Kwid Creations: February 2016

January is always an exciting time of the year. Maybe not the beginning of the year. That is filled with too much longing for vacation and the holidays and family. But by the end of the month I've kicked my butt back into gear. I have some goals in place and a good idea of what I want to accomplish.

This year I have decided to set a goal to make an afghan! I have mentioned before that the largest project I've made to date was this massive Christmas Tree Skirt project, which was almost the size of an afghan. Taking on a full afghan is a significant project for me. Knowing this, I knew I needed an afghan that was more than the same stitch, same color, over and over again.

Enter: Sophie's Universe by Dedri Uys.

[Source]

This afghan is absolutely stunning. Jaw-dropping even. The pattern is designed as a Crochet Along (abbreviated as CAL). Which is just a fun way of saying that the pattern is released in parts, each composed of a few rounds (traditionally known as rounds). This was a 2015 CAL, so I had the advantage of being able to see all parts ahead of time and pick colors accordingly.

January 5th, 2016:

A perfect excuse to drag out all my yarn and try to visualize. Originally I was thinking it would be fun to focus on blues purples and reds. But I really loved the way Dedri started hers. Luckily I had similar colors in my stash. So I picked up my hook and did the most intimidating thing- I started!

January 22, 2016:
Round 13 finished. I love the shape with the red diamonds and blue triangles.

Even just adding one round, Round 14, dramatically changes the mandala.

You can already tell that this afghan features so many different stitches. It is a great way to push and challenge myself.

January 25th:
I am already learning so much. For example, Round 25, features the "crab stitch." Simple enough, but totally new to me. I love the way the orange frames the piece.