New Stylecraft Yarn...

For some time now I’ve been wanting to make a new project for myself in delicious soft colours, like some I’ve collected on my Pinterest board. 

I’ve also wanted to make something for myself in Stylecraft’s Life yarn, which is made with 25% wool. This is the main yarn I've been using for the Mumbles Ripple (still to be introduced...) and I really really like it. It’s not the very softest wool I’ve used so far, but in terms of value for money this stuff is really really excellent – as you would expect from the makers of Stylecraft Special!

It also happens that this yarn comes in a good range of colours, including exactly the sort of lovely soft colours I was after :)

When staying at my in-laws' last week my mother-in-law and I made a trip to Boyes department shop. This is an unlikely and rather old fashioned kind of budget department shop, located in some parts of northern England. They have haberdashery departments that seem fairly reasonable for most basic needs, and they also have a wool section. They are not a replacement for the specialist delights of a proper yarn store, as they only really cater for the budget end of things, but they do stock lots of Stylecraft yarns among others, which is just perfect for me at the moment!

In fact, Boyes is where I got most of the yarn for the Mumbles Ripple and also some extra colours for the Glastonbury Blanket (the majority was ordered online from Deramores), and it seemed the ideal place to go for choosing a stash of Life DK for myself. Not only is Boyes actually great value for Stylecraft yarn, but there’s something so much more enjoyable about going and grabbing armfuls of yarn, smooshing them to see how they feel, seeing the colours in real-life and – particularly important for me right now as I’m not very good at it – checking out how the colours work together so you can choose well.

Just look at these lovely bright Stylecraft Special DKs! Just sat there waiting to be bought and whipped up into a wonderful colourful project!

And across the aisle, here are the Stylecraft Life DKs and Luxury Wool Rich DKs (out of sight are some more colours, plus the Arans and Chunkys…)

Just around the corner are the giant smooshy 400g balls of Stylecraft Special with Wool (20% wool), the same yarn I used for my Granny Shrug. I love these giant yarn balls!

I thoroughly enjoyed choosing my new colours: I went for several that are a bit purpley-pink, I think the Glastonbury Blanket is having a big effect on me! I balanced the nice warm purples with a cooler blue and green, and introduced a bit more contrast with a darker toned reddish colour. I added cream as I love the effect of having a cream background to a blanket and thought I might do that. I also wanted to add a neutral colour, but I couldn’t decide whether to go for a warm or cool neutral, so I got both a warm beige and a cool grey. Sometimes the grey calls out to me the most, but I think I am mainly drawn to the warm beige… Any suggestions to help with this decision will be welcomed!

These yarns all have a certain quality in common, in that they’re not totally solid colours but rather they have a bit of texture to the colour. This, along with the softness of the colours themselves, makes them really appeal to me – they seem, somehow, really cuddly :)

So here are all my colours, from left to right they are:

Cream, Rose, Cobalt, Heather, Mixtures Denim, Mint, Crocus, Mixtures Cranberry, and Oatmeal

Cream, Rose, Cobalt, Heather, Mixtures Denim, Mint, Crocus, Mixtures Cranberry, and Oatmeal

The background to these pictures is actually a hint to what this yarny project will be for. They are sitting on my very useful Ikea sofa bed. This has been a fantastic bit of furniture as it is pretty comfy as a sofa, and very comfy as a bed. It is also a bit boring though, and I think it will really benefit from a lovely crochet blanket to throw over it. I also like the way the colours seem to go with the boring denim-effect cover (I didn’t choose this – the sofa bed was second hand and replacement covers are a massive £100!! This is double what I paid for the entire thing in the first place!! – and imagine all the Stylecraft you could buy with that £100…)

 

My Ikea sofa bed - it also has a couple of matching cushions I could cover...

Now my next dilemma is: what pattern do I use?? Do I mix up all of the colours and go for a joined-on-the-go hexagon pattern, or do I opt for a pretty variation on the granny square with the final rounds in cream to give a solid background colour?? Or I could do hexagons with a cream final round, giving an effect of offset circles on a cream background??

Decisions decisions…  

:)