After I worked my way around the blanket attaching the squares I then went back and sewed together the other seams. This went rather quickly since there was no need to stop and make more squares. The lack of need to stop also made it easy to sit and work for 3 or 4 hours at a time. I worked a lot on it Thursday before Thanksgiving dinner and then on Friday. When all the seams were completed I did a single crochet border around the blue squares with blue to even the edges. Before doing that I had started adding the black border but noticed some uneven edges where squares met at the corners hence the decision to single crochet a blue edge. After completing the blue edge I added two rows of double crochet in black with a last row of single crochet in black. Then it was complete!
Not quite. I went over the whole blanket meticulously and redid 2 or 3 seams between reds and a couple of peach in the face. I also pulled out a couple tails that were unraveling and hid them better. I definitely see an improvement in my work from the beginning of his face to the blue background. When I give the blanket I will probably include some long bits of yarn of each color in case there is some unraveling after playing with the blanket though I doubt it will be necessary.
The blanket has a bit of an identity crisis in my eyes. Now that I’m complete it’s a bit smaller than I was thinking so really it would be more appropriately named a throw; like something you use while sitting on the couch watching TV. Also the squares are small and kind of tight so it’s not a very soft flexible throw so now it could almost be considered a mat or even something to hang on the wall. The peach yarn dictated the size of yarn to be used in the whole project as it was very difficult to find something suitable. In retrospect I could probably have used a larger hook for a little bit more looseness in the stitches.
Super Mario Blanket Stats
- 22 working days
- 35.5inches x 45.5inches
- 20 x 30 squares = 600 total
- 4 colors
- Channels watched: TLC, USA, AE
I’ve made a video/slide show of the Mario photos using Picasa 3. I’ve never used their video feature and it looked ok in the program now I’m just waiting for Youtube to process it for viewing. I’ll post a link as soon as I can. Now that I’m done with this project it’s time to think about my next project. The school I’m working at is collecting hats, scarves and mittens so I will take a stab at making those.
I can’t wait for Christmas morning. *grin*
[EDIT] Here’s the link to the video at Youtube: Mario Video
More blue squares and the edges have now been evened out. It’s looking really nice with the blue background. I decided on a buffer of 2 squares from Mario to the edge. I am looking forward to finishing up the blues and then put on a black border. I have one more row to attach at the bottom. For fun I’ve also taken a photo of the blue Pound of Love skein as I’ve pulled the yarn out the middle while working. There’s a nice large hole in the middle, which is actually considerably larger since I took the photo. I have the blanket laying on the floor right now for photos and Kes, the cat, it having a grand ol’ time laying on it. Of course, she’s the type to lay with or on anything that’s on the floor.
I’ve gotten a lot of work done since my last post. I had one minor set back though, but it’s been repaired. I crocheted a bunch of squares while watching Star Trek with my husband and he likes to help by cutting off the tails. One cut was apparently a bit too close and cut some important loops off. Sadly I didn’t realize this until I had already attached the square on one side to the blanket and started attaching more to the other side of it. I pulled my needle through and it all just fell apart. I had to detach the square and a couple others, take it apart and reattach what was removed. The whole thing probably took 20 to 25 minutes. Oi. When I told him about what happened he said that he knew he had cut one too close but didn’t want to tell me. I still let him cut off the tails but I made sure to let him know how close he can cut.
I’ve been making blue squares like crazy. I’ve used a lot of the blue yarn skein already but I still have more to go, I don’t think I’ll need another. I’m slowly evening out the edges so I can just go around in rows/columns without zigzagging my way through. The blue background is definitely looking good for Mario. I would like to have gotten more done today but I’m not feeling so great so I’m slow. I love seeing the progress in the photos. I’ll probably do some kind of time lapse progression video when it’s all said and done.
The ocean of blue has begun. I am probably not going to post as often with updates regarding the blue but at least every 2 days or so. The blue so far is looking pretty good bringing out the other colors. I had a whopping headache tonight and just relaxing while crocheting squares was a good remedy. I made about 20 squares tonight and attached them all. I have yet to decide how big I want to make the blue background for now I’m going to make at least a one square border and see how that works. At the moment I’m just working on fleshing out the shape to make it even all around. I’m still considering making a ground but haven’t actually put any thought into it. Ha.
OMG! He’s done. I’m done. Wow! Not even more than 10 work days to get it done. I’ve had a blast and although I’m not done just yet I’m thinking about my next project. I’ve posted a photo of Mario with my pattern. I have yet to start working on the blue squares and then I’ll have to put some consideration on a border for the blanket. Originally I thought to just have Mario floating in a sea of blue but I’ve also thought about adding ground for him to walk on and maybe some clouds. This may be more difficult to figure out though. I’ll have to take some time and plan it out or go the easy way and keep it blue.
I downloaded the photo of Kes helping out with the yarn. I really need to get a photo of Onyx on the blog, poor kitty getting excluded.
Little bit of red, little of peach, little of black. Done with peach! Lots of black squares are in my future though. I didn’t work on any part in particular today, just a little here a little there. I took a break from sitting on the couch with the yarn and sat in my desk chair while chatting with my husband in our office. A fun little change of scenery. I’ve had assistance from both cats along the way of course. Onyx, my black cat, really loves it when I sit on the couch with blanket on my lap. She has a couch-blanket sense I think and it goes off as soon as I sit down. She gets a bit annoyed when I put my work on top of her but she’s going to have to deal with it. I have a good helper picture of Kes, my brown cat featured in a previous post, that I have to download from my phone. Can’t wait to start joining more squares and get closer to completion.
Got a lot done today. His whole hand and what I’ve determined to be the buttons on his overalls. I was a bit stumped at first as to why there was peach in that location. I also took a quick picture of the yarns I’m using.
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