UPDATE! I’ve finished Sophie’s Universe. You can view the newest post here, with more pictures and additional details for my colors and how I chose them.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been working on Sophie’s Universe, but I debated starting on it for a few months before that. The more I looked at pictures from the 2015 Crochet-a-long on Pinterest, the more I knew I had to make one. I know I’m about a year late, but I just couldn’t get it out of my head, so I caved when Hobby Lobby had a sale on I Love This Cotton yarn, and then started.

Dedri’s instructions for Sophie are so detailed, well photographed, and all around wonderful, that it has been such a pleasure to work on. I decided that if I’m going to make this, I want it to be as giant as possible, so I am following the instructions for the large size. I am so thankful for her tips as well, especially noting to start and work parts 1-3 in a 5mm (US H) hook, and then switching to a 5.5mm (US I) hook for parts 4 and following. [Amazon Affiliate Link]

I also appreciated the excel documents she included as templates for how much yarn of each color you would need. I spent way too much time looking at different color examples on Pinterest, trying to decide how I wanted to do mine, and trying to figure out how to plan out the colors. Then, I found the templates, and everything became so much easier. Dedri included the approximate amount of yarn for each round in meters, which has allowed me to change the color pattern from her original, and then move the amount to the necessary place in the excel doc, and it’s continuing to track how much yarn I’ve used and how much I have left.

This PDF is what I have done so far in parts 1-4, and I’m just crazy about how much detail she included. I can even measure Sophie at different points to see if I’m working at the same rate, to know if I’m progressing as I should be. (Good news, I am!) At the end of each part, I’ve been deciding which colors I want for each round of the next part, looking at the pictures in her pattern to compare and see how I want my colors to look.

There are so many different stitches in Sophie, and so many combinations of the stitches, and I am just loving how much I am learning by making it!

I’m just in love with these colors, and think every round is my new favorite round. This yarn is also unbelievably soft, and I think I Love this Cotton is my new go-to yarn.

I’ve finished Sophie’s Garden now, which is parts 1-4 of Sophie’s Universe, and I’m just so excited to see how it continues to grow and become even more beautiful as it does.