Grannying Away

I have been on a massive crochet fest this past week or two. What started off with an idea for a nursery project turned into an obsession. I had forgotten just how relaxing crochet could be and to be fair I don’t think I have ever enjoyed it this much. I think the fact that I am currently unable to do much thanks to the growing bump and ligament/joint pain, has made sitting on the sofa for hours on end crocheting away very soothing.

I am not the greatest crocheter by any means: I taught myself everything I know from internet guides and have a long way to go before my understanding of yarn weight, pattern and tension is good enough to produce things to size! Normally I am a perfectionist and I think this is why sometimes I have steered away from crochet as the craft of choice because I couldn’t get the result I wanted. But not anymore… now I am just enjoying hooking away for the sheer pleasure of it. Which is how today’s result came about!

Meet the Granny Mandala Lap Blanket which was made using Alice’s pattern and some strange fluffy yarn I had in my stash.

I had no real plan for this other than to use up the yarn I had bought years ago on a whim and never knew what to do with. The initial ring was difficult to work up as the yarn was so fluffy that I couldn’t see the individual stitches. But once I got to the clusters on the rest of the blanket I was speeding away.

It may not be the most practical of shapes or sizes for a blanket, but Tim sure did find plenty of uses for it. This was his “I can’t see you, so you can’t see me!” impression. I’m not sure it worked quite as well as he planned, as I spotted him quite quickly…

Not that he minded so much, as we then got to thinking about how our little one will soon be able to lie on the floor with this super soft blanket and learn to play “peek-a-boo” with it.

But a blanket isn’t a blanket without several uses in our household, so Tim was quite keen on trying out a variety of poses, in which he likened himself to a “Roman Centurian”…

I’m not so sure he quite pulled it off… pink and purple fluffy capes are not quite as striking as the ones the Romans used to wear. But, unfazed by my suggestion of such, the impressions continued, with one I can only liken to a General heading into battle, what do you think?

Jokes aside, this is a really snuggly little blanket that will come in handy over the next few years I’m sure. It is big enough to wrap around a toddler who wants to have as much fun playing as his daddy does, and yet small enough to be easily packed away at the end of the day. Of course, by then, I hope to have a few more additions to my completed projects and our son may well end up with a proper cape or two.

But, seriously, this was so much fun to make up that I can see the granny mandala will become quite a feature in our home and lives so we’ll have to get our thinking caps on as to other ways we can use them.

Have a lovely weekend.