You Are Enough
Hello again! Since March is “International Women’s Month” and March 8, 2023, is International Women’s Day, (IWD) of course I was inspired to make a blanket that represented so many amazing, courageous, inspiring women and girls around the world. Did you know IWD started in the early 1900’s when incredible brave women had the courage to rise up and insist their voices are heard? In 1908 just over 1,500 women marched the streets in New York City to demand and fight for political, social, and cultural rights. Women campaigned for shorter work hours, voting rights, unfair wages, oppression, and inequality. Whilst this would create an intense unrest it also spurred a movement that is evident still today. So I invite you to celebrate women who inspire, encourage, teach, fight, sacrifice, and love us today and everyday!
Luckily for me (and of course you) Joann’s has the most amazing fabric that focuses on IWD and Empowerment.
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I chose Women’s Empowerment Floral Anti Pill Plush Fleece Fabric and Women’s Empowerment Tossed Words Anti Pill Plush Fleece Fabric. The yarn Bernat Baby Blanket Sparkle in Tomato was what I used to crochet the two pieces of fleece together. My sisters and I had a debate on which side of the pieces would we consider the front and which would be considered the back. What’s great with these double-sided fleece blankets is it doesn’t really matter all that much. Both sides can be considered front or back depending on your mood. I always hold the front side to my person when crocheting. I decided the flower side would be the front on this particular blanket. It was not a consensus amongst the sisters but I’ll just leave it at that.
As you can see in the picture above, I originally had Michaels' Sweet Snuggle in yellow as my border. But honestly after assembling the entire blanket and beginning the border process, it just wasn’t singing to me, and you know it has to sing to you. Loud and Clear! After a few moments of deliberation, I chucked the yellow for a more vibrant teal. It is still Michaels’ and Sweet Snuggles, but in teal which is just the perfect pop for this blanket. I felt the yellow was well, too mellow. Hehe.
What You’ll Need For The Entire Process Is Listed Below
2 yards of Women’s Empowerment Floral Anti Pill Plush Fleece Fabric for the front
2 yards of Women’s Empowerment Tossed Words Anti Pill Plush Fleece Fabric for the back
A very sharp pair of scissors (Fiskars scissors work fine for me.
A Rotatory Cutter (I use Fiskars)
Self Healing Cutting Mat (I use the Sullivans Gridded Cutting Mat. It's made in the USA and fits perfectly on top of most home tables. It's also great for the floor.)
Long Acrylic Ruler with horizontal and vertical markings (Fiskars sells these in multiple lengths and sizes.) I just recently purchased a Omnigrid Non-slip Rectangle Quilting Ruler with Removable Lip. It's awesome! The 0.125-inch removable lip adheres to the mat and prevents slippage. ( I purchased mine from Joann’s)
Straight Pins
Bernat Baby Blanket Sparkle in Tomato 3/4 Skein
Michaels Sweet Snuggle in Teal 1 Skein
Crochet Hooks Size 4 MM and size 8 MM (Everyone has their favorite hooks but for me, I love hooks by Susan Bates.)
Although some of these items may be an added expense to your creative toolbox, I honestly believe if you invest in them now, it will make the creative process run more smoothly in the future.
Now it’s time to square up your fabric! If you’re new to this, remember you can find all the deets on my previous blog page. “Let’s Get Squared.”
Sometimes, no matter how perfect you feel you have squared up your fabric you can get what I like to call an “Oopsy Daisy moment!” That when a problem has occurred but you have no idea how or why. Well, in this case, fleece fabric, as mention before, has a tendency to stretch. Even though it’s been cut for 2 yards by the same employee at the cutting counter, it isn’t always cut perfectly to the 2-yard mark. Other times the fabric is simply thiner than the top or bottom piece. And most times, (shrug) who really knows? Hence, Oopsy Daisy. This is where you just have to make the decision to just make it work the best you can. You know when life gives you lemons and all that…
You can see below that my bottom piece is about 3 inches wider than the top piece. I had both pieces cut for 2 yards. Squared it up, but it’s obvious the bottom piece is not going to match the top piece in width. This is where you make sure that what you cut from the bottom piece is the same (3 inches in this case) all the way down the length of your blankets to match the top piece. You can see I have pretty close to 3 inches the entire length of my blanket.
Now that you’ve fixed your small Oopsy Daisy you can move on to using the rotary skip blade. Place your ruler about 1 inch away from the edge and run the blade down the length of the blanket. So important: Don’t lift the blade once you start cutting. You don’t want to double your holes or lose track of where your blade last cut. Keep a steady pressure and guide your blade until you reach the end of the blanket. Now it’s time to turn your blanket.
Pivot your blanket once, find the hole from the very last cut, set your blade next to it and begin the process down this side of your blanket. Continue to pivot, finding the last hole from the previous cut, until you are back to the beginning of your first side. All holes should be cut completely around your blanket! Nicely Done! Now it's time to crochet this baby together.
Double Crochet (DC)
With a starting loop on the hook.
Yarn over. Insert the hook into both pieces of fabric, and pull up a loop.
Three loops on the hook.
Yarn over. Four loops on the hook. Pull through two loops on the hook.
Yarn over again. Two loops on the hook. Pull through two loops on the hook.
Double crochet (DC) all the way to the end of one side of the blanket. As you come to the corner, start by tucking down the edge of the extra fabric. Put 1 (DC) and one (CH) in the corner hole then another (DC) in the same hole. Do this in every corner. It will give you a nice rounded corner and allows both pieces of fabric to hold snuggly in place without slipping. It also gives the corner a neat clean appearance.
So again I just used a (DC) to connect both pieces of the fleece material with a 4MM hook by Susan Bates. This gives the perfect amount of room to slip the hook through the rotary skip blade holes, without stretching them too much and also accommodates the yarn nicely. Once the initial attachment border is completed on all four sides, it’s time to incorporate the second border. This border is designed to give your blanket that little something extra. Remember there are no rules in creativity. This is your project. The border doesn’t necessarily have to be elaborate or difficult, it can be simply stated or uncomplicated without sacrificing beauty. Because sometimes less is more, right? So with this particular blanket, I chose a pretty simple stitch for the second border. I just love the way it turned out
Border Cluster Stitch
Place a simple starting loop on your 8 mm hook.
Half Double Crochet (HDC) Yarn Over, pull up a loop and insert your hook into your border stitch.
Yarn over again, three loops on the hook.
Pull through all three loops.
In the same stitch. Do 1 (DC)
Now do another (HDC) in the same stitch again. This is your cluster stitch.
Skip (SKP) 1 stitch.
Repeat * 1 (HDC), 1 (DC) 1(HDC)* all in same stitch. Now (SKP) 1 stitch. Start cluster stitch in the next stitch until you come to your corner.
Corner: Put 2 (HDC) 2 (DC) 1 (CH) stitch and 2 more (HDC) 2 (DC).
(SK) the next stitch and continue your repeat of * to * Repeat * 1 (HDC), 1 (DC) 1 (HDC) (SKP) 1 stitch* until you come to your corner.
Slip stitch (SLST) to your starting (HDC).
Make sure to tuck in and hide all your yarn tails.
So who empowers you? My hope is you will able to find just one special someone who motivates you. That one incredible person who builds you up or paves the way for you by making the road a little less challenging. Possibly, it may be as simple as looking in the mirror. You are enough!