A snuggly blanket

I know this is mainly a place for me to share my papercrafting, but I have shared a little of my crochet here before. However in October, I hatched a plan to make my sister a blanket for Christmas. I think following the blogs of Lucy at Attic 24 and Bunny Mummy Jacqui have made me feel blankets are more manageable than maybe I had previously though. By the time I started it was 25 October, so I had two months to get it made - I must have been mad! Good job I am also good at meeting deadlines and very determined!

 

 

My colour choices were inspired by my sister's love of all things Kath Kidson. Not sure if I quite got it right, but I did  agonise over it quite a bit and also changed a couple of choices along the way. My design was inspired especially by Julie's crochet along blanket project on her Little Woolie blog. The wool I used was acrylic Stylecraft DK recommended by both Lucy and Jacqui for blanket making and ordered from The Wool Warehouse.



This shows my first Flowers in a Row pattern which was really easy, but I really loved and I also liked the colours of the rows I placed either side of it as well.

Seeing the blanket get to the stage where I could fold it and it started to feel like it was gaining momentum was really exciting!

My first row of bobbles was another new stitch to me and I know my sister would love them!

 More growth and I was getting about half way here!

The blanket is double bed width and my aim was to make it 6 feet long!

Incredibly I did it! Finishing the crochet on 15th December to leave me a few days to finish the edging before delivery on 21st December when we did the rounds of gift delivery for different family members.

 

I had this mad idea that I wanted to bind the edges with fabric to make it even more in keeping with the Kath Kidson inspiration. I don't honestly think this is to be advised really. It did twist a bit in places, but it was OK. I made my own giant bias binding to do the job and sewed it all on by hand which I find quite restful thankfully!

The edging was finished on 18th December and I was ready to package the blanket up ready for delivery.

I wanted to add a special message about why I had made the blanket for her.

 I used the organza bag the Wool Warehouse used to send the wool as the inner wrapping.

I then held my breath while I waited until it was opened on Christmas Day. I know my sister loves granny squares but I knew I didn't have time to sew lots together, so the stripes were a bit of a gamble.

I know she loved the blanket though, it was pressed into action straight away and had kept her cosy over the holiday reading her Christmas books - here is the pic she sent me on Christmas Day.

I was relieved to have the blanket finished and thought I would enjoy a break from crochet over Christmas, but after just one day I had to get my hook out again, my fingers were itching and I am making good progress on a long cardigan for myself, especially over the Christmas break with my feet up in front of the woodstove. That will be the first time I have made anything to wear, except mittens so it will be a bit of a challenge. Even so I am planning to tweek the pattern!!!  The difference this time is that there is no deadline and I will take it at a much more gentle pace! It would be nice if it is ready to wear for Spring though when I hope I can wear it instead of a coat!

I am also looking forward to getting back into some more papercrafting too!


Have a good week!

Elaine