Fresh Off The Hook

There was no need, I had plenty on the go anyway, not to mention plenty else that I should be working on, yet still I began another new crochet project…

When my crochet mojo decided to sneak back upon me, at first I worked for a while on my cotton hexagons. This gave me a degree of instant satisfaction, in that so many hexagons were already hooked up and simply needed to be crocheted together. The blanket grew at quite a rate with the hexagons being so large though, and despite the instant gratification I was still feeling a bit unsatisfied. I wanted something more to get my teeth into. Something more, and something new…

Looking through Pinterest and setting up some of my Ravelry projects, I was reminded of how much I like my Glastonbury Blanket. This was a project for my Aunt though, so I no longer have it. A perfect excuse to make a new one!

I dug through my stash of leftovers from this blanket, planning to make my own version using a more limited palette of just the more bluey purples and the pinky pinks, with the same Turquoise background and deep purple border. But it seems that I depleted my leftovers rather more than I remembered, when I made my Granny Stripe. Bugger! I think I would still like to make a blanket for myself using that same pattern and colour plan, but that will have to wait until I can order more yarn.

I did have some leftovers though, including an entire ball of Women’s Institute acrylic yarn from Hobbycraft. This had been bought to be included in the Glastonbury Blanket, but in the end I didn’t think it worked. I had held on to it though, thinking it would suit something in a vintagey colour scheme.

Looking for some other yarn that would potentially suit a colour scheme like this, I also picked out some Stylecraft Special DK in Raspberry and Plum. I thought they would work together – with the addition of a few more colours – but I still needed a pattern:

1. I wanted a pattern of motifs so that I could get started with the yarn I have, and then add to it later on when I order more yarn from the UK.

2.While I love my two current hexagon WiPs, I am less keen on the way that they don’t make a nice straight edge, so I decided that I wanted squares for this blanket.  

3. I also decided (due to my chronic laziness…) that I wanted a pattern which would look good with no colour changes, so that I would have fewer ends to sew in… (I have been greatly admiring some of the colourful creations over at Cuppa Crochet though, so I am definitely feeling more colourful inspiration for the future!)

4. My final decision factor was that I wanted the pattern to be a bit open and lacy – I was hoping this would mean the pattern wouldn’t be too hungry on yarn, so I could make it go further!! Stingey and lazy, two great decision-making factors!

Of course, Pinterest came to the rescue as usual. Over a couple of evenings trawling through various different crochet examples, I came across this beauty by Sandra of Cherry Heart, made of various different motifs from Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets. In particular, the top left (94, Gothic Square) and bottom right (58, Peach Rose) squares in this picture appealed to me. (I have already made a blanket using the bottom left pattern – 189, Willow. My Disco Willow) .

While I think that Sandra’s sampler blanket really is beautiful, I only wanted to use one motif for this new blanket. I deliberated for some time over which of the two patterns to choose, but eventually I decided that the Peach Rose block would probably use less yarn than the Gothic Square, and the decision was made! I do like that Gothic Square though, so hopefully I will get a chance to use it in the future.

Decision made, I began hooking up some Peach Rose squares (they might require blocking...)

 

In Raspberry

My plan was to work slowly, so that my yarn would last until after Christmas, when I plan to make a massive order of Stylecraft Special DK from the UK. Plans never survive first contact though, and the Peach Rose squares hooked up so easily and with so much pleasure, that soon I not only had one square of each colour, but I had in fact used up my entire ball of Teal yarn! These babies were just flying off the hook!

This lovely stack of crochet goodness is even bigger now!

Realising that my 2 remaining balls of yarn would never last me until after Christmas, I decided to look for another ball of yarn that would work. I’m aiming for sort of dusky, slightly vintage-looking colours, with a few pastels added in to keep things from getting too dark and gloomy. Stylecraft has so many new colours now that I haven’t worked with before, and I’m very excited about trying them out. I have lots of colours in mind to order and see what works, but from my current stash the only other option I could find was Clematis.

Raspberry, Plum & Clematis

The Clematis, Raspberry and Plum seem to tone well together, and I think the rather grey WI Teal compliments these colours. I realise that these squares will look better blocked, but I still really like how the definition of the pattern really comes out in the lighter coloured yarn.

I plan to add in more colours too, several of them lighter/pastelly ones, so the look of this scheme will change a lot before it is finished. I also have exciting plans for the joining and edging on this, and I can’t wait to see how it looks when it is finished – I’m very excited about this latest WiP!