Knock, Knock
Who’s there?
Orange
Orange who?
Orange my favorite color.

Orange may be famous in knock-knock jokes, but in the real world, it can be a very polarizing color. Some people love it and some people hate it.

I love it.

I think there are two reasons I like orange (and, hilariously, they contradict each other). First, my best friend’s favorite color was orange. We actually had matching orange puffy coats in college. Second, I always wanted to be different (I told you they were contradictory). I grew my toenails long, wore mismatched socks (to match would be a travesty), and prided myself on being different and a little odd. Most people don’t love orange. Orange is different.

Obviously, there is a third reason I love orange. I find it aesthetically appealing. I write this sitting next to my orange wall. My favorite sweater is orange. I again have a bright orange puffer jacket. There’s no hiding in orange.

So, I guess it was inevitable that I would someday make an entirely orange blanket. This blanket wasn’t something I planned. I had purchased the yarn for an entirely different purpose, but slowly this blanket was born.

In the chicken/egg scenario for this blanket, the yarn came first. Then I found the pattern. The yarn is a convenient, inexpensive pack from Herrschners: The Worsted-8 Gradient Pack in Corals. Four skeins cost $16.99 which is a great deal with the inflation happening on everything these days. I used two packs (8 skeins total) for this blanket. What made the colors on this so beautiful was that I didn’t pick them. Someone at the Herrschners store decided what colors went well together. It is nice to lean on the expertise of…experts.

The pattern came next. I already loved patterns by The Lavender Chair. I’ve used many throughout the years. This pattern was set up with four colors. Each square is intricate. It seemed like the perfect fit. So, I used the pattern for Mandala CAL 2016. (CAL stands for crochet-along). Obviously, I didn’t make this pattern in 2016. I started it in 2019 and finished it in 2023, but the patterns are still on the site and still free. Free patterns are awesome. I assigned each of my colors to correspond with her A, B, C, D and used that throughout.

In the end, the blanket is gorgeous! I know I always say blankets are my favorite, but this one is definitely high up on the list. And I’m keeping it. This one is for me.

When I got to the joining and finishing rounds, I was in a bit of a quandary. I had the most left of the Peachy color, so I knew I would be joining with that. As I neared the finish line, I was sure I was going to run out of yarn. I played yarn chicken, and I won.

I ditched the patterns suggested border and did two rounds of sc, ch 3. It worked out in the end and I used almost all of my yarn.

Projects like these always take a while. I did 7 squares back a few years ago and finished the last 13 squares last month. Each square probably took at least four hours. In addition to the crocheting, I spent two evenings weaving in all of the ends. All of the ends. There were so. many. ends.

But all that work? Totally worth it!