The Project Journey of The Crochet Challenge for Warm Up America 2019 | Podcast Episode #101

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THIS CHALLENGE HAS CONCLUDED BUT YOU’LL STILL LEARN SOME INTERESTING STUFF ABOUT WARM UP AMERICA IN THIS EPISODE.

The 2019 challenge kicked off in November 2019 and has since concluded. But tune in, learn about how amazing The Warm Up America Foundation is (and why they’re the official charity for B.Hooked) and look forward to our next Annual Crochet Challenge for Warm Up America.

In this episode I’ll share the project journey so you can hear firsthand what went into designing the 2019 Crochet Challenge for Warm Up America lap blanket. Since this is the first time we have done an episode like this, I’ll start by explaining how I tackle the design process and then tie it all into this year’s challenge pattern.

You’ll Learn

• The different stages to my design process
• Where I get inspiration from and why
• How the first design for the challenge was a failure
• How the new design came together

Episode Transcript

Brittany:
Hey there, and thank you so much for joining me in episode 101 of the Be Hooked podcast. I’m really thrilled that you’re here with me today, as always, of course, but I want to do something a little different.

As you know, the Crochet Challenge for Warm Up America kicked off a few days ago, and I just could not be more excited about the outcome of that and the potential that it has to help the lives of our wounded warriors. So many people are donating their time to make a lap blanket and a knit hat for those at Walter Reed Hospital, and it just warms my heart to know that there are so many amazing people in this community.

Well, I don’t want to get into the details as much of the challenge here because, well, you’ve heard them all before. But like I said, I do want to do something a little different. Instead of giving you more details about the challenge, what I want to do is tell you the story of how the pattern unfolded and how it came about.

I would love to do more of this style of episode in the future. So you can not only work through the pattern from my tutorials, but you’ll also have the opportunity to hear how that project came together, its story, the struggles behind it, the successes behind it. I think this has a potential to be a really valuable style of show. So if you love it, let me know. I’m all about trying new things.

So the story of the Crochet Challenge for Warm Up America 2019 started in late November of 2018. Now that’s a little later than I would normally start planning for a bigger project like this, but I had some prior commitments that I had to work through. And of course, things always get a little busy for the holidays, right?

Now during this concept phase, I like to take a few days to find inspiration before I move into test mode. So what I’m doing in this concept phase or finding inspiration—well, that inspiration can come from anywhere.

I do like to browse ideas on Pinterest. I do that more for inspiration. Inspiration of what not to do. I want to make sure that I’m not duplicating a pattern that I’ve seen somewhere else or that a designer has published before. Pinterest is a great place to find that sort of thing.

I also like to look through some stitch books. I get inspiration for new stitches and for textures and figure out how I can incorporate some of those into the idea for the design. And then I might just look around me. I might think about who the design is intended for and see if there’s something in my life that reminds me of that person.

Now, it could be as simple as a color or maybe a group of colors. It could be some textures. It could be something completely different. But I’m really perceptive during this phase because I want to figure out what stands out about the person who will likely receive this item. And that’s exactly what I want to create. I want to create an experience for them, not just a project.

Usually, as I move out of this concept phase, I have one solid idea—sometimes more than one—but for the most part, I try to narrow it down to one really good idea. And from there, I test that concept, which involves me working up swatches. Lots and lots of swatches.

This is one of the most important parts to the entire process because during this testing phase, I find the right hook for the drape that I’m trying to go for. So if I want a more loose fabric, I might choose a larger hook. If I want a real dense or sturdy drape, I might choose a smaller hook than what you would find recommended on the yarn band.

And speaking of the yarn, I’m also testing the yarn in this phase as well. Sometimes we can look at a skein and know exactly what that yarn needs to become. But sometimes it’s not so cut and dry. A yarn might look one way, but it could behave in a different way.

For example, have you ever seen a yarn that has what they call a halo? So a halo on a yarn is sort of like a smooth yarn with frizzy hair. It’s smooth underneath, but it has some little fuzzies that come out from that, and they call that a halo. And it’s usually really soft yarn, and it’s great for a lot of things. But one thing it may not be great for is good stitch definition.

If you have a really cool stitch, using a yarn with a halo would probably hide that stitch pattern more so than highlight it. So as I’m thinking of different yarns I want to use for a project, I take that into consideration and I test it out. I’ll pick a yarn that’s my top favorite, and if the stitches work as they should in my swatches, I know it’s safe to go on. If not, it’s back to the drawing board.

For the Crochet Challenge for Warm Up America, one thing that’s always been really important in the choosing of the yarn is that it has to be affordable and it has to be easy to get a hold of. I don’t want this little factor to be the reason why somebody can’t participate. I want it to be affordable. And I want it to be easy to find.

So that is top of mind when I plan these projects. And it was especially top of mind for this year because there’s so much urgency around how many of these lap blankets that we can complete for the challenge so that nobody at the hospital is left behind when we go to deliver them.

Now, another thing I take into consideration during this testing phase is how the stitch pattern will play into all of this. The hook size, the drape, the yarn, the yarn’s texture and its drape, and then of course the stitch pattern.

Now, I like to take it another step further and put these swatches through their paces. I like to throw them in the washing machine. I like to rub on them. I like to see what the wear is going to be like for these swatches because I want these projects to last. You’re investing a lot of time in it. I invested a lot of time in it. And it’s important to somebody. But it’s also important to care for our projects. They need to be easy to handle, easy to wash and care for.

Now, all in all, the lap blanket part of the crochet challenge for 2019, I spent about six hours in the testing phase. It was one solid evening of work. I knew what I wanted from spending some time in that concept phase, but I just had to make sure it all worked out and that the different stitches I had in my head would come together the way I imagined.

Now I want to preface all of this by saying this was all version one, and that’ll make sense as we move on.

So once I had the idea, I tested it, I knew I had the right yarn, right hook, right stitch pattern, the next step was to work up a full block. So the inspiration was to create an afghan that’s made up of blocks, and I felt pretty confident in my notes so far.

Well, this first block came together almost too perfect, but there was one problem. It took me about three and a half hours for me to complete. And that was before adding any detail or weaving in my ends. And then I really started to sweat it because I knew we needed 20 blocks to make the size lap can we needed. And then asking somebody to invest 70 hours—not including finishing, by the way—would be a really tough ask.

Sure, there are lots of people who would do it, and there are lots of people who have done it in the past, but would people be willing to do it more than once? I wasn’t very confident about that. You heard on episode 95 and here at the beginning that there are thousands of wounded warriors being cared for at Walter Reed, and I just can’t stress that enough. I don’t want anyone to be left out.

So the focus shifted completely. I knew that rather than make an intricate pattern that really challenged you and taught you some new stitches—although sounds great in theory—it wasn’t practical for this particular project.

We need to make this quick, and we need to make this easy so it’s not only possible for someone to make it, but it’s possible for them to make more than one within the time frame you’re given for the challenge.

Now, I’ll admit I was a little deflated when I came to this realization. I had put so many hours into this perfectly crafted block with cables and texture and—but I knew in my gut it wasn’t the right decision. So I made the difficult call to scrap that completely.

Well, not completely. I will share it later on in the year because it really is a great design. But I had to scrap it for the challenge for 2019.

So fast forwarding a little bit, I spent several days coming up with the version you see on the challenge page today. And I couldn’t be more thrilled with it because it accomplishes that quicker and easier requirement, but it also allows me to teach you something new.

So I went back to that concept phase. I started thinking about different ideas with the idea that quick and easy was a pretty big must. One of the stitches that really works up fast are the treble varieties. And so I knew that that was probably the route I needed to go because those rows will grow so much quicker.

So it didn’t take long to figure that part out, but it did take a while to figure out the stitch pattern. In fact, it took me several tries to get it just right. I experimented with a lot of different versions of treble crochet before landing on the seven wrap version.

When I would make fewer wraps, that scrunched the pattern, and when I added too many wraps or more than seven wraps, that made the pattern too loose, and then its shape sort of lost that wow factor.

During this time, I was not working up the full design, I was still working through swatches.

I had already done the work on the hook and the yarn, so I didn’t have to go back to the drawing board on that, but I worked up several swatches trying to get those stitches and the stitch count, all of that, to be perfect.

Now, once I had the stitch pattern figured out and I knew the multiple, I knew we needed to address the color factor in the challenge. That’s always been a really big part of the challenge. Participants get to really explore their creativity in incorporating different color variations from the one that I make. And I love that part of it.

But I really can’t help but feeling how perfect red, white, and blue will be for these particular projects. So I knew that was the way to go. Again, this part didn’t change. I had settled on red, white, and blue in the first design. But for this one, I wasn’t sure how to incorporate it.

Traditionally, in aran crochet, you work with a single color of yarn. You really don’t need more because the stitch pattern is so cool. It sort of just takes the show. And if you had color in there, well, that could potentially detract from the cool stitch pattern that you see.

But you know me, I like to do things a little different. And I wondered if the stitch pattern would have the same effect or perhaps a more interesting one if I used stripes. Since the stripes on our flag are red and white, that was what I went with for my version of the lapgan. And I finished that off with a blue border.

But as you’re working through your ideas, you’re probably in that planning phase yourself of coming up with the colors and how you want to incorporate them in your lap blanket. I encourage you to experiment with color and test the different outcomes. See what it looks like if you have a solid color in the middle. See what it looks like if you use a red border and you do blue and white stripes. This is all up to you.

Now, speaking of the border, this one is worked a little different than you might expect. Traditionally, we’ll add a border after the fact and we’ll work in a round fashion, so basically around the rectangle. But for this one, I worked the top and the bottom with the stitch pattern.

So we start off the blanket with the blue color and then we work through the textured stitch pattern and the stripes. We finish that off with some more blue. And then we add the right and left border after the fact.

I went with this route for a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s different. You get to practice working in the side of your rows. And I love that, right? I want to teach you something new if you’ve never tried that. But it’s also really quite simple. We don’t have to worry about working the corners or anything like that. We’re just evenly spacing our stitches down the row and it’s easy enough for even a beginner.

Another thing about the border is that it’s worked in a different stitch pattern—just half double crochets. And these are nice and flat and simple. And the reasoning for that was so that the stitch pattern in the middle could really shine. So that texture could really pop.

So let’s talk a little bit about those yarn recommendations. I know a lot of folks like to substitute with what they have on hand. And I want to make sure that you have the knowledge to be able to do so.

So as you know, there are a few yarn recommendations for this pattern and there was quite a bit of work that went into that. What I did was made a mock-up and I used that to make the conversions. That happens primarily through calculations. And they’re pretty solid calculations and they’re pretty good estimates.

But if you try to step outside of that and use one of the other yarns based on the amount that’s in the skein, if it’s not one of those recommended yarns, just use caution if you’re trying to make substitutions, especially if you’re ordering online. You want to make sure that you have the right amount.

Fortunately, I am working with Lovecrafts this year and they are able to kit everything so it’s so much easier for you to order your supplies. You’ll have everything you need for the challenge and that’s the route I recommend you go.

However, I know that you could already have yarn in your stash that you want to use and maybe you can’t afford to buy more yarn right now. I completely get that. I don’t want you to feel left out or feel like you can’t participate.

If you can’t make a yarn substitution, remember my reasoning behind all of this is just to keep the barrier to entry really low so more people can participate.

Okay, so now you’ve heard the whole story of how this pattern came together. There were a lot of situations where I was frustrated, a lot of situations where I felt deflated, but I kept pressing on because I’m just so passionate about this particular project every single year.

And I have to say that this is one of my favorite patterns yet. This pattern for the lapgan really tested my ability as a designer. I got to play with some stitches that I wasn’t super familiar with or stitches that I didn’t work on a regular basis, and then of course making those yarn calculations so that we can offer more varieties of yarn for you to choose from.

But this pattern also tested the intent of the challenge, and that is to make as many lap blankets as possible to send to Warm Up America for the Walter Reed Foundation. It was such a big priority to make sure that as many people could participate as possible and make more than one if possible.

But it’s also very important to me to teach you things. That’s what I love to do. I love to teach what I know about crochet, especially a more complicated topic and showing you just how easy it can possibly be.

So I wanted to hold true to my desire to teach you something and improve your skills. It seems completely impossible, even as I’m saying this, but somehow this one pattern accomplishes all three. It’s easy enough for somebody who’s new to try out. It’s quick, so you can possibly make two if you so desire, and you’ll learn something new about crochet. Win, win, win.

Even though it turned out to be a huge success, and I am so grateful that it did, it certainly had its fair share of challenges, all of which had to be solved very quickly. And that is not always a fun situation to be in. It really does test your skills, not just as a designer, but as a crocheter.

When you run into a problem and you know you don’t have a lot of time to figure it out—for me, that’s usually when I have those aha moments. My biggest takeaway from this project is also the word of the year: intention.

Throughout the creation of this pattern, I had to remind myself of the intention, the aim or the plan of the challenge, which is to send as many lap blankets and knit hats to our warriors and then create a design around that intention.

My biggest takeaway is to create a design for a purpose, not create a design and make it work for a purpose. That’s what I’ve done in the past and it has not served me well, but I’m seeing a clear trend here. When you create a design for a purpose, that’s when it’s enjoyable for everybody—for you as a designer, for you as the person recreating this pattern, for all of us.

So I hope you enjoyed this style of episode. I hope you found it not only interesting to listen to, but also helpful to learn from my mistakes and my successes. As you know, this project had its fair share of successes and mistakes, but you see it today and I know you’re working through it and enjoying the process too.

Now, if you loved this style of episode, will you please tell me about it on the show notes page? For this episode, just head over to behooked.com/101 and then type yes in the comments section so I know you found it valuable. And then when I see that, I’ll keep making episodes like this in the future.

I create anywhere from 24 to 36 new designs a year, and each one of those patterns has a story behind it. And I would love nothing more than to share that story with you, especially if you can get some golden nuggets in the process.

I also want to remind you that to participate in the challenge, the first thing you need to do is visit BeHooked.com/WUA2019. That’s like Warm Up America 2019. BeHooked.com/WUA2019 to learn everything there is to know about the challenge.

On that page, you’ll find the link to purchase your yarn, your kit. You’ll find the video tutorials that are available. You’ll find the written instructions. You’ll find the link to the Facebook community page where you can chat with your peers, ask questions, and share your photos.

And then you’ll also find information about the giveaways that are happening as a result of this challenge and information on how to submit your blankets once they’re completed. So that link, once again, is BeHooked.com/WUA2019.

Now, if you can’t participate in the challenge this year, that’s okay. I understand. We’re all really busy people. If this is you, though—you can’t participate—could you please tell a friend or maybe even share about it on social, on Facebook or Instagram, wherever you like to hang out?

I would love to have your help spreading the word so that we can meet our lofty 500-lap blanket goal. Now, that’s quite a bit higher than the outcome we had last year at 276 blankets. I hope to have 500 that we can send to Walter Reed Hospital. And I just can’t do that without your help.

So tell a friend or share the challenge page on your Facebook page or on Instagram. I will be forever grateful.

Now, next week, I’ll be joined by Rachel from Evelyn and Peter, and we address another issue that we as crocheters face all the time—that we just don’t have enough time to crochet. So stay tuned for that. It was a really fun episode and I know you’re going to love it. I will see you there. Bye-bye.