Whole Wheat Cable Blanket

Finally, the big reveal! This is the lap blanket that I made for my mom this Christmas. It only took me four months and eleventy-billion hours of crocheting. Well, it felt like eleventy-billion. I lost track of the exact number of hours sometime after a billion. I think it had to do with each row being only single crochet. Those tiny stitches took a long time to build a blanket. Seriously, this blanket was time- and yarn-consuming. The cables seemed to just gobble up the yarn. The end count was around 2850 yards of yarn, making this by far the biggest crochet project I've ever undertaken. 

Was it worth it? Yes yes yes! The cables came out just as I imagined they would. This blanket would be right at home in a mountain lodge or woodsy cabin somewhere. It's so warm. I fell asleep under it on the couch one night (What? I had to try it out.) and woke up sweating. So maybe my mom can save a little on her heat bill this winter. I hope you like it, Mom.

Once you get the hang of this pattern, it's pretty mindless work. However, I wouldn't recommend it if you've never tried Front Post Double Crochet (Fpdc) before. Here's a pretty good video tutorial that shows how to do Fpdc. I'd suggest trying a simple pattern to learn Fpdc first. Something like this potholder is a good place to start. Before you know it, you'll be addicted to the textures and designs you can make from Fpdc and then you'll want to make lots of cabled projects.

Details

Name: Whole Wheat Cable Blanket

Pattern: Crochet Cable Afghan (free pattern)

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Worsted

Hook: J

Made for: Mom, Christmas 2010

Washing instructions: Washer and Dryer friendly!

* * * * * 

I hope you're all staying warm! One more day of 2010 to go. I'm busy thinking up resolutions and getting excited about the big UK/U of L basketball game tomorrow. Go Cards!