Colorful Rose Afghan

     This week we have another guest post by my mom.  Enjoy!

      Today I want to share with you my absolute favorite of all the pieces I have knit or crocheted to date.  I call it serendipity because, in my mind, it exemplifies that word.  When I conceived of it in my mind and converted my idea into a tangible object it was the first time I had crocheted out of the lines so to speak.  It was the first time I looked into my imagination rather than searching for a pattern.
      We all start out with patterns when we become knitters or crocheters in much the same way novice cooks follow recipes.  My first knitting piece when I was 14 was a pair of slippers for my mother's birthday.  Sometimes in both crafts and cooking results may be less than we hope for.  I'd rather not tell you how many times I had to start over the first time I attempted a baby garment with those tiny
little knitting needles.  If we don't give up, we often get proficient.  Then some of us get bored.  We get comfortable enough with the materials and tools that we play and experiment.  It's like how some cooks work from what they have on hand--a handful of this, a pinch of that--rather than planning a shopping list around a recipe.
      When I was in college one of the administrative assistants gave me a piece she had started.  She had crocheted 9 intricate squares with raised roses and realized that pigs would fly before she made enough to make an afghan.  She put them together in a 3 by 3 arrangement and tried building the piece up with off white yarn, basically making it into one humongous granny square.  When she gave up on that she handed it over to me with instructions to please do something with it.
      Life kept getting in the way of keeping that promise.  There was college to finish, my first (unsuccessful) attempt to get my Ph.D., starting a family...  There was also the fact that the idea of working for a lot of hours in one shade of off white did not inspire me.  My breakthrough came when someone gave me garbage bags full of extra yarn in all weights and colors.  A lot of it was tangled.  As I sat on the floor unsnarling and rolling I realized I had a rainbow of colors.  Then I hauled out my poor, neglected piece and decided to create a partial rainbow around it, going from shades of purple through blue and green with just a touch of yellow at the edge.  I did not spend a lot of time working out the perfect array.  When I finished one color
I would look for the next.  I would pair up two contrasting strands with my thinner yarns to achieve a uniform thickness.  I loved the way it came together.  I hope you will agree that it is something special.  Now I am spoiled. I have bins of yarn.  So when I feel creative I look at it and see what comes to mind.
      I am including three pictures:  an overall view, a close up of  the purples to show color gradations, and a close up of green and white to show blended yarns.
      Even if I could put the whole piece in step by step instructions, that would not be my attempt.  What I want you to do is learn to trust yourself.  Whether you create in yarn, metal, beads, paper, wood, or any other medium, get comfortable with your materials and tools.  Take joy in the process as well as the product.  Then when you get the urge to try something new and different, go for it.  You could end up with something totally unique and beautiful.
      I am very glad that Amber has asked me to do some guest posts for her blog.  I'd been getting lazy with crafts lately.  Now I have an incentive to indulge my crafty self. :)