Blanket progress report

It didn't feel like I got much quality time with my stripey crocheted blanket the last few weeks, but somehow she's outgrown her cute project bag and is now living in a pillowcase.

How does that even happen?

I'm so grateful I figured this pillowcase out because the whole thing was getting pretty ungainly. As it is now, I can just turn the pillowcase to work from one folded section to another while I crochet or run in ends. 

 

Last time I had enough progress to show off, I photographed it on our dining table, which is the same width this was going to be. But since then I recalibrated and decided to make the stripes symmetrical from a central point (specifically, a claret stripe flanked by denim blue stripes.) You can see it in the pic above, a little to the left of centre frame.

Here's the first half, from the central point (left) to the start (right):

As the wonkiness of the stripes suggest, I'm new to this and winged the colour shifts as well as the rest. I'm really noticing a light patch to right of centre with a run of green/yellow/off-white/pink, but I think when it's reversed the colours should look fairly balanced, don't you?

At any rate, now that the table isn't the measuring tool, here's how far I still have to go: 

From navy blue through to claret, basically, which is about twenty stripes. 

Three stripes take me an hour to do, and running in the ends on those stripes takes another ninety minutes or so. I guess that means I only have another eighteen hours tops with my bestie before it's time to box her in with the aforementioned border. 

I'd say the end is definitely in sight! Though where those eighteen hours are going to come from is definitely a question. I so wish I had paid attention to the pattern instructions and done two stripes in each colour... so much less yarn wasted, and so much less time on running in ends.

Still, I'm really glad I decided to make a blanket, and I'm still enjoying every minute I work on it. Even the ends-running-in part is becoming meditative and pleasant. Who knew?

Good thing I bought yarn to do it all over again, but the right size this time, for the sofa, amiright?

Happy New Year and I do hope you've had an enjoyable winter break. Thanks for making me part of it and I'll see you next week with... who knows what! Except it probably won't be a finished blanket.

Probably.