Sunny Granny Stripe Blanket :: Ta-dah!

Every time I look at this yarn rainbow the very sight of it makes me soooooooo happy!!! Isn't happy colour a wonderful, wonderful thing? I think so, I really do, I feel like I can gaze at these colours and absorb all the vibrant, happy brightness into my soul and feel the warmth radiating. Simple pleasures.....

I've had this Sunny yarn in my yarn bag for many months now, 18 shades of Summer Sunshine looking radiant right there. Some of the colours individually could be quite tricky to work with (bright in-your-face Citron, I'm looking at you here!), but once nestled in with their sunny neighbours, all is thankfully well. There is  a very pleasing balance between the cool of the blues/greens/mauves and the heat of the reds/yellows/pinks/purples. I love this hot/cold balance very much, and I find I naturally make this happen in most of my colour palettes. Yum yum, it's all so delicious and tasty looking in that bag!

I just had a look at the time stamp on the above photo to see when this blanket journey began - it was the 5th of October {5:10:15}. I was spending the morning at a local café with my friend Sarah, hooking up the first few rows whilst drinking coffee and photographing bits of my progress for the tutorial (hence the white sheet of paper). It just goes to show how portable and sociable this crochet lark can be, providing you choose a good, light airy café and the right kind of understanding friends!

You can see in the above photo that I had already chosen the colour order for the first set of stripes - this is a great method if you are making a striped blanket with random colour order. Have a really good play with a set of yarn pegs and work out a colour order that you are happy with, then tape little strands of yarn to a small piece of paper and keep it with your hook - this is your "colour map". Then if you are going out and about with your blanket, you need only take 2 or 3 balls in your bag with you if you already know which colours are coming up next (I found I could make 3 stripes at a chatty two hour café session).

I love it when a stripy blanket reaches the length when you think it could possible make a pretty good scarf. I was hooking up these early rows when we had our wonderful weekend at Robin Hoods Bay in mid October, and believe me, I really did consider wearing it around my neck. So jaunty!

These stripy rows of "granny trebles" are so easy, so relaxing and so meditative, addictive too. Just one more row, it's impossible to stop mid row, it's against all the hooky rules you know. Just a bit more till I get to the end, then I'll be able to finish. But ooooo I wonder what the next colour will look like added in? I'll just give it a go, get started with a new colour, you know, just to make sure it looks right. But I can't stop mid row, I'll just have to make it to the end before I stop....and on and on. That's how those rows grow so quickly, as if by magic ;)

I mentioned earlier about playing with yarn pegs as a way of working out a random stripe order. This is such a nifty way to do it, so satisfying but also highly successful. I had 18 Sunny colours in my yarn bag, so it made sense to order the stripes in groups of 18 each time. I tried not to go too rainbowy, not to be afraid of unlikely colour combos cropping up (Gold next to Bright Pink? No problem!), not to put any two colours too close together and to keep an eye on the balance of the dominant shades (Citron and Claret in this case). It's what I call "planned random" - there is a certain amount of brain power and instinct behind the apparently random selection, but truthfully not too much.

This blanket went all over the place with me as I worked on it during the weeks of October and November. Sometimes I was at home with it draped over my lap on the sofa, but often I was out and about at a friends kitchen table or in various local cafés....

.....cafe + coffee + cake + chatter +crochet = complete bliss! You can picture me as happy as a pig in muck here on this ordinary Tuesday afternoon in October, indulging in a spontaneous hooky sesh with good friends.

Oooooooooo it's growing look, becoming rather blankety now wouldn't you say? Couldn't get away with the scarf thing now, that's for sure.

Into November now, and the cold weather has arrived. The blanket is now the perfect size to provide some cosy fireside snuggling whilst hooking those rows. Colour and comfort to cheer even the dreariest of Winter days.

By the end of November, eight weeks after beginning, I had made 90 stripes and the blanket measured 120cm x 175cm. Just the right size to call a halt to the rows and attend to The Edge.

As you can see, I had become a bit lazy with my darning in my ends. I tried to do most of them as I went along, but towards the end I just kind of lost the will to deal with them. You may remember the above picture from Part 6 of my Crochet-A-Long, it was the week that Little B had his surgery and we spent day after day installed on the sofa together. I shall never forget this time, the quiet hours spent darning and crocheting to calm the anxiety and banish the worry.

I get so excited and giddy arriving at The Edge of a blanket as it's a part of the creative making process which also doubles up as the finishing process.

A kind of fidgety excitement sets in as the edge of The Edge gets under way. You will your hook to hook faster, faster! Speed up those stitches, we are so very nearly there!

And there is a certain satisfaction when an edging pattern produces such neat, pointy corners. It's all looking rather lovely and.....

.....oooooo, rather suddenly finished!

The 3rd of December and my Sunny Granny Stripe blanket had it's last ends darned in and was declared ready for family approval.....

....cue Little B who stepped up to the job without even being asked. Testing out the softness with his dancing feet....

.....and helping me to fold and drape so that I could take some photos.

 I have to say that I truly love the way the Spot On edging looks with these stripes, it's such a beautiful finish with just the right amount of detail. It does a superb job of neatening the edges and containing the stripes without being in any way overpowering.

I'm sorry to tell you that I haven't been able to take very good photos of this blanket in it's entirety. What with the Christmas tree and the resulting weird furniture alignment, combined with Storm Frank making the day feel like perpetual twilight, it's been a weeny bit challenging.

I spread it all out and smoothed the edges and corners as best as I could. I teetered on the edge of the sofa and snapped a few above-my-head pics with my camera, hoping for the best.

The images aren't great, but at least you can get some idea of how the ninety stripes look from bottom to top.........

....................ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One Sunny Granny Stripe blanket in all it's colourful, stripy glory.

I love love love love love it.

I love the simplicity of the pattern and the delightful exuberance of the colour play.

I love the size and drape of the finished blanket. I love the snuggly softness and the pleasing weight of it when it is wrapped and cosied around me in the early mornings and evenings.

And I absolutely LOVE the way it looks so at home on my grey sofa, like rays of bright sunshine after a heavy rainstorm. Sometimes it is neatly folded over the arm of the sofa or draped across the back of it, but mostly it is slung any old how, thrown off by one of us after a period of blankety snuggles. And there it sits, waiting for the next person to come and tuck themselves under it. And so this Sunny blanket is already very well loved and used, a cosy part of family life here in the Attic, a fragment of childhood memories for my Little People.

If you joined in with my Autumn Sunny Crochet-A-Long, you may already have your very own Sunny Granny Stripe blanket (hooray for you!). There are full tutorials here on my blog for making this complete blanket ::

{GRANNY STRIPE BLANKET PATTERN} and {SPOT ON EDGING}

If you are using the Attic24 Sunny yarn pack, you can follow my colour order, as follows:

Sunny Granny Stripe Blanket colour order (remember two rows for each stripe)

♥ 1. Aster (the chain, starting dc row, granny rows 1+2) ♥

♥ 2. Sage ♥ 3. Wisteria ♥ 4. Magenta ♥ 5. Lipstick ♥ 6. Plum

♥ 7. Fondant ♥ 8. Spice ♥ 9. Citron ♥ 10. Lime ♥ 11. Turquoise

♥ 12. Violet ♥ 13. Petrol ♥ 14. Meadow ♥ 15. Claret ♥ 16. Gold ♥

♥ 17. Shrimp ♥18. Bright Pink ♥

♥ 19. Plum  ♥ 20. Violet ♥ 21. Sage ♥ 22. Turquoise ♥ 23. Lime ♥

♥ 24. Gold ♥ 25. Fondant ♥ 26. Bright Pink ♥ 27. Spice ♥ 28. Claret ♥

♥ 29. Magenta ♥ 30. Meadow ♥ 31. Wisteria ♥ 32. Aster ♥

♥ 33. Petrol ♥ 34. Lipstick ♥ 35. Shrimp ♥ 36. Citron ♥

♥ 37. Meadow  ♥ 38. Wisteria ♥ 39. Violet ♥ 40. Claret ♥ 41. Spice ♥

♥ 42. Fondant ♥ 43. Magenta ♥ 44. Turquoise ♥ 45. Petrol ♥ 46. Lime ♥

♥ 47. Bright Pink ♥ 48. Shrimp ♥ 49. Plum ♥ 50. Lipstick ♥ 51. Gold ♥

♥ 52. Citron ♥ 53. Sage ♥ 54. Aster ♥

♥ 55. Magenta  ♥ 56. Spice ♥ 57. Claret ♥ 58. Bright Pink ♥ 59. Violet ♥

♥ 60. Turquoise ♥ 61. Sage ♥ 62. Lime ♥ 63. Citron ♥ 64. Fondant ♥

♥ 65. Wisteria ♥ 66. Aster ♥ 67. Petrol ♥ 68. Meadow ♥ 69. Gold ♥

♥ 70. Shrimp ♥ 71. Lipstick ♥ 72. Plum ♥

♥73. Aster  ♥ 74. Violet ♥ 75. Lipstick ♥ 76. Spice ♥ 77. Magenta ♥

♥ 78. Fondant ♥ 79. Turquoise ♥ 80. Meadow ♥ 81. Plum ♥ 82. Wisteria ♥

♥ 83. Bright Pink ♥ 84. Petrol ♥ 85. Lime ♥ 86. Gold ♥ 87. Citron ♥

♥ 88. Shrimp ♥ 89. Claret ♥ 90. Aster ♥

Some of you may know that this is the second Granny Stripe blanket I've made - I crocheted the first one (on the left in the above picture) way back in 2010 using my Original colour yarn pack which is 17 balls of Stylecraft Special DK.

This first blanket has different dimensions as it was made for my caravan seat - it is short and wide with a different type of edging. The starting chain is 239, it measures 150cm x 110cm and has only 60 stripes. If you would like the colour order for my original Granny Stripe blanket, you can find it in this post.

The Sunny Granny stripe (the blanket on the right in the above picture) is much bolder with stronger, deeper colours and I much prefer the dimensions of this one (starting chain 200, it measures 120 x 175cm and has 90 stripes) . 

It's been really great sharing my creative process with you all here on my blog, I've enjoyed it hugely. Thanks as ever for coming along for the ride, your company is much appreciated..

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♥ Granny Stripe Blanket tutorial

♥ Spot On Edging tutorial

♥ Sunny Yarn Pack (18 x 100g Stylecraft Special DK)

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Nicola]

Your projects and photos are so cheerful! I love them all.

[Eleonora from Coastal Crochet]

That is one GORGEOUS blanket! I love love love it too... :)

[June]

Just started mine using all the same colours as you have on the right and I'm loving it.

I call it my Thinking Blanket.

Thank you and Happy New Year to you and all your Family.

[Charity McAllister]

It is absolutely gorgeous!

[Lissa Navarro]

Thank you Lucy! I enjoy your posts very much. I also am the mother of three, though mine are all girls. We live in California. I ordered 4 blanket making kits from your site and expect my children and I to make some of your lovely blankets in front of our fireplace after walk and bike rides. I am half way done with this striped one and it is so pretty. Thank you again so very much for sharing your beautiful world, your beautiful family and your beautiful craft!

[Jenny]

Looking great Lucy and I think it will coax me back to making blanket number 3 ! I have quite a stash of wool so will see how I can work it out, I loved the granny strip pattern which I used for my chocolate blanket hope you have had chance to see it on your Facebook site many thanks again love Jenny xx

[Val]

Looks fabulous. I am still working on the ripple blanket and will definitely give the sunny granny a go next.

[Kathy]

Now I started mine at the beginning of November and finished it on Christmas Night watching Downton. I loved every stripe and every colour combination. Sadly, it won't be staying with me as it's going off with my daughter to her new house in Newcastle. This was my first big crochet project, too, after years of knitting and I'm hooked!!! Ha! Ha! I've already started your Blooming Flower Cushion to match.
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful world of colour with us all xxx

[Patchwork Fairy]

It's lovely! I wish I could get to the edging stage of mine - I love doing the edging with all the promise of soon-to-be blankety snuggle time!

[Jen Hanah]

I'm to the scarf stage of this blanket and I am loving it! We are also cuddling under the Cosy Stripe blanket at night. Thank you so much for sharing your bliss with us, Lucy!

[Emma F]

It is absolutely lovely! I am always so happy when one of your sunshiney posts pops up in my reader. Thanks for cheering up such a dreary day (go away Storm Frank). Best wishes from blowy Lincolnshire x

[DebW]

I love love love it Lucy. Just as soon as I make room for more yarn, I'm ordering that pack. I have to finish one more cozy stripe blanket and your bag pattern before I order more yarn, My yarn stash overfoweth. Can't wait to see your revised scissor fob pattern too. I think I'm a complete Attic-oholic for sure. 🙂

[Zoe - floral and feather]

Wow love it! I keep promising myself I'll start a blanket in the new year!

Zoe | floral and feather

[Pom Pom]

Wow! It's gorgeous! I like the way you document your progress. What a lovely addition to your blanket collection!

[Joanna]

This is my first big project since teaching myself to crochet and I'm loving it. I dithered about doing it so started later than you so not finished yet but over half way. Love the colours and have a smile to myself when I see the combinations all coming together. Thanks for a beautiful blanket and i cannot wait to finish it...but then what will I do?

[Yvonne]

Oooh! Wow! What a lovely way to brighten a very dismal and dark day. I am definitely going to make one of your granny stripe blankets.....adding to my long list of projects to do. Von xxx