Repetition is the name of the game

When I find something that works, I tend to stick to it.  This is another example. I wanted a new afghan as a portable project.  So it has to be fairly mindless to do, interesting somehow in the end, and easily carried (so made in blocks or strips).  And I don't want to have to sew blocks/strips together - I want to crochet them in place.  This afghan had caught my eye years ago, but it was finally time to give it a whirl.

I'm always drawn to the shaded colors.  I love the ombres.  I just don't usually know how to use them without making everything seem too much.  So I chose a pretty yarn and went to town!  I think the ombre here is Wildflowers.  I made test blocks with both black and white, and I think both would be gorgeous.  But ultimately, purple is my aunt's favorite color.  (I used Red Heart with Love for the solid - think it was Lilac.)

I really liked how it ended up!  This is spread out on my queen bed.  I think it's really pretty, and my aunt loved getting it for her birthday.

I also made another one for a friend, but she hasn't gotten it yet, so I won't post a pic.  Eventually I'll get it up.  In the meantime, I wanted one for MY living room.  I have blue and brown couches, so I chose a blue/brown ombre (Reef Super Saver) and started up.  My intention was to use the dark brown (Red Heart with Love) for the whole thing, but The Husband thought it would be too dark.  So I searched the super saver aisles and tried buff and warm brown (I think) in sample blocks.  Then I thought it would be neat to use them all.  So I planned out a scrappy but organized layout and even enlarged the pattern by a couple of rows so that I could lay it out the way I wanted.  I think it turned out really well!