'.

https://www.yarnspirations.com/red-heart-i-love-pink-blanket/RHC0502-018295M.html

 

 

My Pink Shades:

Red Heart Super Saver

Baby Pink

Perfect Pink

Light Raspberry

Petal Pink

Shocking Pink

Pretty 'N Pink

Red Heart With Love 

Sweet Pink

 

Red Heart Super Saver Ombre 

Jazzy

Caron One Pounder

Soft Pink