Long, long ago . . . back in the early 70s, when I was in junior high school, I taught myself to crochet from an article in Good Housekeeping magazine. I was determined. There were lots of pictures. And I caught on pretty quickly. At the time, I already knew how to knit pretty well. But knitting was s-l-o-w. And at 13 I was all about fast-finishes, y’know? So crochet seemed magical to me. I didn’t even need a pattern! I could grab a crochet hook and some Red Heart Acrylic right at my grocery store . . . and I could just figure out how to make potholders and hats and scarves and mittens and afghans. With crochet, it was easy! (And with Red Heart Acrylic, it was cheap.)
Fast forward a decade . . . Tom was in graduate school and we had a tight budget. I made all of our Christmas gifts back then, including this granny square afghan I crocheted for my parents. (No pattern . . . I just made it up.) (And . . . you guessed it . . . Red Heart Acrylic in a stunning array of earth tones.) My mom and dad used this afghan for decades.
After my mom passed away, my dad decided he didn’t want to take the old afghan to his independent living apartment, so I reclaimed it. Now it keeps us warm down in our basement TV den. (Man . . . that Red Heart Acrylic wears like iron, y’know?)
Last week, Vicki wrote a post about a new blanket she’s working on. . . which got me thinking about how much I’ve wanted to recreate that granny square afghan I made for my parents back in 1981. (Only with nicer yarn.) (And in better colors.) I love freestyle projects . . . like granny squares. And making afghans that don’t need a pattern.
Hmmmm.
Let the plotting and planning begin!
Crochet is much faster than knitting, but I just never got beyond using double crochet for those classic zigzag afghans. I look forward to seeing your plotting, planning, and maybe even execution!
Who knew Red Heart was such a work horse!! But really… my absolute favorite thing in this post is how we inspire each other! Even though we aren’t a “physical knitting group” we inspire each other as if we were! That is such a very good thing! I hope you will share with us your progress on the Great Crochet Remake!
Colin still has and uses a granny square (one BIG square) afghan I made when I was in college! Those old acrylic yarns do wear like crazy! I’m looking forward to seeing your re-make.
I’m pretty sure that acrylic afghans/blankets will outlive us all! Molly has been doing lots of fun things with granny squares and I always think it looks like so much fun. Can’t wait to see where your experimentation takes you!
Yay!! I love that design… and recognize many of those colors. I, too, bought Red Heart yarn at my local grocery store when I was in high school! You got me thinking, too, and I’ve been running through my stash (in my brain) thinking of possibilities… maybe all that colorful alpaca that I brought back from Peru! Anyway, I can’t wait to see how this progresses!
I still have a small granny square blanket I crocheted with Red Heart yarn for our first baby. I think had about a 3 year run with crochet in the early 80’s. I tried to pick it up again a few years ago and could not summon any muscle memory for the hook. Can’t wait to see your new design.
Wow! I theoretically know how to crochet, but I’ve never done anything but edges to knits. But I know the longevity of Red Heart. My grandma often used Red Heart or Sayelle for her crochet AND knitting projects. Looking forward to seeing what you do!
I would love to know crochet basics. I can crochet a chain, but cannot wrap my brain around anything else. A friend who is an expert crocheter tried to show me, but after about an hour and a half, she said, “You might just want to stick to knitting.” Sigh.
Can’t wait to see in progress photos!
Crochet was one of the first things I learned when I was growing up. My mother and I crocheted afghans like crazy back then. Unfortunately, my dad got rid of the one I made we made together when he went to an apartment as well, but he didn’t offer it to me. If he had, I would have kept it in all its ’70s garish autumnal colors! I think this time of year is the perfect time to start crocheting an afghan. A lap full of warmth during the winter is niiiice. I have had the Lockdown Blanket made with sock yarn for a while. I love the riotous color possibilities, and an afghan made of sock yarn would probably be expensive, but I love the idea of the lighter weight. I also like the idea of the crocheting the hexis together as you go. I really am not into seaming granny squares. By this time, you may see you have inspired me to revisit this idea! I look forward to seeing what you decide to do.
How fun! I can’t crochet but maybe I should try. I do have horrible memories of a granny square vest that a great Aunt made and I HAD TO WEAR IT so I wouldn’t hurt her feelings.
I love the idea of remaking one of your first projects and I hope it’s fun and brings you lots of joy! That’s a great afghan and it’s amazing that it’s still in such great shape!
Your project sounds like fun and I can’t wait to see where you go with it! I still have some Red Heart afghans from the 1960s &70s and they never wear out!
Gosh. Learning to crochet from a book. I’m kinda like Bridget and it makes my head hurt just thinking about it. But I LOVE your granny square afghan! I’m not ordinarily a fan of 70’s colors but that pinkish background color is coming back, it seems to me. And how you arranged the blocks is very pleasing. My mother knit/crocheted several Red Heart afghans in the years before she died more than 20 years ago. My husband appropriated a couple and loves to wrap himself up in them, lightweight but still warm. His own mother did every sort of needlework (tatting, candlewicking, crewelwork, cross-stitch, etc.) but not knitting and crochet. So my mother fllled that gap in for him:).