Carol's Spicier Life Blanket

When you hear about my Mum you'll understand why I have a creative streak in me.

She's got the eye you see.  You know that artist 'eye' that can see what works and what doesn't?  The one that instinctively knows how to pair colours and bring a scheme together?  Her home is decorated with perfect taste, she can sew up cushions, curtains and even clothes for us children (back in the day).  She can draw and paints beautiful pictures, she dresses with style and of course she can knit and crochet too.

So obviously she's the perfect person to chat over any crafty plans and ideas with and is always full of great suggestions and inspirations.  So I was very pleased that she was happy to make up one of the sample 'A Spicier Life' blankets to take the pattern and my chosen colours for a little test drive.

She made up the 'Taj Mahal' version of the blanket for me and of course did a beautiful job.  It's her lovely blanket that you've been seeing in all the Instagram pics and around the internet during the CAL.

The Original 'A Spicier Life' in Taj Mahal, by my Mummy!

I was so pleased with how it came out and I'm happy to say that she enjoyed making it so much that she wanted to crochet another, this time for herself.

Now if you were also using one of the Stylecraft Packs you'll probably have noticed that you have a healthy amount of yardage left, even after the blanket is complete.  Of course, because the Rialto balls are in a different fibre and much smaller, this was unavoidable when offering a Special DK alternative.  But on the plus side, it does mean that there was enough left for Mum to make up a second blanket.

I'm quite flattered that she liked my original so much that she started out by largely sticking to my original colours for the main part of the blanket whilst the yardage of those colours held out.  As the blanket progressed further she did need to make a couple of swaps for shades that still had larger quantities left but overall the main part of the blanket is very similar.

Mum started thinking about the border colours as she worked through the blanket, deciding which colours to hold back on and save to complete the edging.  She made sure she saved some of the browns for the finishing touch and decided to go and get an extra ball of Sherbert to use in the border to bring out the blue tones in the blanket.  These changes really bringing a richer and stronger blue touch to the blanket which I really love.

See what I mean, she knows how to bring it together so beautifully!

I think it's created such a lovely alternative version of the Taj Mahal colours, I love it's richness and how she's managed to make the blues part of the wonderful warm feel.  

When I found out that Mum would be making a second blanket, I asked her if she would mind very much keeping track of what she did the second time around and how much yarn she used in the process.

I know that those of you using the Special DK packs will also have left overs and you might also like the idea of a second blanket.  So I thought it  might be useful to have a guide to give you an idea of quantities.  You could make a version like my Mum's, or use it as starting point for your own variation.

You could also try the same thing with the 'Bollywood' or 'Jaipur' Special DK Packs too!

Mum let me know where she needed to swap colours in the pattern and we've made a note of that and the amount of each colour yarn that was used too.  I've popped additional information in a very simple little pdf that you can download to add to the original pattern.  Here's the link for you:


Carol's Spicier Life Blanket

 I hope you find it helpful and it might inspire you use up your yarny left overs!

Links to the original 'A Spicier Life' Yarn Packs

Mum's alternative Taj Mahal colours

S x

♥

#CherryHeart

SUBSCRIBE: