So I’ve just finished training for the Half Marathon Run, Climbed the Yorkshire Three Peaks and worked my fingers raw lifting Scaffolding into the van. It was time to relax with a cool refreshing lager and some crochet! Yes I did say Crochet.
For those who don’t know me that well, I’m not one to worry about what other people think about my hobbies or obsessions. I do what I want to do and I rise to a challenge. So, while I was on Facebook an advert loaded up for a mermaid leg blanket to buy from Etsy. And I have to admit that it would have been a fun gift to get for Catherine, but at £70 it was an expensive fun gift. So I searched a little further for “Mermaid Blanket Crochet Pattern”. And at £2.99 a pattern by Chimera seemed great value.
I read through the instructions and ordered everything I needed form Woolabaloo in Hexham. They seemed to have a great choice of colours and it made everything easier in one purchase. The plan was to crochet one as a surprise for Catherine. For an adult size I needed 2 Balls of Light aqua for the Tail and Trim and 9 Balls (3 x 3 colours) for the body.
I’ve not really crocheted before and I thought… why not!
The pattern was very easy to follow. It even came with links to YouTube videos to clarify the stitches. Which is great as I’m fully YouTube trained in everything from motor repairs to bathroom installations.
One of the greatest things about this pattern is that it is basically a spiral from the toes to the waist, which means that you just need to know one crochet stitch for the most of it. BUT I did have to buy one piece of equipment that I didn’t realise at first, but again it was listed in the pattern. A Stitch Marker. As your working in a continuous loop, you need to know when you have done one circuit or row. So I would clip in a stitch marker and watch it trail around the blanket several times until I had added 12 rows on top of it.
I won’t lie to you and say it was made in a weekend as it wasn’t. From start to finish it took around 3 weeks, but that was very sporadically working on it. Occasionally I would put an hour in, probably in all I think I put 12 hours in to it. It was very satisfying as it built up very quickly and you could see it was getting nearer to being finished.
The pattern didn’t explain how to stitch the fin to the body, but I made that stage up and it seemed to work. The major problem I did have was that Imogen wanted it, before Catherine got her hand on it. Which then also meant Abigail wanted one. She doesn’t want the green / blue one, she wants pink (hence the pink in the wool stash). So no sooner have I finished one I started the next. This time however I’ve decided to see how quickly I can do it and I recon it will be done in 8 hours start to finish. Not bad for a non crocheter!
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