Cupcake Stripe Blanket :: Ta-dah!

I've been so so so looking forward to sharing this post with you, I always do get a bit giddy when there is a ta-moment on the horizon but I am especially excited to share my Cupcake Stripe with you today. I confess that I've developed a bit of a crush on this blanket as I've been making and photographing it during the past few months, the colours have given me such a lift through the dull days of February and March when I wasn't feeling quite so good.

Do you remember the post I wrote back in early February, chatting about the way I plan my blankets? Well the Cupcake blanket wasn't inspired by nature or the seasons, it was down to one of my lovely Facebook followers (thank you Sheena!) who wrote to me and asked if I could create a cupcake-inspired colour palette for her. The idea was so appealing I was powerless to resist, and that's how I found myself in the middle of Winter playing with these pretty colours.

Before I actually start on any new blanket, I like to make myself a little colour sampler which helps me to get an overall impression of the colour palette I've chosen. Sometimes when I'm at this stage, I find one or two colours just don't play nicely with the rest and it gives me the opportunity to make changes. In this case, I ended up swapping out Sage Green and replacing it with the softer Pistachio shade. Don't the colours look sooooooo pretty stacked like this? Good enough to eat!

The fifteen colours of my Cupcake Blanket (made using Stylecraft Special DK) are as follows ::

Top row, left to right ::

Wisteria ♥ Cloud Blue ♥ Pistachio ♥ Mocha ♥ Fondant

Middle row, left to right ::

Parma Violet ♥  Duck Egg ♥ Spring Green ♥ Camel ♥ Apricot

Bottom row, left to right ::

Clematis ♥ Sherbet  ♥ Lemon ♥ Stone ♥ Cream 

Putting these fifteen balls of yarn into my bag gave me something of a wide-eyed surprise as they are quite different from my usual trade-mark brights. I admit it wasn't love at first sight, it was more of a slow, soft, creeping type of affection that began to set in.

Once I'd chosen the colours, I had a bit of a ponder over which pattern to use. I was very tempted to ripple these colours, I think they would look wonderful made up using the Neat Ripple pattern. In the end I decided to use my Cosy Stripe pattern which is the one I designed for my Autumn/Winter 2014 Crochet-A-Long. I thought it would be fun to make a Spring Sister for the Autumn-inspired original. 

Oh I LOVE starting a new blanket, I love it so much! I am quite addicted to it I'm sure. Here I am on the 8th February, hoping that this soft, pastel coloured yarn was going to give me the required dosage of pleasure and deliver my daily colour-fix. Out of the fifteen colours I chose for this blanket, there  were six that I'd never used before (Apricot, Cream, Lemon, Stone, Pistachio, Duck Egg). It was exciting to play with some new colours, even if it felt a little strange at first. Cream yarn?? Is this really me??

It was funny taking the Cupcake blanket out and about as it did tend to generate some surprised responses from my yarny friends. At first, nobody could believe their eyes, they were astounded to see me working with pastel colours.

I hope it's OK to confess that I did wobble a little bit at the start of this blanket, wondering whether I'd made a mistake. I think maybe this uncertainty was caused by the fact that I was using very Spring-like colours in the middle of Winter? Or maybe it was a response to everyone else's shock?! Or maybe it was just the unfamiliarity of the lemon/cream/apricot colours that made me doubt what I was doing for a bit.

But these colours are so charming, it's hard to doubt them for very long. They sing such a pretty song, they are seductive, gentle and very easy on the eye. The effect they had on me as I crocheted these stripes was, well.....it was like the visual equivalent of a lullaby, all soothing and calming and dreamy.........

...........oh, I nearly nodded off then.......where was I? Ahh yes, the gentle nature of these easy going stripes, I can confirm that they do grow on you beautifully. It took me five weeks to crochet ninety stripes (I had a lot of sofa-time through February and March remember), and then my usual dither as I contemplated The Edge. Actually, I had already formed an idea of what I wanted the edge to look like, so it was a case of choosing the right colours and having a jolly good play around until it all came together.

I absolutely love this edging and I know I will definitely use it again. I would love to try a very wide version of it one day, which I think would look amazing around a patchwork of granny squares.....can you see it? {edit - ooooo, look what I just found on Pinterest!! >> HERE} See? Fabulous idea eh?!

The Linen Stitch Edging is formed in five rounds - four rounds of linen stitch (also known as moss stitch) and a fifth round of simple scallops to finish. I've written up a full tutorial for making it, which you can find in my left hand side bar....

♥ LINEN STITCH EDGING ♥

I really loved finishing this blanket, it felt like such a joyous triumph, and something of a small relief too.

"Lucy Crochets with Pastel Colours and All Is Well!"

I had worried quietly to myself that I might end up feeling half hearted about this blanket once it was finished. And I know that I wouldn't be able to lie about my feelings here on my blog either. I would have to tell the truth, of course I would.

So I just want to tell you that as much as I fell for these beautiful pastel shades, my bright-colour-love has not altered one jot with the making of this blanket. I've not suddenly gone over to the Pastel Side. I can appreciate the gorgeousness of these sweet, pretty-pretty shades and they've been a refreshing change, but my heart still belongs in the the Bright Colour camp. And that's the truth.

Anyhow, would you like to see how it looks, this Cupcake Stripe blanket?

Want to see how darn pretty it all is?

OK................................

Stripes

coming

up.................................

 

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They are pretty yummy  - think fondant icing, creamy ice cream, love heart candy and iced gems all rolled into one sugary sweet blanket.

The blanket measures 120cm x 175cm which is roughly single bed size. But as with most of my blankets, I like to have them all to hand downstairs for sofa snuggling/den building. They are well used by the Little People I can tell you, which makes my heart happy :)

It's been lovely having this blanket around in the Attic24 household for a while, it does make me feel good to see it casually flung on the sofa, a constant reminder that Spring is on it's way.

Here are some useful links and information about the Cupcake Stripe Blanket ::

♥ CUPCAKE YARN PACK :: 15 x 100g balls of Special DK, which comes with a full colour printed pattern.

♥ CUPCAKE STRIPE PATTERN :: I wrote a separate page for this blanket pattern which gives lots of information about tension, size etc as well as the written Cosy Stripe pattern with the colour order for the Cupcake stripes.

♥ LINEN STITCH EDGING :: this is the new edging I designed especially for the Cupcake blanket.

As ever, I am thrilled to share patterns with you for free and I hope very much that you might feel inspired to make your own pretty-pretty snuggle blanket. Happy hooking my lovelies!

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Comments

[Rose]

just perfect as always. I love the edge around the blanket..every time, it lokks so perfect!

[Fern]

Another fantastic blanket, I really love the cozy stripe pattern and think I'm going to try it in the cupcake colour way. It will be my first time using a kit rather than figuring out my own colours and I'm rather looking forward to it. Just got to finish a brightly coloured neat ripple blanket first and I'm on the home strait with that one. Thank you for your amazing patterns and inspiration.

[Annette My Rose Valley]

Hi Lucy
It is always inspiring to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. I'm sure this is just the beginning of your pastel journey.
Xxx

[Susan]

So beautiful, Lucy. And I know you love bright colors, but these are so soft and beautiful - lovely.

[Robin Summers]

I love the cupcake blanket!!! The idea of having a sister blanket is superb!! Thank you so very much for sharing your talent with all of us. Like you I LOVE making blankets,

Lots of love to you and the family!!!

[Alie]

Beautiful again. I read your post about choosing colours. For me however the most difficult part is choosing the sequence of the colours. Do you have suggestions on how to do this?

[gabriella adano]

Really really very nice your cup cake blanket!!Have good day!!

[jill stephens]

Thankyou lucy for your inspiration i have not long been crocheting, have done your ripple,cosy,harmony,sunny striped blankets,made a stripe blanket for my 94 year old aunt out of left over wool from kits, have ordered cupcake kit and cant wait for it to arrive in tasmania, thanks again
Jill

[Antoinette]

I'm sooooo in love.....

[Judyk2310]

This is very beautiful but I stil love love your favorite bright colors. The edge is so wonderful! I have an afghan that needs an edge and I'm going to use this pattern. I love the yarn packs and the yarn is soft and easy to work with. The interesting thing is that it is less expensive even with postage than here in the US.

[Dorothy]

Lucy I love love love those pastel colours I have made a lot of c2c blankets in those colours and a lot just white ,for the local premmie unit ,,never made a big cover though ,,love your site ,,keep up the good work,,I might get to see you when the weather gets better only live " over the border "

[Thea]

A blanket in these spring/cupecake colors so beautiful. Your crochetwork give me much inspiration and i love to scroll through your blog

[Kath]

A lovely blanket, thinking I'd like to see it made from the little granny squares too. Do I need another blanket? - no. Do I want to make this blanket? - Oh yes, yes, yes!
A note to Edwina, your first post is still there, just click 'next' at the bottom of Lucy's post to see all the comments.

[Charlotte]

Edwina your comment is still there. It is still in first place but on page 3.

[RuralTN]

Lucy, it is so beautiful. The colors are so pretty. I am going to suggest our prayer shawl group have a look at your new blanket. From the Phony Farm in Tennessee USA.

[rachel]

funny- without knowing you'd turned to pastels for a bit, I have too am making a'spring' throw in pale blues, greens, whites and pinks.I am sort of enjoying doing it but am definitely a bright colour lady. That said your cupcake balnket is pretty.

[Georgina]

Oh my! Now I want to spend the day baking cupcakes! yum!yum! Divine colour palette, beautiful and spring-like. I can't wait to get outside in the sunshine and crochet something pretty.

[Dawn]

Well Lucy and Pastels lol your so brave 🤗🤗🤗

It's good to try new things isn't it, oven if at first it's a challenge.
It's been ages since I have popped by, and it was nosing on woolwearhouse that brought me back.

Well done, it's a beautiful blanket. Dawn xx

[helen]

Oh Lucy, you are such an inspiration!
I just love your willingness to try new things and to share your daily pleasure in the everyday things, I check the internet almost daily for a new update to your bubbly, happy little world. I am definitely more in the pastel camp; but your beautiful bright creations inspire me to step out of my comfort zone every now and then.
Please can we have another crochet-a-long?

[Edwina]

I posted the first comment on here and as with other comments I have left, it isn't there. I want to know why you delete my comments.

[Mila]

It surely is a lovely color combination. Love it. And right now I'm getting hungry & my fingers are aching for crocheting. Greetings from Cologne, Mila

[Teresa Kasner]

I love the sugar candy colors in this blanket. I think it's a great addition to your super bright ones. Bravo on finishing!! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

[Me]

Love these colours - thank you for your generosity in sharing you knowledge of colours and what works!! So much appreciated xox

[Farrah Lily]

Just beautiful! I will definitely be buying your pack and making this for my daughter. I love, love, love the colors and thank you so much for sharing your inspiration and design. :)

[Laura]

I just LOVE your knitting!!!