Dolly Mixture Blanket

November 25, 2014

Dolly Mixture Blanket

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U P D A T E

There is now a downloadable PDF for this blanket... Dolly Mixtures Blanket

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I finished the marathon!

Just in case that isn't quite enough information to fill you in on the reason for my current chipper state of mind, let me elucidate a little further....

Many moons ago, I started a simple granny square blanket, one of those candy coloured, bright and cheerful ones that I've seen and admired on Pinterest so often. And since I began, back in July, I have been plodding slowly onward, like a trusty donkey, making squares here and there between other projects. It's been a bit of a drawn out process and you can read all about my clever 'marathon' analogy in this post here, should you wish to. (Or just skip the words and check out the 'granny' eye candy pictures - I quite liked how they came out.)

Anyway, now you're up to speed, you can see why I'm happy to have reached the finish line can't you? Nothing more satisfying to tick off the wip list than a big beast of a project that's taken it's time to complete.

This was, apart from it's slow development, a joy of a blanket to work on. I started it by using up quite a few oddments of leftover yarn and that's always satisfying. Although it did lead, inevitably, to further purchases as colours ran out. I didn't agonise too much over the subtleties of shade difference though, mostly because there would have been no blanket if I had, as some old colours had long since bitten the dust. But my new choices were close enough to not affect the overall tone and feel of the thing and that was all that mattered.

I think that's half the reason I enjoyed making this one so much, because these colours are so heart-liftingly, happy making. Even at the end of the project, when every conceivable combination has been tried and rejected or enjoyed, I didn't tire of these colours together. A rare tribute indeed.

I'd like to think that it's a sign of my increasing maturity, or possibly my increasing fickleness, that as I was on the home straight with the end in sight I suddenly decided to add a tricky little edging to the border. Something that meant extra rounds, extra yarn and extra work. I like those little pom-pom edges that people are adding to their blankets these days you see and I wanted to do something similar.

I don't know if it's just me and my inadequate skills in this area, but pom-poms don't seem to be the sturdiest of creations. A cat's paw here, a child's fiddling fingers there and you are liable to end up with scattered yarn strands on the floor, a deflated pompom and guilty looks.

So, to get a similar effect but without the risk of ending up with bedraggled ex pom-poms littering the place, I decided to substitute little crochet circles instead. Thus saving myself a lot of work and potential disappointment later. It's not quite as gorgeous and wonderful as the full 'pom' experience perhaps but I know this 'safety first' approach is the right one for me.

Well, there you have it. I hope looking at it will give you some of the pleasure that it has been giving me. I'm loving having it around so much at the moment that I might poach the thing and squirrel it away into my 'new and improved' craft room.

Selfish of me maybe, but on reflection, I've decided I'm worth it!

❖ I N T E R E S T I N G B L A N K E T T H I N G S ❖

Blanket Weight: 1516g

Total Yardage: 5000 (approx)

Crochet Hook: 4mm (G)

Size: 195 x 130cm (78 x 51')

Yarn:

In reality I've used a mish mash of old left over bits of DK colours from stash but as you know, you never 'use up' stash without having to buy some more to finish, so here's the colours I ended up with:

Stylecraft Special DK:

Aster - 1003

Cream - 1005

Sherbert - 1034

Fondant - 1241

Lipstick - 1246

King Cole Big Value: Pastel Pink - 325

Jarol Heritage: Lime - 13

Sirdar Country Style: Kensington Gardens (Jade green ) - 617

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran - Gold 034

Pattern:

I'm glad to say I managed to get a pdf pattern written up!