Hello my lovelies!!!!!! I'm so sorry I've been away from the Attic for a few weeks, I've not been very well over Christmas and New Year and so spent way too much time either in bed or snuggled on the sofa trying to recover from this stinker of a cold that hit me hard. I'm just on the tail end of it now, and am feeling a little bit more like my usual happy, bouncy self again which is a relief I can tell you. I'll be writing some catch-up posts next week, but today we are here to celebrate the start of my Moorland Blanket Crochet-a-Long, yipppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wanted to share the above photo with you - this was taken last week as we drove up over the Moorland in sub-zero temperatures, my oh my, it was sooooooo beautiful up there. The Winter Moorland is a gorgeous palette of muted and soft colours, more subdued than the Summer landscape but still very lovely indeed.
But now I want to take you back to late August and remind you of the inspiration behind my Moorland Blanket.................
.........ahhh, that's better!! Feel the warmth!!!!!!! This is my most favourite time to walk on the moors, with blue skies and warm sunshine, light winds and clear vistas. And the colours.....oh the colours of the Summer moorland are a complete delight!
I chose fifteen shades of Stylecraft Special DK to create my Moorland colour palette :
Top row, left to right ♥ Pistachio ♥ Sage ♥ Grape ♥ Wisteria ♥ Duck Egg ♥
Middle row, left to right ♥ Lime ♥ Meadow ♥ Mocha ♥ Violet ♥ Cloud Blue ♥
Bottom row, left to right ♥ Cyprus ♥ Khaki ♥ Walnut ♥ Plum ♥ Storm Blue ♥
You can find the Moorland Yarn Pack in my shop with Wool Warehouse :
I designed a simple Neat Wave pattern for my Moorland Blanket to echo the view of the rolling landscape.
But aside from the actual Neat Wave pattern, I also decided to try and design a blanket where the colours of the stripes echo the landscape too. I wanted the blanket to feel like a journey, a visual stroll across the moors in Summer time. The bright greens of summer grasses and mosses, the earthy tones of stone paths and peaty soil, the vibrant swathes of purple heather blooming, and the gentle blues of a summer sky.
This is a deceptively simple idea, but it was much harder to accomplish in reality I can tell you! You can read more about my inspiration and design process in this post.
The Neat Wave pattern itself is pretty simple, using three different stitch heights to create the rise and fall of the waves. Working this pattern takes a little bit of practice and concentration, but there is only very simple counting required and the repetitive rhythm of it is very, very meditative and soothing.
I've created a full picture-heavy tutorial to help those of you who are new to crochet. The tutorial will enable you to make a small sample (shown above) so that you can work out your own tension and settle on a hook size which will work for you.
Towards the end of the tutorial, I've given guidelines about starting chains and blanket sizes - for the Moorland Blanket CAL I'm using one yarn pack to make a single bed size blanket measuring 120 x 170 cm. I've used a starting chain of 181 for this size (18 x 10, plus an extra 1)
If you've bought two yarn packs and are wishing to make a bigger double bed size blanket, I've given a couple of suggestions for different starting chains, and some information to help you work out the size you need.
Every Friday here on the main pages of my blog, I'll be giving you a CAL update which will give you the colour information for twenty stripes at a time. There will be 115 stripes in total, which will make a blanket measuring 170 cm.
I'll also give you the option of adding in an extra 15 stripes which will be spread throughout the blanket - this is for those of you who are making bigger blankets with two yarn packs. The extra stripes will make the blanket approximately 20 cm longer (190 cm). Because of the way the colours are worked, it wasn't possible to simply add the extra rows on at the end. I'll write them clearly in red - only add them if you have an extra yarn pack to accommodate them!! I hope this makes sense!!
All CAL posts will remain on my blog so you can dip into them whenever you need - please don't worry if you miss a week or fall behind with your hooky, you can go at your own pace. Here is a rundown of the CAL schedule :
Friday 6th January - part 1 - working a tension sample, choosing the right hook size, stripes 1-20.
Friday 13th January - Part 2 - stripes 21-40
Friday 20th January - Part 3 - stripes 41-60
Friday 27th January - Part 4 - stripes 61-80
Friday 3rd February - Part 5 - stripes 81 - 100
Friday 10th February - Part 6 - stripes 101 - 115
Friday 17th February - Catch up week (darn in those ends!!)
Friday 24th February - Part 7 - the edging and a grand Ta-dah!
A little word about the Moorland yarn colours - before you start, please make sure you are familiar with the yarn colours and names. There are six shades of greens in this blanket, so it can be easy to make mistakes, even if you think you know the colours. Snip some little bits of yarn and stick them to a sheet of paper with their names, or store your yarn balls with their names/labels attached.
Here is the colour info for Part 1 of the blanket :
- Cypress (foundation chain, foundation rows 1& 2)
- Lime (rows 1 & 2)
- Khaki (rows 3 & 4)
- Meadow (rows 5 & 6)
- Pistachio (rows 7 & 8)
- Mocha (rows 9 & 10)
- Walnut (rows 11 & 12)
- Lime (rows 13 & 14)
- Meadow (rows 15 & 16)
- Khaki (rows 17 & 18)
- Lime (19 & 20)
- Pistachio (rows 21 & 22)
- Cypress (rows 23 & 24)
- Walnut (rows 25 & 26)
- Lime (rows 27 & 28)
- Grape (rows 29 & 30)
- Pistachio (rows 31 & 32)
- Meadow (rows 33 & 34)**INSERT OPTIONAL STRIPE HERE - Lime (for double bed size blankets)
- Khaki (rows 35 & 36)
- Mocha (rows 27 & 38)
I really, really, really hope you enjoy the start of your Moorland journey - this first part is all about the greens, the summer grass and moss, with little peeps of earth and heather as you go. Have fun, and we'll catch up again next Friday....
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Links for more info :
Hi Lucy, Im about to order moorland kit but im not keen on the blues is there anything I can swap them with love part one and how the green, purples and browns are. Thank you
Posted by: Louise george | February 18, 2024 at 08:52 PM
I have the yarn for the moorland blanket. But I need to have the pattern. … please can you help as I have messaged before but not had a response. Many thanks
Posted by: Jan Carwardine | November 18, 2023 at 09:27 PM
Could you please provide a copy of the pattern? I have bought the yarn from you, but need the pattern for the moorland. Maybe email it to me??
Posted by: Jan Carwardine | October 09, 2023 at 03:07 PM
Can you please tell me where I can get a paper copy of this pattern. The wool arrived without a pattern and I know I'll never be able to follow it online. Many thanks
Posted by: Elaine Rowan | July 10, 2023 at 02:37 PM
Hi Lucy,
Wondering if you have the actual tutorial from the Moorland CAL that can be watched now? I have the yarn and the instructions. But since it was a CAL I thought maybe there was a copy somewhere on the internet - YouTube maybe.
Thanks
Posted by: Connie | May 07, 2022 at 01:26 AM
Hi please help me. my sister Juliette Rey Roeber has Purchased many of your Blanket kits for me.
I need the patterns for the Moorland Blanket & the Sweet Pea Blanket.I have the wool from you but I cannot find the patterns on line. please direct me or email them to me..
many thanks
Posted by: Jacqueline Rey | August 02, 2021 at 09:07 AM
Hi LUCY. Thank you for this gorgeous feast of colour. This is my first proper crochet project, so I appreciate the nearly idiot proof tutorials. I am making this for my wilderness obsessed eldest son.
Posted by: DULY Rose | August 30, 2020 at 11:53 PM
Hi Lucy
When I follow the ten stitch pattern for the moorland blanket do I do dc four times or just twice ? I’m a little confused
Thanks in advance
Georgie
Posted by: Georgie Owen | October 01, 2019 at 08:02 PM
I am having difficulty finding the pattern could you please direct me to the correct place. I would like the whole pattern if possible. Can’t wait to get started! Love the colours of the yarn
Many thanks
Amanda Jones
Posted by: Amanda Jones | March 13, 2019 at 08:36 AM
Hello,
Is there a place to print out the entire pattern so I can take the wool and crochet anywhere?
Thank you.
Posted by: Heather Tretiak | February 01, 2019 at 11:26 PM
Can I find the entire pattern in one place somewhere please?
I am going to be incapcitated for several months after a hospital op so am looking forward to making this to pass my time.
Many thanks!
nic
Posted by: Nic Macaulay-Smith | October 31, 2018 at 01:13 PM
Hi, I started the Moorland blanket and its going pretty good but have a devil of a time at the end were you have to hook into the ch 2. I am using a 5 mm hook. Sometimes I can't get it in there seems hooks to big, so I end up going under it. Hope this won't be a problem later with the border. If I am missing something could you advise. Also silly question but how do you see the answers from this feed. Clicked to follow but doesn't work. I have admired your blankets for some time and finally got the nerve to try one, your colours are so beautiful I could not resist.
Posted by: Vicki Macfarlane | December 29, 2017 at 04:20 PM
Hi Lucy, All of you crocketiers have already finished the Cal blankets by now, but I've just decided to start making the blanket! Never ever did I crocket something, but one time for everything ;) I've looked around here on this site and through the blog and I adore all the work you've made Lucy! I can't wait to receive the box that I ordered on Carosatelier (a Dutch webshop) and to start off the first week.
Posted by: Esther | September 05, 2017 at 03:23 PM
Hi Lucy - just bought the Moorland Yarn Pack and wanted to sort out the order of colours of the different CALs. I only seem to be able to see CAL 1 notes, CAL Part 2 etc give me a blank page? Any thoughts? Links maybe broken?
Best regards
Henriette
Posted by: Henriette | August 29, 2017 at 12:46 PM
Hello Lucy, I'm new to crochet but love the moorland blanket so much that I've bought the wool pack. I've figured out the stitches but would like to ask when I've stitched dc dc her htr tr tr htr htr dc dc do I then go straight to htr htr or do I do dc dc in other words should I have dc x 4 or dc x2 .
Can't wait for your reply as I'm dying to start but can't face pulling it down if I've got it wrong
Many thanks
Annette
Posted by: Mrs Annette Houlden | August 20, 2017 at 07:41 PM
Hi Lucy - I have loved making your Moorland blanket and it looks stunning. I am confused as to the number of stitches one should start with for a double bed size - in the instructions, you say to start with a chain of 181 for the single size and later in RED you also say 181 chains - surely the double should be much bigger?
Thanks Delyse
Posted by: Delyse Richards | July 10, 2017 at 01:09 PM
Am still working on the blanket, I have a problem with one edge of my blanket not being straight, any suggestions?
Posted by: Marlene Harvis | June 11, 2017 at 05:39 PM
Hia Lucy, I absolutely love your Moorland Blanket and I've put a few (!?) unfinished projects on hold to have a go at this. I completed the sample first to get familiar with the pattern with a more manageable number of stitches. So far, so good. I've now had about 10 attempts at the blanket, but I just can't get the rows lined up. Do you have any advice on keeping the correct number of stitches? I keep losing count across 180 stitches. The result is that my ripples don't flow properly. I hope you can advise me. Keep up your beautiful, inspiring creations! xxx
Posted by: Carol Ingham | May 07, 2017 at 09:51 AM
Please forgive me but I am too terrified to start the wave so I am using all my moorland wool mix to make granny square blanket so at least I will enjoy the colours without panicking about my wonky wave!
Posted by: Wendy O'Connor | April 11, 2017 at 03:49 PM
Lucy, as an avid crocheter who is not even a tiny bit creative, I thank you and truly appreciate your inventiveness. I am always searching for projects that have beauty and meaning and I am fortunate to have found you. Working on the Moorland blanket is soothing and puts me in a beautiful place!
Posted by: Susan Toscano | April 02, 2017 at 03:02 PM
Hi Lucy friend has just put me on to this moorland design, but I chose rainbow colours, £27 one, original style-craft, do you have pattern for that, or must I just follow moorland pattern with colours I selected, please help, thanks
Posted by: Eileen Gardiner | March 18, 2017 at 02:55 PM
In part 1, I read that rows 19 & 20 are in mocha. But on the list I think it says Lime. Which is correct?
Posted by: Anne Montgomery | March 15, 2017 at 08:00 AM
Good Morning Lucy,
Is there a way that I can just print the pattern and colour sequence per CAL issue without having all the pictures (which are lovely, please don't get me wrong). Just a tad superflous for a pattern I would like to carry around as I hook away?
Your guidance would be most appreciated
Thank You,
Elaine
Posted by: Elaine | February 28, 2017 at 06:46 AM
I have been eyeing this pattern for a while now, but had other projects going. I love the colors of this, but was curious about trying a beach landscape. Any suggestions on how to intermingle the colors for that?
Posted by: XpektoPatronum | February 26, 2017 at 01:48 PM
I have just started the cal - better late than never. And after a few very frustrating rows on my tension square and 3 proper rows of the blanket - I have had my Eureka moment. I know what I am doing! Long may it last.
Posted by: jane farthing | February 23, 2017 at 10:37 AM