I Have News

July 21, 2026

Do you remember the posts I wrote a handful of months ago about crocheting that gorgeous mandala blanket with yarn I ordered all the way from the UK, despite having only been crocheting for a few months?

Do you remember how proud I was when I finished it and thought I would give it to my mom and her husband?

Do you remember how I decided to turn it into a wall hanging after my mom told me she and her husband didn't have room for it in their apartment?

Do you remember the posts about learning to use a sewing machine so I could make a backing for it?

How my very first attempt went surprisingly well...

and everything after that went spectacularly downhill?

I broke a needle.

Got into a full-blown argument with the bobbin compartment.

Discovered that what were supposed to be beautiful, straight seams... were, in fact, not.

But I didn't give up.

Because this blanket was going to be a wall hanging.

Well...

I have news.

I did all the things.

I sewed the backing onto the blanket and proudly hung it in my garage while I worked up the energy to figure out how to mount it on the wall in my living room.

It took a lot longer than expected to find that energy.

Actually...

I never found it.

Because after hanging in my garage for a month and a half, I came to one unavoidable conclusion.

It makes a terrible wall hanging.

It lost its shape.

It hung funny.

And instead of showing off the incredible pattern, it just... looked sad.

So yesterday, after getting home from my three-week Seattle adventure, I officially changed my mind.

It's staying a blanket.

Then something surprising happened.

I was talking with my mom about it and told her I'd decided to abandon the wall-hanging idea.

Without missing a beat she said,

"Oh! We would absolutely love it as a blanket. We think it's beautiful."

...

I really wish they had mentioned that three months ago.

It would have saved me a whole lot of creative energy,

sewing-machine adventures,

and figuring-the-fuck-out effort.

But oh well.

Now I know exactly what not to do if I ever decide to turn a crocheted afghan into a wall hanging.

And I can officially say I've used a sewing machine.

I'd call that a success.

Go me.

And it looks absolutely perfect on their couch.