Makings - Crochet Blankets and a new CAL

Tuesday 19 April 2016

During the Easter holidays I was working on two crochet projects, both of them blankets.

I took this photo in our holiday cottage in Cumbria, but the lighting wasn't very good and doesn't show the true colours properly.




The ripple blanket is one that Calum (13) asked me to make for him. He chose the colours himself and I started it some time ago but it keeps getting put to one side when something else comes along. I don't know why, because every time I do some work on it I remember how working all those ripples, and getting into the rhythm of them, is somehow so relaxing and soothing.

It's about half way done now, although I haven't a chance to pick up a crochet hook since we got back from our holidays!

I did manage to get a daylight photo that shows the colours a bit better, but the darker turquoise colour still isn't showing up right. It's not as dark as it looks in photos.




The other blanket in the first photo is one I started making on Mother's Day, with the aim of using up some colours from my stash basket. I'm calling it my Mother's Day blanket and it's just for me. I love a granny square blanket as you can just work up a square or two here and there, and I never go on the school run (which is by train) without having some yarn and a hook in my bag, just in case I get the chance to rustle up a square!

I'm also using the join as you go (JAYG) technique for my Mother's Day blanket, the first time I've used it. I never understood what all the fuss was about it before trying it out, and the times I had read tutorials about it I didn't really understand them. But then I stumbled on a YouTube tutorial by Bella Coco for the continuous join and it all made perfect sense. Now I think it's a fabulous technique! I still think that when making blankets for children I would stick to my original joining method of single crocheting every square together as it gives a stronger join, but for an adult's blanket that isn't going to get the same wear and tear as a child's one then I do love the JAYG.


Moving on to the new CAL that I'm hoping to follow.

A CAL, for those who might not have heard of one, is a Crochet Along, where a pattern is realised a little bit at a time and then you follow along at your own pace. The only CAL I have done before was the Attic 24 Cosy Stripe blanket that I made last year, although by the time I started making it the CAL was all finished, so it doesn't really count.

The new CAL is run by Scheepjes yarn and the first pattern is released tomorrow.

There are three colour schemes for the CAL, which were all released at the start of April. I couldn't decide between two of them.

I liked the neutrality of the Dance in the Rain colours...





But I really loved the colours in the Dance in the Sea colour scheme and always found myself drawn to them...




Then last week it dawned on me that the reason I loved them so much was that they reminded me of this, the beaches back home!





Don't the colours look just like those of a Hebridean beach?



So that's the colours I've gone for.

Given how long it has taken to get my current two blankets done, I'm not holding out much hope of keeping up with this new CAL, but it's always good to have something to aim for, isn't it?!

post signature

DESIGNED BY ECLAIR DESIGNS