Winging it for my Wingman! - Free Form Crochet with Fab Thrift Shop Yarn

Earlier this week I mentioned that I started a blanket for Mr. Bender Oak and our VW Bus.  Which is great, because it'll be a present that works in Threes: 


1.  The Dog will have something cuddly to snuggle up with at home and on trips
2.  It will serve as a nice padding and decor on top of the nice shiny Bamboo Flooring my Boyfriend installed in our Bus.
3.  In three years, the Boyfriend won't be ripping his hair or his Bamboo flooring out because Bender has totally destroyed it.


The pattern is from 201 Crochet Motifs, Blocks, Projects, and Ideas by Melody Griffiths.  You can find it on Ravelry Here.   It's a relatively easy pattern, but I've run into a couple of problems.   I don't think the designer meant for it to be used on a project big enough for a Dog to lay on (a +60lb dog), and....


I'm running out of yarn.

Almost a year ago I picked up a huge mystery bag of yarn from the Thrift Shop, for $4.00!  It was full of pretty Teals, Turquoise, Greens, and some Blues.  The mix ranged from really high-end Fancy Yarns like Lane Borgosesia, to some good ol' trusty and inexpensive Red Heart.


Unfortunately, one of the problems with buying Thrift Shop Yarn or Yarn in limited quantities is that it often limits your ability to do much with it.  Often, I ended up making a hat, or a little toy, or worse, giving it away.   I felt the spiral pattern would allow me to use several different yarns, of different weights/sizes, and still come up with something cool.  But even with the spiral pattern...





I'm not going to have enough of all the colors.  I'm running really low on the fancy yarns, and I don't just want to start crocheting in a circle using the inexpensive Bright blue, it might take away from the interest in the spiral.  Which is kinda silly, considering this is a present....For A Dog.  Granted, I'm probably going to be the only one worried about the aesthetics of the blanket, but I wanted it to be interesting, and creative.  So what have I done?


I'm taking the tiny bits of yarn left from the nicer, smaller yarns, and making little motifs out of them.  I'll then attach those to the larger circle, and go from there.

The "Go from There" part will be crocheting around the piece.  I needed some help with that idea, so I looked up "Free Form Crochet", which is just a bunch of really talented people that figured out how to make several pieces that don't really "fit" together work and combining them to make something absolutely stunning.  So, with a couple of new-found techniques, I'll slowly create more little circles and other patterns, then join them using a different, yarn, in a coordinating color.

I still have to work on joining the motifs to the larger piece (as you can see in the pic above, I'm still kind new at it).  But this opens up greater possibilities for the blanket, and I hope it works out!  Hopefully, I'll be able to "Just Wing It" and create a comfy, bulky, and Animal-Friendly blanket that is beautiful, and useful.

 Plus, I can carry bits of this project and work on it wherever I go.  As you can see, it fits very well in my relatively new Thrift Shop Purse!

Thanks guys!  I know this isn't totally Shabby Chic, French Cottage Whites with Antiqued Silver, but I still want to share with everyone that you can create something using some great unexpected and inexpensive finds!

It's been an eventful week posting and making new friends.  So just to let you know, BenderOak and I might be taking off for Friday...Maybe go spend a lovely Fall Afternoon scratching our hides on a Fence Post.

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