There's something I've been working on for a while now. It's turned out to be quite a mammoth beast in the end, but a cuddly and eminently enjoyable beast.
You're probably familiar with the concept of a blanket made up of samples of lots of different patterns. It's a popular idea and as usual, one that didn't immediately stop me in my tracks. But one pretty picture led to another until I came across one that tipped me over the edge.
This one to be exact, of a scarf by the oh so talented
Coco Rose. Isn't it a gorgeous sight?
That did it, I fell in love and my mind was filled with images of what a blanket of these squares could be. My mind saw soft, my mind saw subtle and my mind decided that a blanket of such squares should have a faded vintage look. A lacy, frilly and open look. Sort of Victorian lace cuffs and old washed out photographs. Time to go a wadding in the stash pools and see what I could fish out!
My stash rewarded me well and I gathered most of the colours I needed. I started making squares in an aimless kind of way, leafing through the book (links at the end folks...) and picked out patterns that I liked at random, matching it the to colour I thought it would look nicest in. A very pleasant past time.
Making squares is a nice way to make a blanket I think. Each one feels like a mini project itself and so the finish of each one brings a little sense of achievement. Especially when each one is a new pattern to be mastered. I went on this bumbling meandering way for a while until I had a square or two in every colour and then, as it so often does, my mind searched around for a little more purpose. Meandering along on a journey is enjoyable it said, but at some point aren't we going to need to know where are we actually going? I sometimes wish I was a more 'wing it' and leave it to chance sort of person, but the truth is I am not. I am a plan it out in and have a road map to follow sort of person. So I started making plans.
The plan wanted to know how many squares I should make, the plan needed to know how many in each colour, how many different patterns would I actually use and how, oh how, will I be joining these squares? There was much to be decided upon but isn't that the joy of it? Thinking of options, trying out ideas, checking it all against the mind's image of the 'ultimate goal' to see if you can actually pull it off as you intended?
Well, we all have our own methods, no doubt. But, happy now that my path was, if not set in stone, at least following a compass direction of some sort, I strolled forth. Not rushing but enjoying the journey, giving new ideas a chance to bubble up along the way and letting the last bits of the jigsaw fit into place as I worked my way through the squares and around all the edges. Until every last stitch was hooked and every last thread was woven.
I think this is one of those reasonably rare but wonderfully happy occasions when my mind's eye and my real eyes can say they are looking at something fairly similar.
So I'm calling it a success.
The 411...
All the details I thought you might want to know and probably a few more besides.
Yarn:
13 Square colours:
1. Stylecraft Special DK - Cloud Blue (1019)
2. Stylecraft Life DK - Mint (2342)
3. Stylecraft Special DK - Pale Rose (1080)
4. Stylecraft Special DK - Soft Peach (1240)
5. King Cole Pricewise - Pale Blue (19)
6. Stylecraft Special DK - Apricot (1026)
7. King Cole Merino Blend - Linden (165)
8. King Cole Merino Blend - Corn (794)
9. Stylecraft Special DK - Cream (1005)
10. King Cole Big Value - Fallow (378)
11. Stylecraft Special DK - Silver (1203)
12. Stylcraft Special DK - Sherbert (1034)
13. King Cole Merino Blend - Caramel (790)
Border:
14. Stylecraft Special DK - Parchment (1218)
Hook: 4mm
Size: 2.15 x 1.65m (85x65")
Weight: 1666g
Yardage (approx):
80 squares: 3234
Squares and Edging: 966
Border: 966
Total for the blanket: 5166
Patterns:
Square Joining: A combinations of my own pattern (not yet released) and the Join As You Go (JASG) method.
