Sunday 15 July 2012

A story of a blanket.

So the other day my cat thought it would be an excellent idea to poo on my ripple blanket. I was not pleased and I did stand there just staring for a while in disbelief, hoping it would just go away. It didn't. I walked out of the room, and came back in again, in hope it would be magically gone. It wasn't.



Then the panic set in. And I'm not ashamed to admit I did cry. People often don't really understand how protective I get when I have made something myself. And I don't really understand why they don't understand! This is what goes on in my head "Um... Hello?! I have just spent a LONG time making this and you have your hands all over it and I JUST saw you eating crisps and have you even washed your hands oh my god you're going to ruin my months of love and care!!!". But my face has got to keep calm and smile on because these are the same people that give me a weird look when they find I make stuff for myself.


So when an animal EXCRETES on a blanket I have been making since Easter... It's just not a nice feeling. especially when I am actually really proud of what I have been making...


This is what it looked like around 24 hours before the incident. 

Anyway with the help of my boyfriend, I carefully carried it out to the garden, popped the poo in a plastic bag and took my blanket to the bath, where I ran the tap over the affected area. And it started to look okay... But not as perfect as before.

You really wouldn't be able to tell what had happened... and there is no way you can tell from this picture where it is...but I know.

Soon, I got some really helpful advice from some lovely ladies over on Instagram and I decided to put it in the washing machine on a hand wash cycle.

This made me reall nervous. But there was no going back. 

This is fine because it is 100% acrylic (can't afford the good stuff) and it has actually come out really nice and soft and clean.

So PHEWWWW!! It is saved.

Anyway, while my ripple blanket was drying... It gave me time to practice and start my granny stripe blanket! I tried to do a sample the other night at 9pm when I had been at work all day... Not a good plan when you're tired. To this, my mum and gran said things like "well that's not very good" and "ooh...". I abandoned this until I had a day off (and a cat pooed on my other project).

So whilst the ripple was drying, I tried again. I wasn't going to let it beat me! (I'm really determined when it comes to this sort of thing... and I knew I could do it.) 

TA DAH! Here is my small sample! It makes me so happy and full of a sense of acheievement when I can do it! Especailly when I previously tried and gave up! I have definately got the hang of the pattern now (very easy) and now I can choose colours!!


 My approach to choosing colours before was buy anything that is DK thickness which is usually 100% acrylic and put them ALL together. Which is what I have done with my ripple (excluding yellows, oranges and reds) and I really like the outcome. But with this blanket I am going to try something less random. I'm thinking two stripes of pinks/light purples split up with one stripe of cream in between!

So that's my next few days planned for me! (When I'm not at work)



6 comments:

  1. Very funny new blog about crafting with great witty comments.

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  2. So pleased the cat poo issue ended up ok! I know just what you mean about being protective over your mandcradted babies! My puppy pee'd on my giant granny blanket (and the bed) I was more worried about the blanket than our bed! Husband thought I was mad! I only use acrylic yarn as well (cost reasons) it will tumble dry on low as well :) for a short time just to take the edge off and help it dry quicker. Great blog btw! Px

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    1. Oh no!!! I would definitely be more worried about the blanket too! I did find that mine dried really quickly actually. It didn't come out of the Maine feeling overly wet... Which was weird! I also made sure I dried it flat... Otherwise it would have stretched a lot!

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  3. Love your new blog. I'm allergic to wool so always use acrylic yarn. It always washes and dries well, which is great as I make a lot of baby things which need frequent washing and as it's cheap it doesn't matter if the baby grows out of it quickly either.
    best wishes
    Yvonne

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    1. Aww thank you Yvonne! Yeah acrylic is good because the colour are amazing and it's versatile! There are definitely some yarn snobs out there but who cares? :)

      Abi

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  4. Great work! I love the colors! Wow! I love making one soon but I just don't know how to create blankets . Thanks for sharing your work.

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