Crochet Scrap Blanket: Fourteen Years in the Making

My grandmothers both impressed upon me a desire to save any useful thing. As a result, I've been saving my scraps of yarn since I was eight years old. I wound them into a big ball with plans that when, someday far off in the future, I was pregnant, I would make a scrappy rainbow blanket.

Many people have seen my ridiculously huge yarn ball and have heard my plans for it. At long last, the day has come. I'm expecting my first child and that means it's time to work on a huge blanket made of little pieces of past projects.

It's a bit emotional for me, and no, that's not just the pregnancy hormones talking. I've been saving this yarn since two years after I learned to crochet. That's essentially my whole crocheting life wrapped up on this ball. It's just kind of supernatural to think "Wow, I planned this project when I was a little kid...and now I'm doing it because I'm going to have a kid." All the years of wondering who I will marry, what my life will be like, and how it will really feel to know that I am going to soon be a mother, and now it's happening. To say that all this is "exciting" is a bit of an understatement.

Before adding all my scraps I had on hand

 I had a pretty substantial ball before I added all the other scraps I had on hand, so you can imagine that I was excited to see how beastly the ball would become when I finished adding all the yarn. It weighed in at about six pounds!! The pictures do not do it justice. This thing is massive.

After adding all the scraps I had around

I had decided on what type of blanket to make long ago: a ripple afghan. Every winter, my Grandma who taught me to crochet makes a "mountain" blanket. Of course, since this whole project is all about the past and the future being meshed together, I needed to do a similar blanket.

However, I did change a few things. She always crochets hers in single crochet. SINGLE CROCHET. I tell you, she is a mad woman. I went with double crochet for mine because not only will it go a bit faster, I decided that if I don't finish it before the weather gets warm, it will be a more bearable blanket to work on in the summer.

Humble beginnings

So, before we moved down here, I started on the blanket. I kind of got a little obsessed with working on it. I mean, come on. I've been waiting 14 years to make this! And each scrap of yarn is a memory of a project. It's such fun seeing the colors work with each other in such unexpected ways. I could not have asked for a better outcome so far!

Here you are seeing pictures from what the blanket looked like about a month ago. It's grown a bit since then. Heh. In fact (to my horror) I ran out of yarn. I guess I've been spoiled by knitting and forgot how much yarn is required for double crochet. Oops. But, never fear. This blanket will go on. I have been hounding scraps from my mom, sister, aunt, and close friends. I will have plenty of yarn to finish this beast up. Plus, it kind of gives the project even more sappy sentimental value: just like me, it is made up of pieces from the people who love me. Awwwwwwww.

Come on, you know you like the sap.

Currently, the Scrapghan is about 6 feet wide and 4 feet long. This monster is going to be the ultimate cuddle blanket, I swear. I am already picturing blanket forts made of it. It will be glorious.

-Swoon- Family, history, scraps, and memories all in one project? I don't know if I'll be able to top this one for "amount of feels in a craft project".

Have you ever made a scrap blanket? How did it go? (Crochet, knit, quilted or whatever it is you do.)
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