Jochet Works

My mother was a quilter. She made each of her five children a quilt at one point or another. I still have mine (it’s seen some wear and tare and doesn’t look even half as nice as when she gave it to me when I was seven or eight, but I still have it). When I was around 19, I taught myself how to sew using a machine. I was already pretty good at embroidery and mending, but I wanted to know how to actually sew (mainly because I worked in a fabric store at the time, so it was very inconvenient for me to not know how to sew).

My mother’s suggestion for my first project was to make a quilt. Now, you can probably imagine what was going through my head when she said that… “I am just learning to sew. A quilt is a huge project. Why would you suggest that? Quilts are crazy difficult. I’ve heard stories from my customers at JoAnn’s.” But my mother was insistent that a Log Cabin quilt was the perfect project for a beginner because it was all straight lines.

Well, needless to say, I didn’t listen to my mother, and instead I made an apron. It was a nice apron. I learned hemming, going along curves, the importance of ironing fabric. It was fun. But I did feel bad that I never made the quilt. I liked the concept behind the Log Cabin design, I just didn’t feel that my skills with a sewing machine would serve me well in that endeavor.

So instead, I decided to make one out of crochet.

It was right around Halloween. The goal was to make it in the colors of Candy Corn so that I could also have it out around Thanksgiving. But, eventually, I realized that If I did just the three colors, there was going to end up being two of the same color next to each other. So, I added black to the mix. (I have since taken graph paper and made other possible designs using two and three colors in the Log Cabin style.)

I worked on this project during some of my college classes, because, at the time, I was taking a full course load as well as working the night shift. So, crochet gave me something to do that would keep me awake while leaving my mind available to pay attention to class (because repetitive back and forth rows don’t take much thought for me any more).

There was one day I was working on the final trim for the blanket while waiting for my sister to finish her classes. I had claimed one of the couches in the hallway, kicked my feet up, and thrown the blanket out over my lap as I worked because the hallway was chilly. I had so many people stop by to look at the project. But my favorite comment was from a random teacher who said that I looked like the epitome of comfort.

This pattern is super easy and can work well for any size. The dimensions all depend on the original square or rectangle you use to start off the piece.

I don’t make many afghans. This was honestly only the second one I ever made, and I haven’t made another since. But I finished this one in a week (but that was working on it in 80% of my free time).

Any questions, comments, or concerns? Let me know!

Thanks for reading. – Jo