January Afghan and Hello, Tish-Tish

Maybe it was the pace of the holidays or my need for lots and lots of sleep or the joy that resulted after visiting the local humane society with Dear Daughter, but I neglected... forgot... to make new year resolutions.

While looking through my yarn stash I thought of one: crochet one blanket per month.  My husband had just added the perfect mountain of yarn to my collection, fourteen cakes of Mandala Wool-Ease in "Hades," so the opportunity and motivation were there to start on January 1.

Oh, and she's been here every step of the way.  Readers, meet Tish-Tish (short for Morticia), Tish-Tish, Readers:

A few months ago I followed along with BellaCoco'sYouTube tutorial teaching viewers how to crochet a virus blanket, and the pattern has become my new favorite.  For this afghan, I double-stranded the Mandala trying to make sure I wasn't holding two matching runs of color together (I pulled from two cakes at a time) and used a 5.25 mm (I) hook.  The afghan worked up relatively quickly, and after close to fourteen full cakes, almost covers the top of my king-sized bed. 

I'm not planning on making every monthly blanket as large, and I'm allowing myself some simple ripple/chevron baby blankets to contribute to the mix so I can build up my supply of baby shower gifts and keep my sanity during this semester of teaching AND graduate school. My idle hands need projects during t.v. time with my family and blankets are cuddle time essentials, right?  

I'm also not certain Tish-Tish will fully accommodate my resolution as she's turning out to be an I-want-to-cuddle-on-your-chest-UNDER-a-blankie kitty. Every... single... night.

Did you make any crafty-crochet-hobby resolutions for 2019?

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You can see more of Tish-Tish on Instagram! #IAmTishTish