An Heirloom Crochet Christmas Afghan

Now that my kids are grown up and having children of their own, I like the idea of having special things to leave behind. Mind you, I'm not a person who likes to accumulate a lot of "things". In fact, I've found downsizing my stuff to be very liberating. I think my biggest opportunity to be free of stuff was when I moved from the Chicago area to Germany with my whole life packed into two suitcases!

But back to leaving special things behind.... When it comes to crochet, I tend to gravitate toward projects I can finish within in a few day, if possible. How about you? I've undertaken some larger crochet projects, but always felt like I'd run a marathon by the time I crocheted the last stitch and tucked in the yarn tail. You know...so tired of the project, repeating the same patterns and using the same colors that you practically have to pull yourself across the finish line?

Back in November, I stumbled upon this crochet square design and instantly fell in love!

Willow Squares for a Scarf

I searched and searched until I learned that it's Jan Eaton's "Willow" Square, from her book, 200 Crochet Blocks.... What I love about the willow square is that it looks so lacy and intricate, but it's really not that hard to crochet. If you know the basic crochet stitches, you can make the willow square. The squares above were used to make a scarf for my daughter, R., for Christmas.

Because I loved the willow square so much, I decided to make a Christmas afghan with it...something special that we could pull out every year to add to the magical atmosphere of Christmas, and stay cozy and warm under it on chilly winter nights. My wish was to crochet an heirloom blanket of sorts that would last for many, many years.

I chose to use Redheart's "With Love" yarn in Red Berry, Lettuce and Aran. You can also see these colors in the baby headbands I crocheted since I used my Christmas afghan leftovers to make them.

Redheart yarn -- Aran, Red Berry and Lettuce

Between early November and the first week of January, I crocheted myself...well...crazy! A few times I took a quick break for other projects, but on the average I crocheted two squares per day. Some 42 willow squares and a granny stripe border later, I had this gem draped over the arm of the couch.

My finished "Willow" Square Christmas Afghan

Yay!! I was so excited to finish it! The afghan is soft, warm and snuggly. And, as an added bonus, my boyfriend M. (who doesn't like blankets unless he's sleeping) has snuggled under the blanket with me twice on chilly nights as we watched movies. It doesn't get much better than that. :)