The Beast

-

 


My brother, Frank, wanted a blanket for the couch... big enough for a serious nap. He does already have this throw I made in Camouflage Colors, but it isn't quite up to snuff for a winter snooze on the couch. (Frank likes to call that camouflage piece "Little Cami.") So, I started working on an upgrade for him, and whew! This took me a while. A little throw just isn't gonna do it this time. The new piece had to be long enough to cover his toes, and pull over his head. Also, needed to be wide enough to drape over a whole Army guy, but only just wide enough for the couch. Plus, of course, it had to look good in the living room... darn, no sparkle, no ruffles. I knew what I needed to do: granny squares made manly. This is a Manny Squares blanket. 


I know my way around big projects. I've made a few here and there. 😎 Like, say, oh, maybe something kinda like Ruffle Monster or Granny Square Greatness. 🤩 But I knew this napping-on-the-couch piece had to be just a bit different... a style befitting an old Army guy, and comfy cozy enough to be snooze friendly. So originally on this adventure, I had a concept for a large square blanket, of 3x3 granny squares. I did end up making all nine squares, extra large. Each square starts with a bulky weight yarn in camouflage, sc for 20 rows. That was then doubly framed with two medium weight yarns, first tan (sc four rows) then brown (dc four rows). The variation is colors, weights, and textures created a fantastic look and feel to each piece, I knew it was going to be awesome all pieced together. But when I set it all out for a test arrangement (with Frank in napping position on the couch) I immediately saw my error. Of course it needs to be a long rectangle, not a square blanket. No problem. I connected eight of the squares in a 4x2 arrangement, and I have the one square left over for a pillow. (Working on that piece right now! Stay tuned.)

Aw, look!! Little Cami is so cute there with The Beast. 


This is all the proper gear an old Army guy needs for serious napping.




It's hard to get a sense of scale on each square. I posed it here with one of Dad's old Forest Service name tags. Not sure if that makes it easier, or harder, to understand how big each square is... When I started connecting squares, I had some puckering issues. I know why. Imperfect corners. Careless counting stitches. Actually, I have to admit, I stopped counting stitches somewhere back there on the first or second square. It was all so big, and just getting bigger. In the expansion, no amount of puckering even matters... in fact, it seems to add to the comfy coziness of the whole beast all put together. 


Giant Granny Squares + Army Colors = Crochet Fun

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Candy Cane Ruffle

-
Image
  This sweet piece is my first public showing! 🤩 In the Visitor's Center office  😄 on the  first floor of the CSUP Library! 😎 I'm pretty sure this officially makes me a crochet artist now.   🤔  With my work on display for all the people to see.  😍   I can't stop grinnin'.  😁   There is a happy backstory to this colorful yarn. It is the "free to good home" kind of yarn.   😄 Kenny, one of our university librarians, keeps a lost-and-found assortment of items on a shelf behind the front desk. He called me over one morning and handed this odd ball to me! 😋 It was rather rumpled -  loose'ish and a teeny bit unraveled, and had no label on it. But otherwise perfectly good. Clean, brand new , just lost. Needing a good home. Well, it found one! 😍 Of course, I gladly accepted this little Christmas gift , because I knew immediately what I needed to do - make something sweet and bring it BACK to the library for decoration. 😎 Aw, look how fantasti
Read more

Gran'zilla

-
Image
I love this sweet beast of a piece! 😍 Granny Squares Galore? Godzilla Granny ...  It was difficult to decide what to call this gorgeous monster. 🤩 And it is impossible to get a sense of scale from the photo above . Don't be fooled by the cute poms, and the candy colors. No little baby blankets here, this thing is as big as The Beast . 😎 To get a good look at how big it actually is, I tried draping it over a chair ... but that just made it look like a piled up crash site, with poms and ruffles. 😂   So, I tried giving it scale by arranging it on the couch. But that didn't really work either, because now it just looks like a train wreck . With poms and ruffles. 😆 I absolutely loved making this friendly monster. Here's a photo album of the process ,  including several delightful poses, plus me sitting on the couch. 😁  All the yarn for this piece was actually a kit. But, I ended up not doing the kit piece. I just did my own easy granny square collection. 😎 Then,
Read more

Ruffle Monster

-
Image
This beautiful beast was inspired by Inara, my brother’s niece by marriage. She calls me “Aunt Becky,” even though I'm not actually her aunt in any legal or blood way. Oh, how I love the sound of her sweet voice saying a label that I’ve hardly earned. Extended family is so special, it’s hard to describe, and harder still to explain to people who don’t have as much as we do. Frank’s in-laws became part of my extended family, along with our 22 first cousins (some of whom are almost like siblings to us), and their 45 kids (many of whom are like nieces and nephews to us), all of which I delight in using to confuse my students. Frank’s wife, Kelly, died in 2012, which for some would mean the end of in-law relationships. Instead, a beautiful thing happened, a new closeness. Shortly after Kelly’s funeral, Frank told me that his sister-in-law, Rebekah, had said to him, “You are still uncle to our kids, you will always be their uncle.” Also, Frank later told me that he has become better fri
Read more