WBS Blanket Progress: The Trouble with Trolls

Blanket One: A Big Giveaway and Cookies for a Troll

In this post, we'll be adding the colors Dark Green and Fresh Green. You'll find another little tip for beginners, plus a big disappointment in a skein of my yarn. And at the end, (excuse me, I have to yell 'cause I'm excited...) CHECK OUT THE GIVEAWAY!! Let's cover the important stuff first:

Remember as always, these patterns are not mine. If you're new to the Big Granny Square Blanket project, please click here to start from the beginning. Also if you're new, you can download all the patterns for the World's Biggest Stocking project here. You don't have to use Caron United to create a blanket, and the colors don't have to be the same as the pattern. Just make sure your finished size is 36" (91.5 cm) square, and try to keep the colors cheery. Now let's get to work!

The nice thing about a color-repeating granny square is that you can work without the pattern after the first colors are used. Just look at the work you've already done to know which color comes next!

And as always: After joining the new color (Dark Green, if you're following the pattern), the round begins as usual, with chain (ch) six, which counts as your beginning double crochet (dc) and the corner ch-3. You then make three more dc in the same space, and chain one before the next set of dc.

You will make *(3dc, ch 1) in each ch-1 space thirteen times before the next corner. In each corner ch-3 space, make (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc, ch 1).

A quirky little story before your tip:

Please excuse the following not-so-perfect photo, for I'm actually upside down! My light box prevents me from taking the picture from the other side, so I had to bend over with my head on the table so I could (somewhat) see my camera screen. My other half often walks in on situations like this, only to say "what in the world are you doing this time?" ...Living the life of a crocheter/photographer/blogger.

Now, here's that little tip for you "newbies"... Since I'm making two versions of this blanket, one in the round, and one turned each color change, it got me thinking: Do you know how to tell which is the "right" side?

Here, you see an example of the round being turned, so that the stitches are facing opposite directions.

You'll notice that the top loops of the stitches form a sideways "V" shape, almost like an arrow. No matter if you're right handed or left handed, this arrow will point towards your hook hand when working in the round. When you've turned a round or row, the "arrows" of the previous row will point towards your working yarn.

I won't be turning the next round, and if you're following the original pattern, then you won't turn at all. So, let me finish this round before we move on, and I'll show you the difference in the next step. Remember to finish your beginning corner with 2 dc and join with a slip st (sl st) to the third chain of the beginning ch-6. To begin the next round, sl st into the corner ch-3 space.

Okay, like I keep saying, the rounds are all the same from here...So you've got this, right? There's fourteen (3 dc, ch 1) between corners. Now, back to the stitch direction: Disregard the round of Cherry below this color, and just concentrate on the two rounds of Dark Green.

You'll see that when worked in the round, the arrows always point in the same direction. Instead of "arrows", you can also think of them as little open Pac-man mouths, always devouring your working yarn. That seems more realistic, right?

You can finish the round without my help, right? Remember to ask for help if you do need it! Once you get both rounds of this color done, bind off and weave in your ends.

Ready to start the next color? I'm not! Here's why:

I'm sorry Caron, but I have to do this. The world is not perfect, and neither is this yarn. I'm honest. I'm open about the problems and troubles I face when crocheting. So, I'm going to tell people about it, because we've got a problem here! And although I keep repeating that I do love United; It's soft, it's durable, and it's affordable (plus available in an array of colors!), Caron, you cause me frustration with things like this:

Yarn vomit. Thanks goes to Jenn from Roving Crafters for this phrase. She's very experienced with fiber, so I'm confident that this must be a technical industry term.

Again, it's not that big of a deal. It's just frustrating. These tangles of yarn that seem to be so common in skeins of Caron are nothing but twisted loops, not actually knots. By gently spreading the pile out, you can find the main area that is twisted, then easily untwist them.

In post 4 of the Big Granny Square project, I made a bit of an open plea to Caron. What's the deal with all these center-pull skeins? I'm now positively convinced that the Caron factory houses a nasty little yarn-tangling troll. Much like the one that lives in my house. Maybe they're family. Maybe my troll hitched a ride home in one of the skeins of Caron that I purchased in the past... Yeah, that's it! It's all your fault, Caron; that's exactly what the problem with my re-rolled balls of yarn always get tangled; it has absolutely nothing to do with me doing something wrong...

Please control your trolls!

If you leave cookies for them regularly, they'll stay happy and keep out of the yarn. I promise. That's exactly where that plate of cookies went that was on my table... I had nothing to do with the disappearance of the sweets - Nothing, I tell you!

You've got the pattern from here, right? Because I only got this far before this happened: Here's where I've decided that this particular skein is actually cursed. It's the one that I was happy about in post 4 of the project. Because it was the first skein that was tangle free. And now, after (not very neatly) rolling up the portion I just untangled, my loops of yarn have collapsed and created a new tangle. My celebratory cheer for this skein is now becoming a dramatic, frustrated sigh.

And to give more proof to that statement, I found this after working through another yard or so. I noticed a very loose ply, felt a tug, then this popped out. Ugh. I thought I was going to end up cutting my yarn and making a Russian Join to repair it, but it looked suspiciously strange, so I decided to take a closer look at it. Eventually (after much picking), I discovered that this wasn't a broken ply of the yarn itself, but a loose piece that must have become entangled during the spinning process. I was able to work it out and twist the good yarn back together.

With the extra time taken out of my work because of the tangles and the I-don't-know-what-you-wanna-call-it loose strand, This is it for my crochet in this post. I ran out of daylight, so you won't get a photo of the other version this time. I'm confident that you can work the pattern up to here on your own, so once you're done, take some time to pat yourself on the back for the hard work, while I take some time to go yell four-letter-words at this skein. I'm sure that will help.

*Edit: I did it again; I forgot to include the size! At this point in the pattern, my blankets measure 23" (58.5 cm) square. Sorry, that darn troll distracted me!

But wait, there's more: Don't forget about the giveaway!

Image from yarnspirations.com

What can I tell you? Awesome. Amazing. Spectacular. COOL! - If you plan on being part of the World's Biggest Stocking project, then you might as well sign up! What do you get? First: In case you haven't bought your yarn yet, you'll get a promo code to save on your purchase of Caron United. That's good, right?

Then, you make the blanket(s). Remember, if you knit, too, there's also patterns for knitted blankets. Don't forget to download and fill out the submission form you'll need to send with your blanket(s)! You'll need one for each shipment of blankets that you send. You can mark the number of blankets on the form if you plan on sending more than one at a time. If you don't send the form, then you won't get an entry!

For each blanket you send, you'll earn an entry for a chance at the Grand Prize... And the Grand Prize is...

$5,000!

Cash! Well, a check, really... But that can be turned into CASH! Money, moolah, dinero!

C'mon, who doesn't want that?

You've gotta get your entries in by June 22, 2015 to have a chance at winning, so get stitching!