You know how it is – sometimes we start a project with all the enthusiasm in the world, and then, poof! It gets tucked away, almost forgotten. Well, that’s exactly what happened with my Battenberg crochet blanket. But guess what? It’s made a comeback!
A need to shake things up.
Rewind to 2020, amidst the Pandemic lockdown. Everything felt so dark and repetitive, and like many, it was stressing me out big time. Panic attacks were a regular thing and my knitting mojo? Practically non-existant. As someone who has a constant need to create, this was not cool. I desperately needed something different to shake things up.
Enter the Battenberg Blanket by Sandra Paul. This was before my deep dive into the crochet world, but this pattern was a perfect fit for anyone familiar with basic stitches. So, I dusted off my box of crochet hooks and got started.
A little side note – there’s a similar design by Casapinka called the Blanket of Calm, but I stuck with Sandra Paul’s version for this project.
Totally hooked!
To my surprise, working on this pattern was like a soothing balm for my soul. It had everything I needed – simplicity, meditative repetition, and it gave me a chance to use some Berger de France, Goomy 50 yarn in “Beige” from my stash. The colorway is “Imprim Beige” but it incorporates creams and taupe with peach and brown speckles, which was a perfect match for the Battenberg cake vibe of the pattern.
Once I felt truly hooked on this project (no pun intended), I went ahead and ordered a blanket worth more of this yarn, along with a creamy (Color 01992) Regia 4-ply for contrast.
Reader, I was in Battenberg Blanket Crochet Heaven, cranking out tiny granny square after tiny granny square! It’s all I wanted to work on — until it got sidelined.
Why did I stall?
Looking back, I think I let this project stall because Dennis and I were still living in Brooklyn and began house hunting. Plus, my knitting mojo eventually came back, and I got distracted by a new, shiny project – Stephen West’s Bubble Cardigan, another fantastic pattern that helped chase away the little black cloud that had been following me around.
Inspired to revisit a forgotten project.
Fast forward to now, and this project is back in action! Toward the end of 2023, I found myself feeling a little overwhelmed with my current projects, work, and life, in general. I mean, who doesn’t?? Once again, I found myself in a bit of a creative slump. I was longing to create but not knowing what to work on. Oh, the frustration!
One day I was scrolling through my Facebook Group “The Rabbit Hole” (a private Facebook Group for members of my YouTube channel) and scrolled upon a post from a member sharing a photo of her Battenberg Blanket WIP. (Hi Rena!👋) I immediately felt inspired to pull mine out of hibernation to begin working on it again and, let me tell you, I haven’t been able to put it down since! It even joined me on vacation to Cancun.
Looking back, I can’t help but chuckle at my early crochet work on this blanket. The squares are decent, but OMG, the ends! So many of them to weave in! And I keep thinking of the neat finishing technique I could have used to make my squares neater.
The bright side of letting projects languish.
I’m not going to promise that this blanket won’t be sidelined again – I know myself too well for that. But for now, it’s bringing me immense joy, and that’s what really matters. This is what I love about long-term projects. I try not to be hard on myself for letting them sit idle, because they’re always there, waiting patiently, offering a bit of zen whenever I need it.
So, what about you? Have any projects you’ve revisited lately? Share your stories with me in the comments below – I’d love to hear them!
