Sunny Crochet CAL

Do you know what, as soon as I uploaded these images to my blog I started singing that song inside my head, you know the one, that sunshiny song - ♬♪♬...you are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me haaaappppyyy when skies are grey....♬♪♬ etc etc. Hmm, are you also singing that song now, is it there inside your head?!

These colours are so uplifting and joyful, they really do make me feel very happy indeedy. They have been dancing in and out of my creative mind since early summer when I settled on this colour palette for blanket making. I focused on colours that I associate with the warmth of Summer, colours that remind of of brightly coloured flowers and clear blue skies. I chose them specifically for their feel-good factor (which is exceptionally high), a bright rainbow of heart-squeezy happiness to take us through the cold months of the year.

The Sunny yarn pack has 18 colours of my favourite Stylecraft Special DK for this blanket, as follows :

Claret, Lipstick, Bright Pink, Magenta, Fondant, Shrimp, Spice, Gold, Citron, Lime, Meadow, Sage, Petrol, Aster, Turquoise, Wisteria, Violet, Plum.

I've used most of these colours before in other projects, excepting for the Citron and Bright Pink. I have to confess these two colours are not particularly easy to work with, being that they are very, very vivid shades. On their own they are a little bit scary but when they are placed amongst the others, they bring a really lovely vibrancy to the whole. The more I use them, the more I love them, they do take time to grow on you!

I'm using these 18 colours to make myself a large square blanket, something striking that will look great either on my bed or draped over the back of my sofa. I've actually had something of this design idea swinging around inside my Creative Mind for a few years now - often this is the way of things I find. A nugget of an idea might sit quietly for several months/years before the time feels right to tease it out and bring it into reality.

Usually I find the process of bringing a crochet idea into reality a complete doddle. I am blessed with a very vivid imagination and can often see things so clearly in my Minds Eye, it's as if it already exists. Occasionally the transition from idea to reality takes a little more time and isn't always so easy. I make many mistakes and it takes a lot of time, patience and effort to finally nail it. This particular blanket design hasn't been straightforward, oh it's been a challenge all right! But over the weeks and months of the Summer, I sampled and re-sampled, worked my ideas over and over until finally I was able to produce something that totally rocked my boat.

So let me explain a little bit about this new blanket of mine. I've named it the "Sunny Log Cabin" - it's a large, square design based on traditional log cabin patchwork quilts. If you aren't familiar with log cabin quilts (like the one pictured above), do have a quick read here.

Early Log Cabin blocks were hand-pieced using strips of fabrics around a central square. In traditional Log Cabin blocks, one half is made of dark fabrics and the other half light. A red centre symbolized the hearth of home, and a yellow centre represented a welcoming light in the window.

I love the idea of traditional designs using yellow to represent light in a window, so I've chosen to take that idea and give it more of a summery spin. Not just light, but sunlight.

I designed a Sunny granny square, working in 5 rounds to make a neat 10cm square which will form the centre for each of the 16 larger blocks.

The colourful strips which make up the log cabin design are worked in 3 rows of treble crochet (that's UK treble crochet, which is equivalent to US double crochet). The logs are crocheted in a methodical way so that there is no stitching or joining up involved within the squares, just row upon row of easy trebles.

Using the two yellow shades for the Sunny centres leaves 16 colours to play with for the logs. Rather than use light and dark colours, I decided to play with a hot/cold colour divide (sunshine and shadow). Every square has every colour in it but the placement of the colours varies, making each square unique.

It really is a fun design, a total indulgence for my colour-addiction. Once the sunny centres have been made, the rows of logs crochet up surprisingly quickly. The inner logs are very speedy as the rows are quite short, getting gradually longer/slower as you work toward the outer edge.

The one downside of working squares with lots of colour changes is dealing with the inevitable ends. With this particular design, I am finding it easier to leave the ends until a square is complete, then sitting down and tackling them all in one go. I find that it is possible to enjoy this process (yes, it really is), so long as you can find the right frame of mind. I try to think of my blankets as gifts for my Little People, handmade gifts that I really hope will follow my offspring from childhood into adulthood. With every tail end securely darned in, I tell myself that I am stitching love into this blanket. And also that I really, really don't want it to fall apart. Made to last.

I'm sorry about this rather lame photo (J's handiwork) but I wanted to give you some perspective on the size of these log cabin squares. They measure approximately 35cm across. I love, love, love the size of them. This is the first time I've ever made such large squares, they really are rather big and bold and beautiful.....

.....so I've made four so far. One, Two, Three, Four. These will form the centre of my square blanket, with another twelve to go around. Sixteen in total.

I am wondering if you can look at the above squares and clearly see the hot/cold (sunshine and shadow) diagonal divide in each one? It's quite subtle, and is seen more clearly if you step back from the image....can you see it? It's a little bit of visual colour magic!

And this is the exciting thing about working Log Cabin squares. Each square is lovely in it's own right, but when you begin to place them together (which is known in quilting terms as the "setting"), you can create all sorts of bigger patterns. And these patterns all have traditional names too :: Straight Furrows, Zigzag, Chevron, Pinwheels, Stars, Barn Raising......I found a website that illustrates these settings really well {see here}

I have chosen to set my squares in the Barn Raising pattern............

........can you see?? Can you see how a diamond is formed???

It's really exciting to see how the colour placement forms this additional pattern, and I absolutely cannot wait to work on the remaining squares and see the bigger pattern emerge. It's about as thrilling as it gets for a colour-junkie like me. This is destined to be a very bright, bold blanket, a real eye-popper!

Now a few weeks ago when I was having a play with my Sunny yarn pegs, losing myself in all that glorious colour, I began to wonder what these colours would look like as stripes. And the more I thought about it, the more I felt a burning desire to make it happen. As exciting as the log cabin blocks are (and they really are), the soothing rhythm of the stripes began gently calling......

....so on impulse I decided to give in to the call and rustle up some Granny Stripes. I chained 200, then set to with my hook, up and down with those joyful summer colours.....

..........oh yes! Yes yes yes!!!!!!!!!! The resulting stripes are gloriously vibrant, they sort of radiate heat and energy like the brightest sunshiny day. They are rich and energetic and unashamedly cheerful, and I love them. I had forgotten how therapeutic the simple granny stripe is, so easy, so rhythmic, so fast too. I'm enjoying this journey enormously.

I thought I'd show you how the new Sunny stripes compare with my original Granny Stripe blanket.

In the above image, the blanket on the left is my made using my original 17-colour yarn pack. It's a mixture of soft pastels and brights, a kind of Spring/Summer palette. The blanket on the right uses the 18 Sunny colours - a mixture of brights and rich jewel tones, a Summer/Autumn palette if you like. Interesting eh?

THE SUNNY CROCHET-ALONG

As I am just beginning on these two blanket journeys, I thought it would be a great thing to share my progress with you all each week here on my blog. Those of you who have been visiting me for a while will remember my Cosy blanket Crochet-Along at this same time last year, in fact many of you will have made cosy blankets of your own too. The Sunny CAL will be similarly informal, no signing up required, just join in if you fancy a bit of hooky colour therapy. And as this is me being me, the blankets will be crocheted and shared as I make them for myself here in the Attic. I haven't got any finished blankets to Ta-dah with you in advance, the images above are exactly where I'm at right now. This is real crochet, in real time, Lucy style! Here is some more information about the CAL.....

♥ The CAL will begin this Sunday 1st November and will run for 10 weeks. There will be a full picture tutorial to help you make the Log Cabin Squares. Each week I'll share the colour placement for two large log cabin squares.

♥ In addition, each week I'll also share the random colour stripe order for the Granny Stripe blanket I'm making. This will also start on Sunday 1st November and run for 7 weeks (there will also be a full pattern/tutorial coming for the Granny Stripe blanket, to help any newbie crocheters who have blanket making ambitions!)

♥ The Sunny Yarn pack contains 18 x 100g balls of Stylecraft Special DK and is enough to make ONE of the above blankets. There is no printed pattern included in this pack, all pattern info will be here on my blog, with updates every Sunday throughout November and December 2015.

♥ The log cabin blanket will measure approx. 150cm square, and the Granny Stripe will measure approx. 120cm x 170cm.

I hope these colours make you happy, and I hope they will inspire creativity and some happy hooky times during the weeks and months ahead. Bring on the Sunshine!!!

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ps a note about my yarn packs - I am thrilled to be working with Wool Warehouse who do an absolutely amazing job of enabling crocheters all over the world to join me in my ongoing colourful blanket making. I earn a commission on all the Attic24 yarn packs sold through Wool Warehouse, and I am truly grateful to everyone who supports me in this way. Thank you. Thank you ever so much xxx

 

 

 

Comments

[mamiyomani]

It's so beautifull !!! It makes me happy to see those happy colours !!

[Sarah]

I adore those beautiful autumnal oranges and yellows - my eye was drawn to them straight away.

[Kaholly]

Oh, what fun!

[Peggy in Mississippi]

I'm working on your Coast ripple now. I must crochet looser than you bc my blanket is at least nine inches wider! 😂😂😂😂 So I'm sure I will not do all the rows and will have to hope I can do a border. I used a size G needle. Next time I'll drop to maybe F. I love the sunshine colors. May have to get those too. I have another one of your brights. Just not sure which. I love woolhouse

[Hannah Heath]

Oh heavens, I'm still on the cosy blanket from last year but this granny square blanket looks amazing! I love granny squares, they give great instant gratification :)

[Susanna]

Greetings from the southeastern U. S. -

I have so many projects in progress, but I am thinking of taking my leftover yarn to make a pillow in your log cabin/courthouse steps pattern. I need a couple of pillows for my sofa.

Love your color choices!

[Anne Marie]

I'd love to do one of these squares but not a blanket as I've got enough now and not enough room to keep them. The colours are beautiful. I've got just the thing to use - some leftover Sublime.

[Sally-Jane]

I absolutely adore and love this colour scheme, it's sooo me :-)
As a eagle eyed patchworker too, I see that the placement of the centre and the strips are put together in the 'Courthouse Steps' pattern rather than the traditional Log Cabin pattern shown in the patchwork quilt. Both give a similar pattern when stitched together x

[patty]

love them both well done.

[Wendy]

The log cabin is beautiful. It's so exciting to see something different in a blanket design. I hope lots of people buy your wool packs. Thanks (as always) for sharing.

[cristina]

Lucy! once again fascinate me your blankets! and your post always looks so well, so well structured and you explained everything so well ... you're the queen of crocheting, without a doubt! Thank you once again for making us enjoy these bright colors! I hope that your CAL be a success! many kisses from Catalonia!

[Dinah]

Milly said what I was going to say. While a gorgeous square, it's not a traditional log cabin. I'm glad Milly knew the variation name!

[Jennifer B]

I've been working sporadically on a log cabin crocheted quilt myself. Instead of hauling all those colors along with me everywhere, I have kept each square consistent and am doing all of the crochet of one color before moving to the next. Mine is queen bed sized, so 36 squares. I'm almost done with color 4 of 8

Maybe my working along with all of you will inspire me to get a good chunk done this fall/winter!

[Judy]

I ordered your yarn pack this morning. All I need is another project but I'm very excited!! I don't think it will get to the US by Sunday but that's okay. Guess I'm in!!!!

[Kate]

YAY!!!!
My pack arrived a few days ago, and is sitting in my lounge looking all pretty....
Can't wait to start, I'm also in Australia, so will be good to have the smaller squares, don't have to have a huge big blanket on my lap while I'm doing it.
I still have the ocean, cosy and harmony on the go.
Whoops :)

[bunnym]

lovely block, nice twist on an old favorite. And rainbow colors....should have saw that one coming. Seriously, if you use the same colors over and over again, even if you use a different pattern, the projects begin to look the same. Just sayin....

[Caroline]

what you do inspires me and delights me ... everything is beautiful .... I ordered the wool blanket for the strip ...
I'm one of tout french fan!!!

[Simone]

Instead of asking Lucy to crochet with different yarn, why don't people just choose their own, if they would like something different? I have no idea why they don't anyway. Choosing your own colours is part of the fun. It does seem a shame to have so many all the same when people could be creative themselves and reflect their own personalities. Anyway, if you don't like acrylic, buy wool, cotton whatever - there is a whole lot of yarn out there! If you prefer pastels or earthy colours then use those. It really is up to us to choose our own preferences.

[Kelli]

I am so very excited to start the Granny Stripe blanket! Your blog brings me so much joy and always puts a smile on my face. Every time I see your beautiful selected colors or your stunning outdoor photos, I am overwhelmed by the beauty surrounding you. This will be my first Granny Stripe blanket, thank you for walking me and others through the process. My appreciation from the States (Oregon)!

[Robin Summers]

I sang the sunshine song to both of my babies every day. It always made them smile. The colors of this Log Cabin CAL are so beautiful. I think I am a jewel colored gal. I have already ordered and received my Sunny pack. I think I will be ordering another so I can make the granny stipe blanket as well in the beautiful sunny colors. Thank you so much for sharing your talent!

[CherylJ]

I'm in! I just love your yarn packs! Ordered mine today - its amazing that it cost me a lot less to have it shipped from England to the States than it is to buy yarn here!! Thank you Wool Warehouse and Lucy for a great yarn/pattern combo! Now to decide on which pattern.....

[Gill]

Looking forwards to receiving my wool pack soon, and joining in from frosty Norway!

[Anne Cooke]

To the person who wanted yarn with wool content: 100% acrylic is best for blanket making. Harder-wearing,easier to wash and dry,and does not felt when sat on. Many of us use these on our sofas.

[Angela-Southern USA]

Yep...I have that song in my head...and will probably hum/sing it all day!;P Also, isn't there a song or something with sunshine and shadow?... Anyway, those two are winners already!!! Last spring I think, I made some cushions with the log cabin design, a very fun project to crochet. I just may join in, maybe in a crib size, for a friend. Let the fun begin!

[crafty mema]

i am so drooling over the colors-
i have been crocheting lap blankets -for the veterans home---USING EVERYONES STASH
i just may treat myself to some bright colors and make some really bright ones.

xooxoxoxxo crafty mema