In which Keith crochets things

My aunt taught me to crochet when I was in junior high, which means I've been doing it for nearly 45 years now. I make mostly afghans, and in recent years, have been attempting to make a decent sweater for myself. It's hard to find mens' sweater patterns that I like, so my sweater attempts have been semi-improvised cobbling together of this thing from pattern A and that bit of pattern B.

Here's the latest attempt, my most successful to date, mostly based on a pattern by Margaret Hubert:



Sleeves look oddly short in this photo for some reason, and I still need to tinker a bit with the neckline on the next attempt (disguised somewhat by the black t-shirt I'm wearing underneath), but the overall fit is very good. And it's even the rare photo of myself that I don't mind looking at (I hate being photographed).

Welcome Keith! Can I just say, that sweater is absolutely amazing?!

Welcome Keith! I agree with Laura, the sweater is superb!

Welcome to the group, Keith! I'm with Laura and Paws - fabulous sweater!!

>1 KeithChaffee: I love your sweater, Keith, and you should be darned proud of it. I can't quite tell from the picture but is it knitted in entrelac? My friend knitted an entrelac tree sweater (long story) and it looked enormously complicated but the end result was stunning — just like your sweater!

>5 rosalita: It's crocheted in Tunisian crochet, also known as afghan stitch. But it's the same idea as entrelac -- made in rows of small rectangles that are attached to the sides of the rectangles below them.

Welcome, Keith! That's a great sweater!

I really like your sweater, Keith. And I like the 3/4 sleeves because I'm always getting my sleeves wet, which is miserable, so these would be perfect. Off to google Tunisian crochet.

Welcome, Keith! That's a great looking sweater. Looking forward to seeing your next project.

>6 KeithChaffee: Tunisian crochet! I had never heard of it until recently when a YouTuber I watch occasionally did a tutorial video on the technique. It looks lovely.

Yay for another crocheter in the group!

Your sweater is gorgeous work. I've eyed Tunisian crochet but haven't tackled it yet. Someday...

Thanks to all for the kind words. Next project is going to be a temperature blanket, inspired by MickyFine's recent project.

>12 KeithChaffee: Oh exciting! Are you doing this year or a big event year?

>13 MickyFine: I'm doing my birth place/year, northern Vermont 1964.

>14 KeithChaffee: Awesome. Looking forward to seeing how the project treats you.

>14 KeithChaffee: What a great idea! Do you plan to crochet one row per day or are your plans a bit more fluid?

No, I'll just work on it as time allows.

Such a nice sweater. I crochet but have never tackled a sweater. You need to enter it in a State or County Fair.

>Welcome! I love the sweater.

I took a crochet class once and discovered I don't have the patience -- also, counting is a problem for me if I'm going to crochet anywhere other than a dead silent room. Instead, I quilt and drool over everyone else's knitting and crochet projects. :)

Hi Keith. Late to the party, I can only echo the other ....that's an amazing sweater!

A non crocheter here, but I can admire the work that went into your sweater.

>12 KeithChaffee: Like you, I was inspired by MickeyFine's temperature blanket and am knitting one for this year. A friend recently asked me if I was finished it yet. Huh?!!! Not sure what year she is in, but it's still 2023 in my world.
What would the standard temperature range be in Vermont in 1964? It would be interesting for weather nerds like myself to see one from that year and one from this year with the same colour to temperature choices.

>21 SassyLassy: High temperatures in Newport, VT in 1964 ranged from 3 to 92 (all temps in Fahrenheit); the average high for the year was 53. In 2022, the highs ranged from -5 to 91, with an average of 54. January was significantly colder in 2022, and August-December were slightly warmer.
So if I made both blankets, I'd see a lot more white, linen (pale tan), and cappuccino (darker tan) -- my coldest colors -- in the first corner of the 2022 blanket; the middle of the blanket would be very similar; and the transition from oranges and yellows to greens and blues in the upper half would be slower.

>22 KeithChaffee: Interesting, fairly similar to Montreal.

I've been to Newport, doing that lovely drive along the lake going south from Magog. That's a long way from LA in all ways!

>23 SassyLassy: A long way indeed. Northern Vermont is a lovely place to live if you're a small town person, and I do miss it in the fall -- the colors of the leaves and the wonderful crisp rustling of the fallen leaves underfoot. But if like me, you're more temperamentally suited to city life, it's a hard place to grow up. I've often said that the best thing about growing up in a small town is that you know everyone in town, and the worst thing about growing up in a small town is that everyone in town knows you.

Welcome, and thanks for sharing the photos of that lovely sweater!

These are the colors that are going into my temperature blanket; coldest on the left, warmest on the right.

>26 KeithChaffee: Oooooooh, these are lovely!

>26 KeithChaffee: Ooh, I like those. Looking forward to seeing your end result!

Those colors should make a very nice blanket.

>26 KeithChaffee: Some of your colors are similar to mine. I never thought to take a picture like you have done. I have a white sparkle yarn for below zero which we have today. I am making 3 Granny square blankets for 3 granddaughters.
Have fun making it.

>26 KeithChaffee: How many degrees are in each of your temperature increments? I like your colours, and like >30 mnleona:, some are similar to mine.

I really look forward to checking Environment Canada's record each day as we go through January. So far there has been little fluctuation, so that there are only two predominant colours, with two more at either temperature extreme. The total range has been -0.9C to 10.9C. Not bad for January with only two highs below zero.

I suspect we could get totally nerdy about this!

I'll look forward to seeing your finished temperature blanket. Cross stitchers do a variety of projects for temperature charts. There is one with books, one with tree leaves, one with drinking glasses, and a new one out this year with some sort of nautical theme, I believe. (I saw it the other day, and I can't really remember what it was, but I remember thinking that it was different and neat.)

>31 SassyLassy: The white represents a high of 9 degrees or lower, then it’s up in 7-degree increments until we reach the “sangria” (purply red), which is 87 degrees and higher.

>32 thornton37814: some sort of nautical theme I like the sound of that.

>33 KeithChaffee: Thanks - at first I thought "9 degrees, wow what a temperature", but then I remembered it is 9F, not 9C!

I fist found my pattern on fiberflux. Jennifer has wonderful patterns.

Mine is a little different that her colors. Mine are F*
Below zero* - white with some sparkle
0*-10 * white
11*-20* gray
21*-30* dark blue
31*-40* soft blue
41*- 50* yellow
51*-60* spring greem
61*-70* orchid
71*-80 soft pink
81*90* dark pink
90*-100* mulberry (dark wine)
I like Walmart Mainstay yarn and I also use Red Heart.

>31 SassyLassy: In Minnesota, we have had in the 20s and 30s. Rare for us. Now we are back below zero at night.

A progress report: Temperature blanket for northern Vermont, 1964, Jan 1-Apr 5 completed.



Felt like a good place to take a picture, since I'm about to shift into the yellows and oranges (you can already see a 3-day unseasonably warm/yellow snap in early March). Mostly very happy with the colors so far; that teal is a little overwhelming, both because there's a lot of it and because it's so dark compared to the other colors, but I think it won't feel quite so powerful once this is just a small corner of the whole.

That's looking really good, Keith!

Gorgeous work. I'm really loving how your colours are blending!

I too like how those colors go together.

>37 KeithChaffee: I like how that is progressing.

I don't find the teal overwhelming, as it works to complement the brighter and/or brighter colours and provides a contrast to them at the same time - it's doing its job!

Looks like it was a warmer than normal January too.

That's looking great so far! I do love the idea of temperature knits/crochets. So cool and fun.

I find the teal very grounding, not overwhelming. It gives the brighter colours a base to fly from. What a fun project!

>39 MickyFine: Wonderful! Bet the temps were close for the same year on the Maine coast where I grew up :-)

So, an update on the temperature blanket, which has turned out to be a more substantial project than expected.

I found a pattern online, and it was somewhat minimal, with no gauge info or recommended hook size. Fortunately, when she posted a photo of her lovely blanket, MickyFine mentioned what size hook she'd used. I know that I crochet tighter than most people, so I did what I do with 95% of crochet patterns and bumped the hook size up by one.

And I dove in, everything going along very nicely. As I started working my way into the April rows, it dawned on me that I was still a month away from finishing the short side, and this thing was already very wide -- a much larger size difference than one hook size should have made, so even if they look the same, I must be working from a very different version of the pattern than Micky did. Now, the sensible thing to have done at that point would have been to cut my losses, stop, and start again with a hook a couple of sizes smaller.

Did I do that sensible thing? No, by golly, I did not. I gave in to the fallacy of sunken costs and kept right on going. And I am going to finish the thing, sometime this week. But oh my lord, it is ridiculously large, somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 feet by 11, and I have no idea what I'm going to actually do with it.

There will be a photo when it's finished, if I can find someplace to lay it out, and I am happy with the way it looks; the colors worked out really well. But if anyone knows where I can find Jack's beanstalk, I have a blanket that the giant might be able to use.

Wowzers. That's some blanket you've got on your hands, Keith. I'm glad you had fun with the project and I hope you find a good home for it. King size bed, maybe?

Blanketzilla is finished! Not quite so large as I'd thought; it ended up at roughly 116 inches by 76, which means it would fit nicely over a king with about 1 1/2 feet of drape on each side and at the foot. I don't actually have any place in my apartment large enough to lie the thing out in a tidy rectangle, but I did manage to take a picture that gives a sense of the flow of colors by wrapping the corners around to the front.



Next up: another temperature blanket, at the request of a friend. This one will be worked from a different, more reasonably sized pattern; he has requested a palette of purples (they'll be the warmer colors) and blues (at the cooler end).



The purples in the middle are much more distinguishable in reality than they are in this photo.

Keith, you did a great job of that blanket and in record time too. This would be wonderful for a tall person with big feet and a queen size bed. I know this because both my lads fit that description and I had to make them blankets that went over their large feet and tucked in around their necks. Look forward to seeing your cooler blanket.

>47 KeithChaffee: Congratulations on finishing it! It looks really good.

>47 KeithChaffee: - That's really great looking! Didn't take you long to get it done.

Wow! Well done, Keith! That's a huge undertaking and you've done it in record time. I wish I was a tenth as fast as you.

>47 KeithChaffee: I love the way these blankets take on a life of their own! As I work on mine, I can really see that. What were the temperature extremes on this one? Summer looks fairly consistent in your photo.

>52 SassyLassy: High temps ranged from 3 to 92 that year.

>47 KeithChaffee: It turned out nice.

Great job! What is your next project?

>47 KeithChaffee: That is incredible. What an accomplishment!

>55 avaland: Currently working on two temp blankets from a different, more practically-sized pattern. One for a friend who has asked for blues and purples, one for me in reds and browns. Hoping to have them both finished somewhere around Labor Day.

Wowzers. After one temperature blanket, I was ready to not see one for a long time. I'm impressed at you not only doing them back to back but two at a time now!

Well, I still wanted one that I could actually use, and my friend has been asking me to make him a blanket for a while, and he really liked the temp blanket idea.

And post-retirement, I have more time to crochet, and fewer people to crochet for, so if someone wants something, I'm happy to make it. I used to do a couple of blankets every year for some annual fund-raising events at the library where I worked, and if they ever get back to holding those events again now that COVID protocols are being relaxed, I will probably do those again. But until that happens, I need something to do with my hands while I'm watching TV.

I went back to January to look at your sweater again. It is such a great job.

Since I didn't comment when posted, the colors are lovely.

So, after the Blanketzilla experience, I still wanted a temperature blanket that I could actually use, and a friend asked if I'd make one for him. With two to do, I decided to go as simple as possible -- just row on row of single crochet, barely a pattern at all. And now, they're done.



The red/brown one is mine, representing northern Vermont 1964; the blue/purple one is Los Angeles 1952 -- the times and places of our births. They both run from January at the left to December at the right. Some of the darker colors aren't as sharply distinct from one another as I would have liked, but we are both happy with how they turned out.

I love blankets like this for snuggling under to watch tv, or to read a book because the stitches are close enough together to provide real warmth. Good colours.

Very nice, Keith!

Those are really nice.

Lovely!

Well done!

nice!

>62 KeithChaffee: Was wondering how your blankets were going as I work my way through 2023 on mine. I like the idea of just one row, but it wouldn't work on my knitted blanket, so two rows for each day it is.

Great colour combinations, and you can really see the seasons changing.

I hadn't consciously chosen the colors in that way -- I just wanted a nice flow from one color to the next -- but yes, you really can see the distinct seasons, especially on the red one.

Beautiful work!

>62 KeithChaffee: Nice! I like the different palettes.

A few months back, Betty posted a picture of a crocheted blanket she'd seen at the fair, which I fell in love with and decided to tackle my own version of. It's coming along nicely; this center section is about 29 inches wide.

Keith, that is absolutely gorgeous work!

WOW!!! That is fabulous! I love the mix of colors you chose. They work together so well.

Wow Keith, that's incredible! I am really impressed that you were able to create this on your own. Excellent work.

>75 dudes22: For something this elaborate, I just matched the colors called for in the pattern as closely as possible.

>73 KeithChaffee: Oh my, that's fantastic! I'm curious about the back. Do you weave in ends as you go?

>78 qebo: Pretty much. I wait a few rounds before weaving in the ends. So many rounds in this pattern have stitches that are worked into the one stitch you were told to skip six rounds earlier, and I worry that I weave in the ends too early, they'll somehow get in the way of stitches that I'm actually going to need clear access to. But yeah, every five or six rounds, I go back and weave in some ends.

That just makes me happy to look at it; like joyous folk art. Wonderful work, Keith!

Wow that is gorgeous, and it look hard!

That is a beautiful work of art. You shoukd enter it at your state fair. Love the colors.

Thanks to all for the kind words. I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of the month, and will post another picture when it's done.

I think I'm going to just let this topic roll over into the new year.

What did I make this year? The first few weeks were spent finishing up the diamond sweater pictured at the very top of the topic. After that, it was temperature blankets, mostly. There was the comic fiasco of Blanketzilla, followed by a pair of more reasonably sized blankets, one for me and one for a friend. And for the last three months, I've been working on the "Espiritu del Sol" blanket; there's another month of work to finish that one, I think.

Plans for the new year? I am not abandoning the temperature stuff, which I find fascinating. I'm working on adapting the diamond sweater with smaller diamonds so that I can turn it into a stash-busting temperature sweater. I've got it charted out so that the front will be 366 diamonds (I was born in a leap year) against a neutral background, probably dark gray; on the back will be 12 larger diamonds, representing average high temps for each month.

After that, my sister has asked for a blanket, something in the mandala mold of the "Espiritu." I have a few patterns in mind, probably something more monochromatic in shades of blue, which is her favorite color. Definitely something a bit less 3-D; those giant flowers are the part of the current blanket I like the least. I mean, they're pretty, but they make it hard to fold/store the blanket.

A happy year of crafting to all!

Sounds like excellent plans for the year, Keith. Looking forward to seeing the fruits of all your labour.

Just found your thread, Keith, and I LOVE your temperature blankets! I'm a needleworker and have a couple of patterns for stitched temperature projects but haven't gotten started yet. You're inspiring me to get on with them!

>84 KeithChaffee: I understand being completely caught up in temperature blankets. Mine for last year is almost finished. It sort of turned into a Blanketzilla too, as I adopted a corner to corner pattern for it, and it's coming out long and narrow. I think I will be able to widen it somewhat with I cord, but that lengthens it at the same time.

Kaffe Fassett has some wonderful stash busting diamond patterns. Looking forward to seeing your design incorporating more temperature work.

The "Espiritu del Sol" blanket is finally finished! It is definitely the most elaborate pattern I've ever worked, and it occasionally felt as if the designer was overstuffing it with novelty stitches and special effects just to show off how much could be crammed into one piece. But it turned out well.

That's incredible, Keith. I have never seen anything like it! I love all the colors, it's so vibrant.

That's great, Keith. Having seen it in person I can say it's just as wonderful.

An explosion of joy! I can understand you feeling that way about the "novelty stitches and special effects" but perhaps it wouldn't have been the work of art it is without them? Bravo for sticking with it.

>88 KeithChaffee: Wow!

beautiful!

The OCD part of my brain is inisisting that I mention that the finished blanket is not nearly as misshapen as that photo makes it look; it really is the square it's supposed to be. I just wasn't very careful about laying it out when I took the photo.

good (and by that I mean square) pictures are hard to take!

>88 KeithChaffee: That is amazing. I love taking on challenges like that, only in other media, I can't crochet.

How do you follow it up?!

>96 SassyLassy: My next project is another mandala afghan, though less intricate than this one, and more monochromatic, all in shades of blue and gray. It'll be a Christmas present for my sister.

The temperature blanket is quite nice!

>88 KeithChaffee: Wow! What a gorgeous piece! I love the colors.

Current work in progress: "Ziggy's Odyssey," designed by Nickie Chapin.

>100 KeithChaffee: Very nice!

>100 KeithChaffee: - That's very interesting. Are those the colors you're using? Or is that the pattern? Or both?

Beautiful work, Keith!

Oh, wow!!

>102 dudes22: The pattern is entirely in black, white, and shades of gray. I’ve kept it mostly monochromatic, but in shades of blue. The navy blue I’m using reads very close to black, so it’s less of a change from the original than I’d expected, but the lighter blues take it a bit away from the 60s/op art feel of the pattern’s palette. The photos are of my work, not those that accompany the pattern.

>100 KeithChaffee: Gorgeous!

It reminds me of a passion flower. Lovely work, Keith.

>100 KeithChaffee: Wow, that’s an impressive piece of crochet, Keith. My arms are hurting just looking at it.

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words. The blanket's still coming along nicely. Should be another 3 or 4 weeks to finish it, and I'll be sure to take a photo when it's done.

Finally finished: "Ziggy's Odyssey," designed by Nickie Chapin. It's roughly 7 feet square, bigger than I can lay out in full on my twin bed, so it's partly folded under in these pictures, but you get the full view from the center to the edge, and a closer view of the central mandala.

That's really nice, Keith. All those intricate stitches and the colors are very calming. What will you do with this?

Wow, that's an amazing piece, Keith.

lovely. I like the color choices.

Gorgeous work!

>111 dudes22: This is going to be a Christmas gift for my sister.

>115 KeithChaffee:: How does one get on your Christmas list? *nudge nudge wink wink* Beautiful work, Keith.

Honestly, I kinda wish I had more people on my Christmas list. Now that I'm retired, I have more time to crochet than I have people to crochet things for.

Gorgeous work, Keith!

Congrats on the finish!

Working on a sweater for myself. This cable pattern will run up the right side of the sweater, front and back, meeting at the shoulder. It's a simple pattern, but I like that simplicity. This is about 2/3 of the way from the waistband to the armpit.

That's a nice pattern.

Beautiful work.

Wow, I sort of knew, but now I really know that cables can be done in crochet! Those are lovely.

I'm a huge fan of cable work, and incorporate it into a lot of my knitting, but you may just have given me a reason to learn crochet!

Lovely work!

That's a nice pattern and you've done it beautifully.

>123 SassyLassy: I didn't really know cables could be done in crochet, either. Doh! I mean, why not? They look great, Keith.

>120 KeithChaffee: Beautiful work, Keith. I haven't tackled cables yet but I want to try them at some point.

>123 SassyLassy: "I'm a huge fan of cable work, and incorporate it into a lot of my knitting, but you may just have given me a reason to learn crochet!"

They're SOOOOOOOO much simpler in crochet than they are in knitting. No need for extra needles/hooks/stitch holders!

Wow, Keith, that looks superb! I had no idea you could do cables like that with crochet.

Thanks! Sweater’s coming along nicely. Body and one sleeve finished, second sleeve and collar to go. Still undecided whether it will need cuffs at wrists and waist.

Hey Keith - I thought you might like to see a picture of a blanket (?) from the fair this year that is similar to the one from last year. They had it folded and the card with the info was tucked underneath and behind a fan so I can't tell you who the designer is. And I had to take it through chicken wire which is why there are some weird shadows.

>131 dudes22: Very nice.

>110 KeithChaffee: This afghan was delivered to its new home as my sister and brother-in-law's Christmas present. It fits their king-sized bed beautifully, and they are very happy with it. My nephew will be moving into his first home next year, and has already hinted that something similar would be a nice combination housewarming/Christmas gift. In grays and neutrals with a touch of pale blue, he says (which shows a more defined sense of color and style than I would have guessed he had, but people will surprise you, won't they). Time to start planning!

>133 KeithChaffee: - It's always nice when people appreciate a gift you've worked so hard on. I have a quilt I'm giving to a friend for a Christmas gift when we manage to get together and I hope she likes it.