Blanket Watch 2023!

I was thinking about the blankets I made for the year 2023, and how it felt that I didn't meet my usual goal of making four adult blankets and one or two baby blankets. Last year I made three adult blankets and one baby blanket. I feel like I didn't crochet as much because of the new job. My mind was heavy on that. 

And I am okay with that. I had my work review today, and it went reasonably well, so I suppose I can relax now and crochet more in 2024. 

But at any rate, here are the three blankets I made. 

The name of this blanket is "Mama's Joy"

That is for my friend "Almond Joy's" Mother. 

I asked my friend what her mother's favorite color was. She said red, without any hesitation. Bright red. 

I cringed inside. Fire Engine red. Ugh. And all one color. UGH.

But I came through. I found some cherry red yarn and went for it. But it was like staring at the sun. That red did a number on my eyes! I haven't given it to her yet. It was suppose to be a Christmas gift, but that got delayed. She will be in town this weekend, so I will take it to her then. I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees it!

This is a blanket I have made multiple times. I think some 6 times over the past decade, I believe.  

One of them was made around the 2022 winter Holidays, so I am not counting that one, since it was a carryover from 2022. I think I may have finished that one in January. But I finished the second one in July. It was a birthday gift for my Nurse Practitioner. 

But guess what happened. My NP retired! I didn't have her phone number or anything. She was just up and gone. I tried to do the Peoplefinder thing on the internet, but that fell through. Finally in December, I asked another NP if she had her phone number, and if she did, could she please text her to contact me so she could get her stuff. She did that, and last week, I was able to give it to her. She loved it!

Last but not least, "Mama Mary's Blues".

Now, this was not my usual crochet project. But it was in the same pattern book as the two above, and I have always wanted to make it. Boy oh boy, that was some craziness. It took me four months to make. FOUR months. That is too long. I didn't think I would EVER finish. OMG. 

But Mama Mary is one of my friend's mother. She was shocked when I presented it to her. It took her a minute to figure it out. 

"Is this mine?" she exclaimed. 

"Yes it is!" I replied.

This one was very special to me. I thought about my own mother while making it. And I gave Mama Mary the blanket around Mother's day. I realized my mother is gone, but even though she is gone, I was so thankful that I could give someone else's mother a gift instead. For some reason, that thought gave me solace. It gave me peace. 

So on to this year. I have already completed a baby blanket. 

I usually give myself a month, but I made it in two weeks flat. I needed something to do while I was being still with my covid. I quarantined it for a week before I washed and dried it. And I gave it to my coworker. She is odd in her design of commissioned blankets. The colors here were blush and sage, and I was at the craft store sending her pictures of yarn. She did a good job on deciding the color scheme from my pictures. She also likes three rows of three, because three is her favorite number. This baffles me. What does this three business have to do with the newborn baby? Hmm. 

But I took it, along with another baby blanket I made last year (I forgot to take a picture of that one), to my old job. It was good to deliver the one above to my coworker, and a baby blue and tan one to my workplace twin (we have the same birthday). They both liked the blankets. 

The one above -whoever my coworker was giving it to came by the job to pick it up within the hour... and went and caught a plane to Seattle. That was a lot going on. So that blanket should be in Seattle now with the newborn baby. 

So on to other blankets this year. I usually plan my year out, so it looks like I have one more baby blanket to make and two adult blankets make.

Feels like a slow year. And that's cool. 

Maybe I can work another one in if possible. You never know who's gonna have a baby on the way!