Grouchy Granny

 

These sixteen granny squares came out of one skein of specialty yarn that has automatic color changes. I have a love-hate relationship with this Yarnspirations All-In-One Granny Square yarn. The love is because it is a gorgeous, earthy, cocoa and cream color scheme. (And ooo-laa-laa, I do have a long term love affair going on with earth tones: Caramel Mocha, Sand Sparkle, Comfy Cozy.) Plus, there's more love for this all-in-one yarn, because it looks and feels excellent, sturdy but also smooth and soft. But, oh dear, then there is the hate because, well, I shouldn't say hate. There is too much hate in this world. I will not say I hate this yarn. But I will say that I have as much dislike for it as I have love, because it is so frustrating to make it actually work as all-in-one. So, that is a weird and warped relationship, that just makes me feel grouchy. So, Grouchy Granny it is. 

Below is a picture of why I feel the dislike. This yarn is supposed to move along with color changes so you don't have to weave in ends. Well, I would just rather weave in ends. I had to unravel so many times, because I was off just enough to make it all wrong. Too frustrating, too many times. Sorry, All-In-One, I will not be buying this again, but I'm glad I gave it a try. Because the concept is cool, and the yarn itself is good quality, plus ooo-laa-laa, love that creamy color scheme. 😊

I almost quit, several times. The directions were clear (pics in photo album), and it was supposed to work seamlessly, with perfect gauge and tension. But, obviously I'm not perfect with gauge and tension, because I was over or under on pretty much every square at least once, and sometimes more than once. It was so frustrating, because sometimes it would work perfectly with one color change and would then be off by centimeters on the very next one, and I felt like I wasn't doing anything different. Exasperating. But I'm glad I stuck with it, because it did give me sixteen fantastic granny squares that I turned into several super fun items that I'll be taking to Genghis Con. 😎 I added a mocha colored border to every square, and that really turned on the perfectly pretty. 

That border then made it really easy to stitch together various combinations of squares, to get pillow pieces and other bits of squared-off fun. 😍 I heart this easy geometry. I had way too much fun then adding ruffles, and posing these pieces. Here's a whole folder of too many pics of fun: All-In-One. 

Granny Squares = Colorful Crochet Fun