He said sweatshop, I said workshop

I've had a bloggeriffic post ready for quite some time, but it was part of a surprise, so I've had to be hush-hush.  The surprise was for my mom and mother-in-law, and since my mom and dad are both fans of this blog (hi!!!), I couldn't mention what was taking place at our house on a nightly basis.

First, the all important background information...

When I was younger, my mom taught me how to crochet.  I never really followed any patterns, I would just make things up and work on little projects here and there.  Fast forward to my mid-twenties when I rediscovered crocheting and in the process I developed a love for Lion Brand Yarn.  It was more a love based on the comprehensive information found on the Lion Brand Yarn website--tutorials, free patterns, project ideas and did I mention, FREE PATTERNS?  Anyway, I began a folder of wish list patterns, mostly easy ones that would allow me to watch trash TV and work on my various projects at the same time.  I prefer these types of patterns as they require little to no thought or counting as trash TV watching can be a strenuous task, you know.

My recent projects have been baby blankets as gifts for my group of fertile friends.  During my search for mindless, yet meaningful patterns, I also rediscovered granny squares.  Nick thinks that they look like coasters.  What you do is make a bunch of these little coasters, sew them together, add a border and voila, you have yourself a blanket.  As I was working my fingers to the bone for the spawn of my very deserving friends, I thought that it might be nice to make a couple of homemade Christmas gifts as well.  I actually wanted an excuse to buy the latest yarn, Holiday Homespun, which is available in luscious holiday greens, reds and whites, all laced with some sparkle for added cheer.

When I searched for available patterns, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a holiday blanket, made up of granny squares.  Since I had just completed two baby blankets for September arrivals, using this same technique, I was confident that I could get two more finished in time for Christmas.  I mentioned the idea to Nick, who agreed that it was an excellent gift idea for two mothers who have everything.  His one concern was how the gift could truly be from both of us, if he wasn't able to crochet anything.  I asked if he'd help me to prepare the yarn, by making "yarn balls" out of each skein.  Doing this before the project makes crocheting easier by avoiding the inevitable tangles at the end of a skein.  For most husbands, this would have been enough, but not for mine.  He wanted to really contribute.  So, in addition to "yarn balling", I suggested that he help sew the squares the strips together to assemble the blankets.  He was up for the challenge and after a quick lesson and a trip to Michael's, for his own scissors and needles, he was off.

This picture was of the beginning of the process,  strip number one or two of 22 (for two blankets).  About halfway through this strip, he declared himself to be "one mean whipstitcher" and rightfully so.  By the end of 2-3 strips, he was ready for this project to be done.  By the end of his first 11, I had realized that in his haste, he had forgotten securely tie the ends of the yarn to secure the strips together.  Whipstitcher extraordinaire, yes, but end tier?  Not so much.  Never fear, I was here, and we were able to make some quick repairs to the squares that were trying to detach themselves from blanket number one.

By blanket number two, we were both pros.  I was cranking out the squares in batches, ready to be whip stitched into strips.  Nick was whipping and stitching, making sure to securely tie the knots at the end of the strips to avoid the fiasco of blanket number one.  Admittedly, this wasn't his favorite project, but I'm so proud of him for not giving up and leaving me with 110 squares to make into two blankets.  We finished two days before Christmas and as expected, the mothers were thrilled with their homemade gifts,  and impressed that we had both contributed to the project.

Yes, I know that this blog is about my life, his life and a dog named Chino, so it wouldn't be fair to exclude him from this project, or this post, now would it?  No, of course not.

Ok, well he tried to exclude himself from this whole project, but we all know that he can't escape my clutches.

I would like to give him a special shout out for his outstanding behavior, consuming no yarn and chewing on zero crochet hooks during the making of the two Christmas blankets.  This is no small feat for a dog who has eaten knitting needles and has run through the house, leaving a wake of slobbery, tangled yarn in his path.