Puzzling but Done

The blooming flower throw I made from Premier Puzzle and Hobbii Amigo Chunky yarns did take five days in the end, but I probably could have easily finished it in four. I just decided not to rush the big finish.

This throw gave me a bit of a hard time, which is probably why I ran out of yarn about 24" from the end of the final row. I added on some Loops & Threads Charisma in off white, which is a weight 5 but a tiny bit chunkier, but the only bulky yarn in my stash that would work colorwise. One does what one can, and it's not a gift but something to remind me that keeping at it is worth it in the end. I think.

Thoughts: I do like the Premier Puzzle yarn quite a bit, as well as the Hobbii Amigo Chunky. Both were soft and glided well for #5 yarns. The Puzzle yarn had a couple of factory knots and one 12" frayed section that I had to cut out; the Hobbii had no frays and only one factory knot in five skeins, which is pretty darn good. The variegated Puzzle yarn worked better interspersed with rows of the solid color yarn. If you want to do a star pattern that turns out looking nice rather than random, this is the way to go.

#5 weight yarns work up faster than worsted because they're bigger, and this is pretty gratifying in an efficient way; you don't have to devote as much of your crochet time to a project as you might with worsted weight. I'm still not sure if I like bulky weight in general, but it's growing on me.

The pattern was problematic in that it had place references versus actual stitch counts. This is not how I was taught to crochet, so naturally I struggled with it. Eventually when I abandoned the pattern, straightened out the row counts myself and continued on in a logical fashion, correcting the mistakes as I went, it worked out. It did test my patience, however.

I think I'll make one more star-type throw just to get it out of my system. Stay tuned for that.