Tutorial & Pattern: Sunny Spring Garden Blanket

This week I have created one of my favourite blankets so far- both in colour and pattern!

I usually go for stripes but decided on a patchwork square blanket with a pretty edging instead.

I chose to adapt some of Attic 24's solid granny squares by continuing the rounds and making them larger.

Here is the original lovely pattern : Attic 24 Solid Granny Square Pattern

You can find my adaptation below :)

I made 20 squares (5x4) in varying colours, all in 8ply acrylic blend yarn :) (top to bottom, left to right)

Top Row (L - R)

1. Lincraft brand 8ply yarn 'Lilac'

2. Stylecraft Special DK 'Lavender'

3. Stylecraft Special DK 'Bluebell'

4. Stylecraft Special DK 'Aster'

Second row (L - R)

5. Stylecraft Special DK 'Aspen'

6. Spotlight brand 'Teal'

7. Stylecraft Special DK 'Turquoise' 

8. Stylecraft Special DK 'Sherbet'

Third Row (L - R)

9. Lincraft brand 8ply yarn 'Mint'

10. Spotlight brand 8ply yarn 'Spring Green'

11. Stylecraft Special DK 'Meadow'

12. Stylecraft Special DK 'Saffron'

Fourth Row (L - R)

13. Stylecraft Special DK 'Matador'

14. Spotlight brand 8ply yarn 'Orange'

15. Stylecraft Special DK 'Spice'

16. Stylecraft Special DK 'Sunshine'

Fifth Row (L - R)

17. Stylecraft Special DK 'Shrimp'

18. Stylecraft Special DK 'Bright Pink'

19. Stylecraft Special DK 'Raspberry'

20. Stylecraft Special DK 'Magenta'

Edging:

Spotlight brand 8ply 'Off White'

Lincraft brand 8ply 'Lilac'

Sunny Spring Garden Blanket

Squares pattern: (Make 20)

Close Up: Rounds 1 & 2

Round 1: Magic Circle. Chain 3. Make 2 Treble Crochets (TC) in the magic circle. Chain 1. Make 3 Treble Crochets. Chain 1. Make 3 Treble Crochets. Chain 1. Make 3 Treble Crochet's. Chain 1 and sl st into first chain 3.

Round 2: Chain 3. TC into same stitch as chain 3. Make 2 TCs in next stitch. Make 1 TC in chain space for 'corner' of square. Chain 2. Make 1 TC in same corner space. Make 2 TCs in each of the next 2 stitches. Make 1 TC in corner space, chain 2, make 1 TC in same corner space. Repeat for next two sides of square. In the last corner space, TC, chain 2, TC, and sl st into the first chain 3.

Close up of Rounds 1 - 4

Round 3. Chain 3. Make a single TC in the next st, and each st on that side. Make 2 TCs in corner space, chain 2, Make 2 more TCs in same corner space. Repeat for other 3 sides of square. For last corner space, Make 2 TCs, chain 2, Make 2 TCs, then sl st into first chain 3.

Round 4 - 7: Repeat Round 3 for each round. You should end up with 21 stitches on each side of your square (And 22 spaces if you count the corners!)

Whole Square

After your last sl st into the first chain 3 of round 7, chain 1, and pull the tail through the chain, to create a secure knot. Try not to pull too tightly or the edge of your square may buckle. Leave a 30 - 50cm tail of yarn to join squares together later.

Joining the Squares

Using the long tail on one of your squares to sew the squares together, place the good sides of the squares together. Here's what the front & back looks like - you will be able to easily tell the difference when you've done a few of them! :)

Front of Square

Back of Square

 Match up the stitches for each side before you start sewing to avoid wonky squares. Starting in a corner space, use your darning needle to stitch together each matching stitch. Join your first four squares together for your first row.

I chose to join each square seperately, using extra long tails of yarn (my reasoning: I didn't want the sewing yarn colours to stand out!), but you may choose to join rows of squares together, and then join the rows. This works really well if you have similar/same colours of squares in your blanket, but not so well if it is rainbow like mine!

To sew the second row like I did, join a single square below the first row, and then add a square to the side. Then use the tail of the next square to join it to the first row, then to the next square to the side. Etcetera etcetera :)

Edging:

Once I weaved in the ends of the yarn and tidied the squares up nicely, I started on the edging.

Round 1. Join your 'Off White' yarn to a corner space, and chain 3. TC in each space around the blanket , which should be 22 stitches for each square edge. When you get to the last square corner, do 2 TCs in the corner, and chain 3, then 2 TCs in the same corner space to make a nice spacey corner that won't pull your edges. Continue the same way around the entire blanket edge.

Round 2 & 3: Repeat Round 1 (CH 3, TC in all spaces, Do corners with 2 TC, Ch 2, 2 TC)

Round 4: Using your Lilac Yarn (or which ever colour you have chosen for the edge!)

Follow my tutorial for Picot Edging here:

Finished Product!

Hope you love this blanket as much as I do!

Happy Hooking!

Rhonie

Tutorial: 'Colour Joy' OR 'How to Choose Amazing Colours For Crochet'

While there are many things to consider when organising your yarn for a new project (yarn fibres, weight, and manageability!), choosing colours is one of the most enjoyable parts of commencing a new work. It can also be one of the foundations of the project, and if done right can make your work truly vibrant and joyous! Not done right, it can look like a clown threw up on your grandma's old doilies.

While we all have our own favourite colour pallets, some people find it harder than others to pick a scheme that goes well together. ALL colours can go together, but you need to choose the right TONE of that colour for it to work, or create a blend of tones! For instance, orange and mint green often don't go well together, though they are two of my favourite colours:

But vary the orange tones, and add a teal (opposite to orange) and light green (a different tone of green but in the same colour family to mint green), and you have a vibrant, but more unified combination.

Then there are the colour schemes that remind people of brands or specific objects.... red and gold? McDonalds. Purple and white? Cadbury. Orange and Brown? Jaffas. 

Okay well now I'm just listing things I like to eat.

(side note: this is super cool! A crochet knight's helmet? Who knew this existed!? But it really looks like the knight has come straight from the golden arches...)

But, again, if you vary the tones, your work looks inspired by nature, not a fast-food joint. Add mustard, light/dark yellows, burgundy, and rust.

Then there are the colours that most people loathe, that happen to work particularly well with some pallets! 'Nappy Gold'? You can merge that with some greens and create a beautiful nature-themed pallet. (If you have been around a newborn baby long enough you know what I mean by 'nappy gold')

 

So, choosing colours. What are my tips? 

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One: consider choosing a stimulus. 

For my crochet stool covers:

I used an artwork from our home as a basis.

But for my Sunburst Blanket

I just chose my favourite colour combinations and went from there! 

Your stimulus could be as simple as 'warm' or 'cool' pallet, like these

Warm:  Cool: 

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Two: Use the Colour Wheel! 

For those who aren't sure about basic colour schemes, the colour wheel is always fabulously helpful if you know how to use it! You have your primary colours - Red, Yellow, and Blue - and your Secondary Colours - Green, Purple and Orange. Tertiary colours are when you add a primary colour to a secondary colour, resulting in colours like teal (green + blue), shades of brown (varying amounts of each one primary colour & opposite secondary colour - eg: yellow + purple, blue & orange, red & green).

You could use an Analogous colour scheme - which means colours next to each other on the wheel, like this (the next 3 yarn colour wheel images taken from Fresh Stitches - visit them here! They also discuss choosing colours for yarn beautifully :)) 

Example of Analogous Colours: Green, Blue, Purple

Complementary Colour schemes mean colour choices that are opposite each other on the colour wheel, like this!

An example of Complementary colour scheme: Indigo and Gold (colour wheel opposites)

If you want a few different colours, try for Split Complementary, which is a little less 'in your face' than regular complementary colours.

Example of Split Complementary Colours: This gorgeous Etsy find:

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3. Use samples of your own yarn to work out a colour pallet! 

I love using a sampler (or just laying out all my yarn and switching it around to choose great colour combinations!) As I'm a pretty visual/kinaesthetic person!

I love what Lucy from Attic 24 has done with these pegs! 

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4. Vary your pallet.

Rather than simply using two colours - Purple and Pink - use several varying shades and tones of those colours from red-pink, to lilac, to violet, to indigo. Include one or two pastel shades, but not too many if you want a really rich, vibrant effect.

Or if you choose several colours, here are some beautiful, bright, colour pallets to choose from! You can find so many inspirational colour pallets on platforms like Pinterest (where I get most of my inspiration!)

 

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5. LOVE your colours!

But my main tip is just choose colours you LOVE to look at together! If you love it, you will use it. Or if it's for someone else, they will know how much love (and time!!) you put into it! 

Hope your colour journey goes brightly! 

Love and rainbows, 

Rhonie xx

Crochet: Cosy Blanket

This beautiful and easy blanket is from one of my favourite blogs: Attic 24! I have seen so many versions of this blanket and have done three myself now (all in different colour pallets and styles!) and had to share my latest one, which I made for a friend's baby girl!

Here is the link to the pattern here. 

Attic 24 Cosy Stripe Blanket Pattern

I love the subtle but dainty detail and the rich colours. I edged it simply in two rows of single crochets- I wanted to accentuate the light turquoise colour. 

This project ended up being approx 1m by 80cm, and I felt was a lovely size for a pram blanket. I used a 4.0mm hook. The colours/ yarn I chose was all 8 ply worsted weight yarn from various sources: 

Light turquoise

Teal

Emerald green

Sea green

Meadow green

Golden yellow

Tangerine orange

Fuchsia 

Hot pink

Candy pink

Deep violet

Lilac 

Mulberry

I suggest everyone tries this gorgeous pattern in your lifetime as it grows quickly and you can enjoy your colour choosing rather than focussing on nitty gritty patterns. Especially if you like to half watch old movies and tv shows from the 90s as you crochet.

I adore striped patterns, as you don't have the fiddley joining! 

Happy hooking, 

Rhonie