Colorful Options Challenge for April 2025

Behold, the Lap Warmer! That's a name that I came up with when I saw a Facebook Post for a 95-year-old woman whose daughter was requesting some birthday gifts for her. She said her mother liked things that were soft. So I got thinking about what I could make and came up with this.

This one is actually the second one I made, and the colors were chosen especially for the Colorful Options Challenge Blog. I'm loving this blog because not only can you submit cards of course, but any craft that fits the theme challenge for that month. Plus, they give you a little heads-up for the following month so you have time to create something a little more time-intensive. (I already have my yarn for next time!)

But for now, the Colorful Options inspiration board features soft pastels in purple, pink, green, apricot and off white. I took the picture with me and went to Michaels and found an almost perfect match in a variegated yarn.

The way I've been making these is to use two #4 size yarns and doing a corner-to-corner crochet stitch, but using a large size M/13 hook. This creates a loose stitch which is perfect for draping. Of the two yarns, one is a fuzzy type yarn (in this case it's a solid white color) and the other yarn is the variegated pastel yarn. Using two yarns does dilute the intensity of the colored yarn, but I think it's still visible enough here.

The reason I created a "lap warmer" rather than a more traditional sized "lapghan" is simply cost. If I was making just one of these for a family member, I would certainly make a bigger size. But yarn is getting expensive and I volunteered to make 16 of these by the end of the year so they could be distributed to nursing homes. I love to crochet and it's an honor and joy to be able to do that, but I have to watch my costs too.

You can see the picture of the three yarns that I started with. They all came from Michaels (thanks to Joann's shutting down and totally abandoning me as a customer but I'm not bitter about it!). Just kidding, but I really do miss them, but I'm learning where to get other yarns and I'm really happy with these three. The fuzzy yarn had to be ordered online but the other two I picked up right in the store.

The Loops & Threads and Caron Latte Cakes were used to make the main section and the Caron Simply Soft was used to make the shell border.

The size of the lap warmer is about 24" x 24" which is just right for the average size lap. It took almost the entire skein of Loops and Threads (which was 315 yards) to make this, so that's the amount I have to count on to make others in the future.

I hope that these small but mighty lap warmers will give those in nursing homes a little bit of warmth, softness and comfort this upcoming holiday season.

Thanks so much to Colorful Options for giving me some great inspiration this month, and thanks to everyone for just stopping by today!