My Latest Trick...
I really need to introduce you to my latest hooky love, before it gets finished and I end up not telling you the back story. Let me show you what I'm on about first;
World, meet Autumn Ripple Blanket (Autumn for short).
You see, I have a granny square with flowers and a black background blanket that I'm desperate to finish for my bedroom, and a list of decorative items I'd like to do for Autumn and Christmas, so I sat down last week to make an Autumn Inspirations board on Pinterest (like you do) and made this;
https://www.pinterest.com/angeljem5/autumn-and-fall/
and I loved the colours and the feelings it aroused in me. Colour-wise I am a warm autumn, but very often misbehave and don't wear them (long reason; won't say now) but I do love them, and the whole Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness bit, so the board keeps filling up with pure autumnal inspiration. Until this one hits my eye.
From The Glamorous Housewife's site. And the colours are beautiful. I mean, really beautiful. The reds, and greens and yellows and oranges, and the other shades I know I will see around me soon, and smell the dampness of the leaves and the rich, deep earth and... well, to cut the story even longer, I started looking around me. And even though it's only August (Still Summer!!!!) I find the colours of the season are creeping in;
Here. And here....
And here...
And I came home from Church and got onto Black Sheep Wools, because that's where I go, and chose my colours very, very carefully.
Reds, yellows, oranges, greens, a dark maroon for the Copper Beeches on my road, a teal green because it just looked at me and said I'd need it as a fixed point. (excuse the bad picture; it was dark and I was wobbly)
And to border the blanket? A blue, a subdued but definite blue. One that veered towards the green but wasn't. I'll mix it with the red and perhaps another colour to make a border. In October, I thought, or November when the blanket is finished in between life and living.
And I packed the colours into a basket; with my holiday still to go I thought I might manage a row a day, or perhaps two, when I'm sat after the day out, sipping my chai and watching the sun set over the Irish sea.
And then we came away. Well, the blanket is a pretty easy pattern (Attic 24 neat ripple pattern), and I'd read about the joys of crocheting in the car whiling away the journey, so when I'm not driving, I gets me my crochet hook out and I gets going. And it works.
It does no harm that this is the view I get to sit and crochet in front of. And with three teenagers and a night owl husband, the morning is mine from 8am until.... ooh, 11, if I wake them. And 1pm if I don't. They only rise for hunger.
The blanket has come with me everywhere at the moment. I've even got a set of pictures on Instagram called #crochetwithaview
Plas Newydd, yesterday (We went last year but it was shut. Well, the house was. This year the house was open and we tried again)
And the darn thing keeps growing! Until last night it stretched from my ankles to the top of my thighs and was so toasty and comfortable and warm, I fell asleep.
This is what it looks like this morning. I estimate that a 4 pattern repeat should make it big enough to be a proper blanket (you know; one that covers the feet even when you stretch out on the settee). I did 9 colours yesterday. At that rate the darned thing will be finished BY September, not during! AS long as the husband doesn't mind me sitting there, on the beach, hooking away!!!
And for those of you who need the details (and there are some), here they are;
The yarn is Stylecraft Special DK. The colours I have used (in order) are;
1035 Burgundy
1029 Copper
1246 Lipstick
1083 Pomegranate
1711 Spice
1081 Saffron
1709 Gold
1065 Meadow
1725 Sage
1124 Greengage
1027 Khaki
1062 Teal
The border colour will be Storm Blue (1722) and lipstick red. The pattern is Attic 24's neat ripple, and so easy to do.
If you're still reading, bravo! I'll let you know when the blanket is finished, but for now I'm off to plan my next bit of crochet with a view... the sea? The mountains? Or like I did on Tuesday... Tesco's Car Park???
#crochetwithaview #crochetblanket #crochetrippleblanket #crochet
World, meet Autumn Ripple Blanket (Autumn for short).
You see, I have a granny square with flowers and a black background blanket that I'm desperate to finish for my bedroom, and a list of decorative items I'd like to do for Autumn and Christmas, so I sat down last week to make an Autumn Inspirations board on Pinterest (like you do) and made this;
https://www.pinterest.com/angeljem5/autumn-and-fall/
and I loved the colours and the feelings it aroused in me. Colour-wise I am a warm autumn, but very often misbehave and don't wear them (long reason; won't say now) but I do love them, and the whole Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness bit, so the board keeps filling up with pure autumnal inspiration. Until this one hits my eye.
From The Glamorous Housewife's site. And the colours are beautiful. I mean, really beautiful. The reds, and greens and yellows and oranges, and the other shades I know I will see around me soon, and smell the dampness of the leaves and the rich, deep earth and... well, to cut the story even longer, I started looking around me. And even though it's only August (Still Summer!!!!) I find the colours of the season are creeping in;
Here. And here....
And here...
And I came home from Church and got onto Black Sheep Wools, because that's where I go, and chose my colours very, very carefully.
Reds, yellows, oranges, greens, a dark maroon for the Copper Beeches on my road, a teal green because it just looked at me and said I'd need it as a fixed point. (excuse the bad picture; it was dark and I was wobbly)
And to border the blanket? A blue, a subdued but definite blue. One that veered towards the green but wasn't. I'll mix it with the red and perhaps another colour to make a border. In October, I thought, or November when the blanket is finished in between life and living.
And I packed the colours into a basket; with my holiday still to go I thought I might manage a row a day, or perhaps two, when I'm sat after the day out, sipping my chai and watching the sun set over the Irish sea.
And then we came away. Well, the blanket is a pretty easy pattern (Attic 24 neat ripple pattern), and I'd read about the joys of crocheting in the car whiling away the journey, so when I'm not driving, I gets me my crochet hook out and I gets going. And it works.
It does no harm that this is the view I get to sit and crochet in front of. And with three teenagers and a night owl husband, the morning is mine from 8am until.... ooh, 11, if I wake them. And 1pm if I don't. They only rise for hunger.
The blanket has come with me everywhere at the moment. I've even got a set of pictures on Instagram called #crochetwithaview
Plas Newydd, yesterday (We went last year but it was shut. Well, the house was. This year the house was open and we tried again)
And the darn thing keeps growing! Until last night it stretched from my ankles to the top of my thighs and was so toasty and comfortable and warm, I fell asleep.
This is what it looks like this morning. I estimate that a 4 pattern repeat should make it big enough to be a proper blanket (you know; one that covers the feet even when you stretch out on the settee). I did 9 colours yesterday. At that rate the darned thing will be finished BY September, not during! AS long as the husband doesn't mind me sitting there, on the beach, hooking away!!!
And for those of you who need the details (and there are some), here they are;
The yarn is Stylecraft Special DK. The colours I have used (in order) are;
1035 Burgundy
1029 Copper
1246 Lipstick
1083 Pomegranate
1711 Spice
1081 Saffron
1709 Gold
1065 Meadow
1725 Sage
1124 Greengage
1027 Khaki
1062 Teal
The border colour will be Storm Blue (1722) and lipstick red. The pattern is Attic 24's neat ripple, and so easy to do.
If you're still reading, bravo! I'll let you know when the blanket is finished, but for now I'm off to plan my next bit of crochet with a view... the sea? The mountains? Or like I did on Tuesday... Tesco's Car Park???
#crochetwithaview #crochetblanket #crochetrippleblanket #crochet
You've picked some really beautiful colours, Jo, they go together so well! Isn't it lovely to be able to create something with a picture in mind? Now your autumn blanket will remind you not only of the autumn colours but of your holiday as well - even Tesco's car park! xx
ReplyDeleteBecause somehow Tesco's car park in Port Madog is so much better looking than in Woolton! (It might be the hills in the background.....)
DeleteWhat a great combination of colours! Where were you staying? It looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteNefyn on the Llyn Peninsula. It is gorgeous; in warm years we sit and play on the beach. Years like this one when it is a mite too chilly for skinny dipping we walk along the beach, and pick out stones and shells.
DeleteOOh i learnt to crochet so I could make a ripple but I haven't been brave enough to try it yet. I MUST grow braver. I love the idea of crochet with a view.
ReplyDeleteBe brave! Go, now and grab your hook! You have to try a few times before you get the hang, but when the pattern is in your head it is really good fun!
DeleteLove your colour choices! I am working on a ripple and absolutely hate it. Just the border to go, phew.
ReplyDeleteIs it the pattern or the colour choice you hate? I like making stripy blankets and can get them done quite quickly, but granny square blankets (much though I love them) take much longer. That's why my new bedroom blanket lies a moulding at home while the ripple came along for the ride!
Deleteooh it's gorgeous, and will have all those holiday memories woven into it x
ReplyDeleteIt saves me wanting to spend money on souvenirs, except my snowglobes. I need another Wales snowglobe.
DeleteBeautiful choice of colours, I love how you've put them together. Love a bit of rippling xx
ReplyDeleteThank you! I think keeping the greens and the reds separate is really working well. I blame the photographer for the inspiration!
DeleteBeautiful colour mix!!!! The blanket looks great and all the better for being crocheted out and about in the wild I am sure! xx
ReplyDeleteA wild blanket? I like the sound of that; perhaps I should plan to cage it in the house or it might escape!
Deletelove the blanket and the colours are fab, I have a ripple on the hook too. x
ReplyDeleteDo you have a blog? I clicked through on your name and it takes me to your google plus page, but no link? What colour is your ripple?
DeleteHi - I've just come across from Jo's blog. It was those lovely colours that caught my eye.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post too, thank you.
There are such lovely colours in everything we see, and I hope to get out and about over the Bank Holiday weekend to see some more.
All the best Jan
Nice to meet you! Were you just popping by commenters or bloglinks from other blogs? I love doing that as well!
DeleteCrochet with a view.... what a cool idea! The colours work really well together and it seems to be growing fast. I look forward to seeing the post of the finished blanket. Jx
ReplyDeleteSo do I! It's been good fun to take it about with me, although today I couldn't take it out as we were going somewhere muddy (sand is ok, but mud is not!)
DeleteI love the little back story to this new make of yours.
ReplyDeleteAnd wowser what a stunner it is, I just love the colour combination you have chosen.
It really works so well, such harmony and cosiess.
Loving your holiday views too.
Lisa x
Thank you! The colours are still wowing me at the moment; and I have another blanket in mind as soon as this one is finished, even more Welsh than this one, with the heather and the hills and the orange flowers that are called God Alone knows but I want some!
DeleteIt's fabulous, such gorgeous colours. I bought some of the same colours myself at this time last year but I haven't done anything with them yet, I think I want to add some more colours to the mix, but still, I haven't made up my mind what kind of blanket to make. I love ripples, they're my favourite blankets, I think it's the rhythm in the stitches. Your views look stunning, we've never holidayed in Wales, perhaps a future destination for us. I'm so sorry to hear that you're not very well at the moment, that's no fun at all, especially when you're away from home. Get better soon.
ReplyDeleteWales is gorgeous, especially this part. Very old fashioned in parts, a but like stepping back in time to the 70's.
DeleteAnd thank you for you wishes. I am almost better. Thank God it was Wales and a slow holiday, not like London when we never keep still!
Glad you are enjoying your holiday - great views. We are big fans of North Wales which is not far from here. I love your blanket - nice and cosy as autumn approaches.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing! I can't believe how quickly you are doing it - my ripple took about a year! And crocheting with that view looks fantastic. Can't wait to see the finished article - the colours are lovely. Off to nose about your pinterest page now ...
ReplyDeleteIt's really lovely. Taking your colour inspiration from nature makes sense and you've chosen such harmonious shades. But that view - wow. I could sit there for hours.
ReplyDeleteI love it! The colours are beautiful. You're getting on really well though I assume you still have lots of ends to sew in. I crochet in the car all the time. It will soon be too dark to do it though on my way to work. I'll have to start something simple - like a granny square blanket or something - that I can do in the dark.
ReplyDeleteThe blanket is lovely and the colours are gorgeous. I must admit I'm feeling a bit of ripple envy. I can crochet straight lines and have just mastered (sort of) granny squares but I fear rippling will always be beyond me. The view is fantastic and the weather looks fab. You made me laugh about 'getting out of bed' times. It's the same here with Amy, we're lucky if we see her before noon at the weekends. xx
ReplyDelete