“I am Stardust gathered fleetingly into form.”
– Laini Taylor
Stars! There are many people who liken our being to stars, including Joni Mitchell and Jostein Gaarder (read HERE).
A magnetar is a type of neutron star with a powerful magnetic field, the strongest in the universe.
I don’t know, I cannot say, why the STAR Crochet blanket pattern has captivated my mind and hands recently. I do not know. I found it by chance, randomly seeing someone posting about a 6-day crochet-along blanket. It kept popping up. So I found the pattern HERE and HERE started… I am including a YouTube tutorial below, very helpful for us visual learners:
I made my first one, and I was getting a little unsettled with how fast the changes (I am not a fan of change) were happening, how quickly I found myself having to change between two rows of granny square trebles and two rows of regular trebles – one in each previous stitch… So of course, I changed the pattern – SHOCKER! 🙂
It took some stitch maths and practice to figure out how to alter from changing every two rows to changing every three.. For the configuration still to work with the same number of stitches in between and still be a regular repetition… How does the third row of granny square trebles work out in the valley fold of the point, without creating bunching up of stitches? Those were all questions I came upon as I trialled the first blanket. Because of course, I was going to make the change BEFORE I finished the first project….
I did it. The first one was made and I was very happy with it. Gifted it and forgot all about it.
And THEN
I have randomly joined another new community platform, where people were sharing their 6-day star blankets. Well, I had to make another one! Once I started the second one, the first thing I made was an error… As it happened, I did not remember or read it as well as I had thought – second SHOCKER 🙂
After the second one was finished, I had a few more presents I wanted to make for friends and family, and because the 6-star blanket grows so fast and is so much fun, I made another one. And started another one after that – at the time of writing, I am on the fourth one, and there will likely be more – let’s see how many actually appear in the gallery at the time of publishing this post (you see, these are secret presents, so I am sharing with you AFTER they have been delivered to the rightful owners)…
Anyhow, I figured out my stitch maths and adapted the beautiful pattern to suit my easily bored brain… I was happy. I started writing this post about it… Looking for the original pattern to share with you all….
AND THEN
I discovered on the pattern maker’s website she does a 14-point star version – in fact two; and that there is also a version of the pattern with ridges – so more of a 3D effect going on…. The Supernova and Superstar versions of this start blanket are indeed gorgeous, and I am very excited to attempt making these also, soon enough.
WELL, I think you can guess what’s on MY HOOK for the foreseeable future. They are so much fun!
Reflection
I have learned so much while making each one. And I have learned skills in my work life that are now seeping into my crochet practice. Planning! I know, you may say that this is a natural part of a project… Not for me. Crochet is close to my heart exactly because it does not necessarily needs to be scripted. You start with a vague idea, and off you go. You do not need strict guidelines or even, I don’t know, a plan, before you begin. That is why I love it! Plan makes crafting difficult for me, too many steps ahead are know, and I have fallen asleep and have decided to move on to procrastination….
Within crochet, this is not so. I enjoy not knowing what I am making, and letting the project and wool dictate some of the smaller decisions and turns along the way. Which is weird, because I do not like change generally and do not like not knowing, it creates anxiety… In crochet, I trust! I know whatever happens, it will work out fine, and actually, if I am not happy, I can always undo a stitch or two, and try stitches and configurations of stitches on a smaller scale (SHOCKER no three! 🙂 – oh how I have moved on since THIS and THIS past posts happened).
I have recently been working on staying with uncomfortable feelings rather than running away from them, and making small steps towards working and helping my brain to utilise planning as a tool, to stop and think before I do. Now, this I feel, is a point of growth for me, personally and professionally, and it is definitely a valuable skill to have and be aware of as I navigate the days and weeks ahead.
Thank You for reading! 🙂
