Just had to brag!

I have, in the past, displayed a few of my crochet projects over the years and I'm sure that the majority of the people that read my blog will not be interested in this.  However, this was such an unusual project that I had to take a photo and tell someone!

This is called a Temair Throw and the pattern was free at LionBrand.com.  Initially it was offered as one of their "projects of the month" and people were given 3 or 5 projects to select from and from the final voting the people at Lion Brand would then decide what project they would put on-line and assist people in making.  This did not win.  I guess because it is so unusual, looks very difficult and how many people want a throw like this?

So, I wrote and asked them where I could find the pattern and ended up getting the pattern and bought their  yarn (linen in color) to use.

I started this project almost 2 years ago.  Now I must admit, I absolutely hate connecting motifs and prefer to make projects with as little "extra" work as possible.  However, this was stunning (in my opinion) and I knew just who I could make it for.

Actually crocheting the multi motifs was not that difficult and it went surprisingly fast and I was done in no time.  I then laid them out to prepare to sew them together.  That's when I got totally frustrated.  It is a time consuming project and because these motifs were circles there was a lot more planning involved.  I then put the project aside and just could not convince myself to return to it for a while.  

The "while" turned into months and this year my friend (who is the recipient of this gift) asked if I would bring it to her when I made my trip to the States.  I said, sure, don't worry, I will bring it.  I did not tell her that it was languishing in my closet and that until the past two weeks I dreaded taking it out.

As it happened, when I took it out, the final parts of the throw went together beautifully and in less time than I thought.  I had to make some alterations to the pattern merely because the way it was explained turned out to be much more difficult and I found an easier way.  Also, after completing the tassels and cords I found that the cords were too long for my taste.  The pattern called for 10 tassels which I felt was a little too much and I made 6.  However, upon completion and when I laid it out to photograph it, I now feel that 10 tassels may be right.  So, I will take my pattern and yarn to Florida, give it to my friend and if she wants, I'll make the extra 4 tassels.

So, I, temporarily, am in the possession of a beautiful throw with a 3-dimensional look.  I will pack it up and take it to the States and then comes the process of "plumping" up the various circles to achieve, again, the wonderful 3-D look they have.

I am now sticking, basically, to much quicker projects but am very proud of this one. So here's a close-up of the center circle.  The first photo is at an angle in order to see the 3-dimension quality.  The second is a close up of the center circle.