Seaside Patches Blanket....Ta-Dah

Hello Lovelies,
 At last ...it's a happy, happy Ta-Dah day :0)

 The last time I  had a full sized crochet blanket to share with you was back in February 2012 ....how did that happen ?

I started this latest blanket just over a year ago and you can read about it's inspiration and the reasons behind my colour and pattern choices  HERE

Soon the first row was complete.....

By December I had 100 solid coloured, four round granny squares.
In this project I've used the brilliant " join as you go" method. The best tutorial I know for how to do this is HERE..........

Sadly my momentum didn't last. In the early part of this year I spent quite a lot of my limited creative time drawing. And then when I picked up my hook again I decided to start ANOTHER BLANKET ( which is still a WIP )

In July my thoughts always turn to the seaside and I loved the way the colours in my blanket matched the colours in this photo of Cornwall so well.............

In August I took my blanket to see the Cornish coast and I have happy memories of sitting outside our caravan, watching the sunset over the ocean and relaxing with my hook.....

Progress then became slow again , a few squares were added now and then, but the end still seemed a long way off.

Then , as the weather cooled in October I found a new impetus. 

A few rows were added early in the month, then during my week off I really made a concerted effort to fit in some crochet time..........

By the end of that week my blanket looked like this..........

280 squares with all the ends sewn in ( rubbish photo, sorry )

I've learnt the hard way that sewing in all the ends after the fun crochet bit is done is horrible. So now I always do them as I go

I leave quite long ends in my crochet...about 6 to 8 inches. It makes the ends so much easier to deal with . I weave in about half of this length , then snip off the remainder. 

Then it was just the border. I say " just the border" but it's an important part of a project like this. It can made the difference between an O.K. and a great result.

 I used THIS method to avoid a wrinkly edge and took inspiration from THIS blanket  for the design........

All those busy squares needed framing with colours that wouldn't compete for your attention too much. So I've used a limited number of the blanket colours and I didn't include any of the lightest shades..........

I think it turned out great.

The edge is just a round of U.K. double ( U.S. single ) crochet. I was going to add a wavy edge too but middle son ( who's blanket this is ) said he preferred it plain.....I think he made a good choice.

And here is the finished blanket

TA-DAH.........

Oh , it may have taken me ages to finish , but I'm SO PLEASED with how it turned out in the end.

I love the range of shades from white to the darkest (Teal )
I love the completely random positioning of those colours. I didn't give too much thought to what colour came next , I just made sure each square was never next to the same colour.

It's not the biggest blanket I've ever made, but  it's long enough to cover you from your chin to toes, perfect for snuggling on the sofa when it's chilly............

It measures 64  by 42 inches.........

It might not be as attention grabbing as some of my more colourful projects, but it's very easy to live with....

I LOVE the seaside pallette so much...calming and fresh. Happy without being too shouty.....does that make sense. The design is quite solid too, with only small holes in the granny squares, so it feels warm and cosy.

I liked seeing the sun shining through it on Sunday morning, but it was pretty chilly and breezy in my sad looking November garden..........

I quickly took these pictures then headed back indoors to the warmth of the lounge.

The next time I looked this blanket had already been scooped up and put to good use........

and that really made me  happy :0)

For those of you who might like to know some yarn details...I used my usual acrylic yarn....  Stylecraft special double knitting in the following colours

Teal, Aster, Camel, White, Cloud blue, Denim, Cream, Meadow, Sherbet, Aspen, Turquoise and Silver

and a 4mm crochet hook.

So it is also an easy to care for, economical blanket.

If you would like to know how I make my granny squares do take a look at THIS tutorial.
 The border is ten rounds of granny clusters, that were so speedy and great fun to do after all those little squares.....I felt like my hook was flying along at lightening speed :0)
This whole blanket was a joyful , simple project that turned out even better than I hoped it would.
And middle son loves it.
Happy , Happy , Happy.
Jacquie x

♥52 weeks of Happy♥ 43/52

Hello Lovelies,

 here is my third post in as many days! 

I've loved my week off work with the boys and already shared many of the happy things about it. I really has been a tonic and I'll be sad to go back to work next week, but I mustn't grumble.

Here are some more simple joys from a really tip top week.

1. Washing  cushions made from recycled yarn, I still love these squares of cotton crochet that I made back in 2011. They are used daily and had got rather grubby, but a wash in the machine and a tumble dry gets them looking like new again..........

the colours seem perfect for this time of year too.

2. A muddy bike ride with my boys, sister in law and lovely niece on Wednesday. The terrain was challenging on my vintage shopper but the children had a great time and the countryside  views were wonderful............

We came back covered in mud ,wind swept and tired but happy.

3. Crocheting little squares in the afternoon sun........

I'm on to the border now .....woop woop :0)

4. Spotting this sweet patchwork chair in a newly refubished library we visited. I adore this reading corner and I would love to have a go at making a patchwork chair cover myself ...I'll have to add it to the long to-do list. Check out THESE google images....wow

I do think this corner would benefit from a little crochet too......maybe a yarn bombed lamp,
What do you think ?

Have a great weekend lovelies....I think I said that yesterday , but it's really here now :0)
Jacquie x

This Wintery Week......

..............Ive been playing with yarn...........

 Making sunburst granny circles in "Stylecraft" for a new project..........

More about them soon :0)

........... been baking. Gathering together all the ingredients for Yorkshire Parkin..........

I used THIS recipe and it's perfect......nutty, sticky, chewy and just the right amount of Ginger .........

Yummy

...........I've also planted up an Amaryllis bulb I bought a few weeks ago then forgot about. When I opened the box the poor thing was trying to grow but the shoot was almost white , thankfully it's greening up now........

...........Amazingly I've written and posted all my posting Christmas cards. Love the little Robin on these charity cards...........

..........Reached 100 squares on my Seaside Patches blanket............

 There's still a loooong way to go ! But I'm OK with that.

.......spent an enjoyable hour or so crafting with my youngest. Love this Santa Gingerbread Man he came up with..........

While he snipped and glued I made a couple of cards too.........

I do love a bit of simple paper play


And finally , I managed to take my own photo of a Robin..........

Can you sea him sitting on the trellis ? I love all garden birds, particularly Robins, but never seem to be quick enough with my camera to capture them in a photo.

Not a great shot but it made me happy :0)

Thank you for popping by and for all your wonderful comments , they are a special part of my week too.
Jacquie x

A Week of Sunshine

Hello Lovelies ,
its' good to be back. We have been away on a long anticipated , special treat.......a week of hot sunshine in October.  We really enjoy our summer holidays in Britain and have only taken the boys on an aeroplane once previously ( to Majorca 5 years ago ) but this relaxing half term week in the warm sunshine  was bliss.

We left home in thick fog and after four hours in the air touched down in sunny Lanzarote. The boys and their cousins were keen to find the beach so we wandered down to the sea in the early evening. The light was really beautiful at this time of day and knowing that it would already be cold and dark at home made this first dip in the Atlantic Ocean extra special..........

The landscape on this volcanic island , less that eighty miles off the coast of Africa, is so very different from home ............

No grass to be seen but stunning cacti and palms. And thankfully lots of beautiful flowers......

Wonderful Hibiscus .

Bougainvillea , which reminded me of my first Mediterranean holidays in my teens and early twenties...........

We were happy to potter about the resort of Costa Teguise  and every day we visited one of it's  beaches.....this one was our favourite ..........

And particularly this spot on the right of this sheltered bay, you could find us here most days enjoying the soft warm sand .......

And snorkeling with the little fishes........

Ohhhhhhh I wish I had an underwater camera to capture this world amongst the fish that we all loved.

It's so quiet and effortless floating in the buoyant seawater once you put your face below the surface . I was enchanted by the other-worldliness of the pretty fish and the dancing patterns made by sunlight shining through the waves.

The fish were very brave and would eat bread from your hand as well, the children loved that..........

Yes the beach life was great but above all it was the luxurious  feeling of beautiful sunny weather at a time of year when cold dark days are beginning that was so wonderful. Just to wander about in light summer clothes ( and factor 50 sun cream .........I don't tan well and hate getting burnt ) when our summer is really over felt so lovely and special. Especially after the poor summer we have had in the U.K. this year.

There was not much time for crochet ( as I didn't want to take it to the beach....see above comment on sun cream :0)  ) , just a little time on our sunny balcony before our evening meal ( which I didn't have to cook  , yay ! )..........

Watching the moon rise in the brilliant blue sky and listening to the birds in this tree.......I know you can't see them but there were loads of little finches hopping about and chirping away.........

Here's where my blanket is up to now........sixty four well traveled squares .......

Yes , we had a wonderful holiday that I hope the boys will remember for a long time. I feel so fortunate we were able to go  also very lucky to have this space to record my feelings and share moments with you lovelies. I'll stop now but I hope you will join me for another holiday post or two soon.
Jacquie x

Back to Square One

Hello lovelies , 

When I near the end of a crochet project my mind often starts planning the next one .  I wonder if any of you do the same ?

A couple of weeks ago my middle son asked me to make him a crochet blanket which rather surprised me as up till now he  has been rather adverse to anything fluffy or yarny.  

My eldest loves his granny stripe.........

made in 2010

 and my youngest has a giant granny square on his bed ....

made in 2009, pre blog

though it's rather young for him now I think. 

2012 seems to have been a year of baby blankets for me so I was happy to embark on my first full sized blanket this year.....but which design should I choose?

 I thought about doing a ripple but I have to admit that they still require a lot of concentration to avoid going wrong and frustrating pulling back. Not too bad on a baby blanket but pretty depressing for a larger project. No, Granny squares or stripes are a safer option for me and there are loads of possibilities with these.. and so much inspiration out in blog land.

At the moment there are lots of gorgeous "Patchwork Square" blankets about. Heather inspired this blanket I made back in March with this wonderful creation she made back in February. Then Sandra shared this stunning blanket ......Just beautiful .......in July. Next there was Lucy's version ....can't wait to see this finished but I also love seeing progress shots.Watching a project progress is one of the things I love about crochet blogs.

So here is the  very beginning of my latest blanket.......

The birth of what will hopefully be another successful, enjoyable project. A simple three round granny square, made last week.
Soon there were others to joint it . It's not easy to photograph long thin crochet :0)

The colours are those I used in my seaside ripple , with the unknown neutral left out and two greens added ( Meadow and Teal ) .........

Here are most of the colours in my bag. I still love this palette ,

 it's very similar to my granny stripe colours and still says seaside to me......

Here is where I'm up to right now..........forty squares..........it's already making me smile so I'm hopeful I will stick with this large project. It's 16 squares wide .........big enough for a single bed.
I think it will need to be at least twenty rows in length so there is a long way to go ..........but that's O.K. with me , no rush and no complicated pattern, just granny squares in random colours.........

 I hope you enjoy seeing my seaside patches blanket progressing as much as I love to share it with you :0)


I'll leave you with a couple of outdoor shots from earlier this week.........October has been pretty good so far with lots of sunny days, which make me happy .........

and sunny days often end with gorgeous sunsets ........

Have a lovely weekend .
Jacquie x