Unfortunately, I was unable to work on either of the projects that I found to work on this week, but I did have time to plan out what I was going to do with all of my projects in the future. Hopefully next week, I am going to start working on finishing my blanket as I really would like to complete it and be able to use it. I am thinking about combining a lot of different colors of yarn to make a cool pattern for my blanket since I had to start using a different color in the middle of my project, but I will see what happens when I get to that point. I also am planning on starting the projects that I found on Pinterest at some point next week or possibly at some point after I finish my blanket, and I am very excited to do those as well. One skill I may still need to learn before I complete the new pillow projects is embroidering as the octopus pillow that I chose has a face and would require me to embroider a mouth. I do not have that skill yet, but I would definitely be open to learning it so that I could add that aspect to future projects. I thoroughly enjoyed this project and I am so happy that I was able to gain a new skill that I enjoy through it. I know I have said this multiple times, but I cannot wait to continue using this skill and improving it on other projects in the future, and I am excited to see the extent of what I can do with it once I refine it enough. I do not know if I will ever choose to start selling items that I make as I definitely am not good enough at crocheting to do that yet, but it is cool to think of doing that in the future, and it is also cool to think of what the future holds for me and crocheting!
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This week, I had originally planned to use the crocheting skills that I have built through my blanket to crochet a new project like a pillow, stuffed animal, or other small items. Unfortunately, I was extremely busy this week, so that was not able to happen. I did, however, look for ideas for items to crochet on Pinterest and I was able to find a couple of projects that struck my interest. I specifically searched for things like stuffed animals and pillows because those are projects that I have always loved when I see them and I think that they would be very fun to complete. I also think that they could have a lot of uses as they would be able to be used as just decoration or they could be used as pillows, just like my blanket, and they are pretty cute if I'm being honest. As you can see, the two projects that I chose to do later on by using my new crocheting skills are a stuffed octopus and a cactus pillow. These are both things that I wanted to learn how to do when I decided to start crocheting, but I chose the blanket instead because I knew they would be a little more challenging. I would love to use both of these as pillows in my room, and I think that they would be a fun challenge to complete. I am definitely not perfect at crocheting, as I still have a lot of work to do on my blanket and I still mess up a lot, I think that by finishing the blanket and making more projects like these shown above, as well as making more blankets, I will be able to build up this skill to where I can use it for a lot of different purposes. I am super excited to do all of these projects in the future, and I cannot wait to see how they might turn out when I complete them!
This week, I officially made the decision to alter my project a little bit, and I decided to just finish what I have so far of my blanket and move on from it. This blanket has not gone the way that I planned for it to in a lot of ways, from not having enough yarn to having to change colors to running out of time, and I have realized that it is unrealistic for me to finish this blanket in the next two weeks that we have for this project due to the large size that I chose for my blanket to be. On the positive side, I have gained a lot of skills through completing what I have of my blanket, so I am going to use those skills to work on smaller items and to practice smaller patterns in these final weeks. As for the section of my blanket that I do have done, I am planning on using it as just either a decorative piece or some smaller form of a covering until I can finish it later on. I am not going to completely forget about it, and I will pick up on it when I have more time and a less-rushed timeline to work on it. As you can see above, I did not get very close to my end goal of completing my full blanket, but I feel that is mostly because of the very large size that I chose. In the future when I make another blanket, I will choose a smaller size so that I am able to complete it more efficiently. As for the next two weeks, I am going to play around with some different yarn types to make small items, and I am considering making a small pillow of some sort. Through making this blanket, I was able to practice and refine my crocheting skills, and I am excited to use those skills to work on more items for these final weeks and to finish my blanket as well as others in the future.
This week, I was able to get about two rows of my blanket done, which I was happy with as I have only been able to get one row done for a while now. However, I am having some issues with the amount of yarn that I am having to use in order to get my rows done. I, for some reason, am having to use a ball of yarn per row, which was not happening when I was using my colorful yarn. It only began when I switched to the white yarn. This may be because the white yarn may have less material per bundle, but I am not sure. However it is caused, this shortage of yarn is creating a lot of setbacks for me as I am making less and less of a row with each bundle of yarn. Due to having such a large blanket size and such little yarn each week to make a remarkable amount of progress, I am starting to feel that completing the full blanket is an unrealistic goal for this time period. So, I am thinking that I may be able to finish off this piece with one or two more bundles of yarn and make it a decorative piece to put at the end of my bed rather than a full blanket, and to spend the rest of the weeks of this project working on smaller projects like pillows and other stuffed items. This is not ideal, of course, as I was really hoping to crochet a full-sized blanket, but I have gained a lot of experience from completing what I have been able to. I am still planning on completing this blanket after the Genius Hour project time period is up, but I feel that the rest of the weeks of this project could be best used by me through using the skills that I gained to make more items rather than focusing on just one. While it has been a little aggravating to keep having issues with the amounts of yarn I am using, I have not changed my opinion on how much I enjoy crocheting at all. I love this new hobby that I have gained, and I am excited to use the skills that I have learned to make more items later on. I am also excited to finish this blanket in the future, but, as I said, I do not think I can realistically finish the size blanket I chose in the time that we have left on this project. I will continue to crochet for the weeks to come, though, as I will finish this as a decorative piece and I will create more small items that I can use as well.
This week, I, unfortunately, was not able to get as much of my blanket done as I wanted to because I had to wait until Friday to get more yarn. This was due to me still not being able to get the color yarn that I needed because the store was still out of stock. Eventually, after two weeks had gone by with no progress on my project, I decided that I was going to have to just switch colors because my yarn was not in stock anywhere still. So, I chose white yarn to continue my blanket with because white was a part of the pattern that I had originally. Of course, this was not ideal because I was hoping to keep my blanket pattern uniform throughout, but this just shows that some things don't go as planned. Another negative that came from this was the fact that I waited for a while before I got the yarn to work on my blanket because I was waiting for the other color to come in stock, so I did not get much done with my blanket this week. I was only able to finish one row, which is a lot less than the eight rows that I was hoping to get done over two days. However, simply due to a lack of time and materials, that was not able to happen. I am also starting to get concerned that I am not going to be able to finish this project in time because each ball of yarn only makes around one and maybe another half of a row at most, so I am continuously having to stop working in order to get more yarn. So, I may have to change my plans a little bit referring to what my overall project is because of how difficult it is proving to be to crochet the size blanket that I want in this time frame. I am not fully planning on not completing my blanket and changing plans yet, and I am hoping to get back on track as soon as possible if I can. I am also hoping that my original yarn may come back in stock so I could maybe make a pattern with the colorful yarn and the white yarn. While I did not originally want to change colors, I do think that adding the white could make an interesting pattern and can be a cool addition to my project. I am still excited to see my final product and to work hard to get to my final goal!
This week, I was unable to make any progress on my blanket because I, unfortunately, was unable to purchase any new yarn. After I ran out of yarn last week, I went the following Tuesday and Wednesday to get more yarn, and the store I go to to get it from was out of stock of my color that I needed. I also looked in other stores and online as well, and nowhere seemed to have my yarn. So, I eventually faced the fact that I could not get any more rows done, and that made me pretty sad.
I have been saying that this project is super fun to me, and I mean it. I have thoroughly enjoyed crocheting this blanket, and I am excited to see the final product. So, I was pretty sad that I could not work on it any this week. It also stressed me out a little that I could not work on it because I am falling behind with my progress, as I still have a long way to go and I was unable to work on as many rows as I wanted to for the past couple of weeks. So, while I was not working on my blanket, I was coming up with a plan to go about catching up and completing as much of my blanket as possible in the weeks to come. I have been working two days a week on crocheting so far, and I have been trying to complete two rows each day for a total of four rows a week. Since I have not been able to complete the amount that I want to complete for the past couple of weeks, I am going to try do double the rows that I am working on over two days in order to get caught up and finish my blanket in time. This means that I will be completing four rows a day, for a total of eight rows a week. This also means that I will need to purchase a lot of yarn at a time in order to have enough so that I do not run out, because as I learned this week, that is very inconvenient towards my progress. Hopefully, after I take these steps, I will be able to complete my blanket in the twelve weeks that this project takes place during and that I will be able to return to the hobby that I have come to enjoy so much. This week, I was able to complete one and a half rows of my blanket. I wanted to get about four to six done since I fell behind last week, but I unfortunately ran out of yarn. I have now gone through four balls of yarn, and I still have quite a while to go until I finish my blanket. I went the next day to get more yarn so that I could continue working, but the store was out of the color that I am using. So, I am going to have to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday to get more yarn and to really get caught up in order to finish this project in time. I am happy with the speed that I am completing the rows at, because I am able to get them done quickly which, when I have enough yarn, allows me to get a lot done. This week, after I finished off the ball of yarn that I had and went to look at what I had gotten done, I noticed that the end was going down at an angle again like it was when I was practicing. I wanted to fix that, as I did not want my blanket to continue getting smaller at the ends, so I took out the second row that I had done in order to fix the issue. I figured out what my problem was, so I completed the row again and the end looked a lot better. So, I am going to continue to focus on not pulling the ends down too far when I am working in order to keep them straight. As I have been saying, I am very happy with the way that this is turning out so far, and it has been really fun to work on it every week and see it grow into the final product. I am really enjoying working on this blanket, and I am excited to get more yarn in order to continue!
This week, I was not able to complete as much of my blanket as I wanted to because I ended up getting very busy with schoolwork and other activities throughout the week, but I was still able to make progress. I previously said that I wanted to work for at least two days each week and complete at least four rows over those two days, but I only worked for one day this week and completed two more rows. I am definitely getting the hang of this stitch and I am able to complete it fairly quickly, but just as quickly as I complete the stitch, I am running out of yarn. I am only six or so rows into my blanket and I have already gone through three balls of yarn. This is not a huge problem, just an inconvenience as I have to stop working until I get a new ball of yarn to work with. Something that has surprised me is how relaxing and satisfying it is to work on this blanket. I think that it is relaxing to me because it is satisfying to repeat the same pattern over and over again, and I love to see the blanket coming together as a whole. I was hoping that this would become a relaxing task for me, and I am pleased that I am enjoying crocheting as much as I am. The only aspect that I am struggling with is knowing which segment to thread the yarn through, and I get hung up a lot on that because I start to think that I am going through the wrong sections. I think that I am getting better at that, though, and I know that I will get it down-pat soon. I was a little disappointed that I did not get to work on my blanket as much as I wanted to this week, but I am still glad that I got to make at least some progress on it. I am really happy with the way that this blanket is turning out so far, and I am genuinely having a good time completing it, which is what I hoped would happen from the beginning of this project. I am planning on working on this more next week to get caught up on what I missed this week, and I am excited to get more of my blanket done!
This week, I finally started the first couple of rows of my blanket. I did them over a span of two days, and I got four rows done. I actually did not use the stitch I had been practicing with, I used a stitch intended for blankets specifically that I found on YouTube. Thankfully, the video was very detailed in its explanations and I was able to get the hang of the steps pretty quickly. I also was able to keep the edges straight while I was making new rows, which made me very happy as that is what I was struggling with when I was practicing. (Day 1 Final Product) I was very surprised with how much easier it was to work with this yarn than it was to work with the practice yarn. I was able to work very fast because the yarn was much more sturdy and easier to push the crocheting stick through, and I was very happy with this because I did not get hung up as much when pulling yarn through which allowed me to work more efficiently. I also had a lot of fun making these first couple of rows since I was able to complete them on my own without having to have my sister help me like she did when I was practicing, and I also understood the steps better than I did previously. (Day 2 Final Product) I am very pleased with how my blanket is turning out so far, and I am going to try to keep a consistent pace of working on it for two to three days each week. I am going to be moving very fast because this is a very large blanket, as it is 50" by 65", and I am already on my third spool of yarn after only four rows. Since I am going to have to keep buying more yarn which will set me back if I run out, I am going to get as much done each week as possible in order to finish my blanket in time. I am very excited to continue working on this project, and I cannot wait to see how it turns out!
This week, I wanted to get in one more practice piece before I went on to making my blanket. I originally wanted to use the thinner yarn that I used last week again, but I changed my mind since the yarn for the blanket is going to be thick, so I decided to practice with the thicker yarn from week one. This piece is not necessarily anything in particular, it is just a practice piece since it ended up being an awkward size, so it would not really work as anything else. This piece ended up taking me a while because I mixed up the steps which messed me up at about the third row. I had to start over, but luckily my sister was able to help me get back on track. I think that I have the steps good enough in my memory now to where I will be able to do the blanket without a lot of help from her. I am also excited to use the yarn I got for the blanket because it is a lot softer and easier to work with than this yarn, as this one splits very easily and gets very difficult to push the crocheting stick through. One thing that I really, really need to get better at while I complete my blanket is keeping the piece one consistent length, because all of my practice pieces so far have ended up sloping down at an angle. I think that I have figured out some ways to fix this issue, though, and I am hoping that I can get my blanket to look as clean as possible. Like I said, the sides of this piece slope down at an angle like the bookmark and coaster that I made, but I am still happy that I was able to make some progress with the skill as a whole. I worked through the steps faster than I had on the other pieces, and I am understanding what to do next better as I work on the piece. I am excited to start working on my blanket next week, and I am hoping that my skill with this hobby will improve even more along the way!
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AuthorHey again! This is where I will be sharing my progress with crocheting throughout these twelve weeks. Archives
December 2020
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