The Neverending Blanket is Complete!

The Neverending Blanket is complete!  I should probably change the name of it but I like it the way it is.  It's the first large blanket I've ever made.  I started it in early 2011.  It didn't really take me 2 whole years.  It was one of those projects that I would work on furiously for a couple of weeks and then not touch it for a few months.  This cycle continued and, the larger it grew, the more I thought I would never finish it.  This project felt a bit overwhelming at times.

A few weeks ago, I took a week off of work and just stayed home with my family.  It was laid back and wonderful.  That week I took a good look at the progress I had actually made.  Initially I was going to make this blanket big enough to fit on a twin bed for one of my boys.  However, they have quilts my mother made and my husband and I made fleece tie blankets for them at Christmas too.  So I laid out the blanket as it was and really looked at it.  I hadn't done that in a while because I usually had it folded up so that I could continue working rows.  After looking at it, I realized I could be finished with it if I wanted to be.

I just needed to make that decision.  "It is good, just as it is."

Once I did, I finished the stripe I was working on and then added a darker gray border around the edge.  In one afternoon I had gone from "this will never end" to "this is finished".  My husband immediately took a nap on the couch with it.  My sons argued over who got to use it.  That night, I curled up under it's comfortable weight and warmth it provided.  It's not large enough to fit a bed but it's larger than a regular lap blanket.  It's perfect just as it is.

Are you sensing where I am going with this?  If I can decide that this mammoth project that became an uphill battle to finish is perfect just as it is, can't I decide the same about myself?  I always struggle with changes and goals that I make for myself.  Some of them are easy and attainable, but some of them seem never ending as well.  I don't view this blanket as giving up, rather I think I looked at it with new eyes and realized I was the only one keeping it from being complete and perfect, just as it is.  I'm the only one who keeps myself from seeing that I'm good, just as I am.  I can definitely strive to challenge myself and create a variety of goals but I need to accept me for me.  You should try it.  Accept you for you.

I realize this is just a blanket but it really did make me see that I put up my own road blocks.  I make things harder than they need to be for myself.  I am much too hard on myself.  Sometimes, we just need to look at ourselves with new eyes and say "I am good, just as I am."

Project Neverending Blanket complete!

The Neverending Blanket

It started in January of 2011.  Not one to follow crochet patterns, I found one in a book that I liked.  The afghan in the book was a solid color but I loved the idea of stripes in different shades of blue and gray.  I started working on it earnestly for a few weeks.  Then I stopped for a few months.  Then the cycle would ebb and flow --- determination to finish it, followed by boredom and the need for smaller projects.  Off and on, off and on...it has been an endless cycle.

Well, no more!  I will finish it in 2013 no matter what --- no matter what being that I may be finishing it up just as my friends and family are kissing and clinking glasses while the ball drops to usher us into 2014.  Finished it will be though -- I'm serious.  No really, I am.

It's kind of pretty, right?  I was very ambitious to make my first non-baby blanket a rather large one.

Initially I was going to make it as a gift for someone - maybe a friend or family member.

The longer I let this process go, I started to think, "Whoever gets this as a gift better LOVE it!"

As this continued, I started to reduce the list of giftees to the people who I think would really love it.  People who would be so touched that tears would come to their eyes and all of my work and procrastination would pay off at once.  Self-centered, I know, but a labor of love like this becomes very important to the laborer.

Now I'm thinking of just keeping it for myself.  I can wrap up in it and remember the journey to finish this mammoth thing.  My husband says I can definitely never sell it because I would have to charge too much money just to feel like my labor paid off and not end up irritated and convinced that the stranger who purchased my blanket just threw it in a closet one day and left it to wither.  I can't do that to you, Blanket.

All joking aside, I am quite proud of how it looks.  The crochet pattern is different than what I've done before and I am still in love with the stripes and colors.  It's soft and warm and will be wonderful to cuddle under before year's end.  I need to finish it this year -- for my own sense of accomplishment.  I also need it as a reminder the next time I decide to tackle a large crochet project.

My neverending blanket will have an end, darn it!  Even Bastian and Atreyu found an ending and so can I!

Sunday Snippets

Here are some projects and blog posts that I'm working on and hope to post soon.  In the meantime, here are some snippets for this lovely Sunday.

Easy and colorful wall art.  There are so many great ideas online and I have a couple of ideas that I've tried.  It doesn't have to be fine art to be fun and add color and whimsy to your walls.  More on this later...

A fun, geometric table runner that is in the works.



Photo challenge ideas...





Granny Square madness...



Embroidered wall art inspired by this quote from Donald Miller's book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.

My obsession with journals and gratitude...

Enjoy your Sunday!