Moorland Blanket CAL :: Part 1

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 :

{MOORLAND YARN PACK}

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.

NEAT WAVE PATTERN

Here is the colour info for Part 1 of the blanket :

1. Cypress (foundation chain, foundation rows 1& 2)
2. Lime (rows 1 & 2)
3. Khaki (rows 3 & 4)
4. Meadow (rows 5 & 6)
5. Pistachio (rows 7 & 8)
6. Mocha (rows 9 & 10)
7. Walnut (rows 11 & 12)
8. Lime (rows 13 & 14)
9. Meadow (rows 15 & 16)
10. Khaki (rows 17 & 18)
11. Lime (19 & 20)
12. Pistachio (rows 21 & 22)
13. Cypress (rows 23 & 24)
14. Walnut (rows 25 & 26)
15. Lime (rows 27 & 28)
16. Grape (rows 29 & 30)
17. Pistachio (rows 31 & 32)
18. Meadow (rows 33 & 34)

INSERT OPTIONAL STRIPE HERE - Lime (for double bed size blankets)

19. Khaki (rows 35 & 36)

20. Mocha (rows 37 & 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 :

NEAT WAVE tutorial

CAL introduction

CAL Q&A

Moorland Yarn pack

 

Comments

[Zoe]

Can't wait ( and a little nervous ) to begin this . The colours remind me of the Long Mynd in Shropshire and therefore my much missed Nana who was from the area. Am hoping that it will be something that is treasured for years ( and not absorb the possible odd curse at dropped stitches ). Wool pack arrives this week :-)))))).

[Nicky]

Still on part One, but cracked it by writing out rows/ colours and if on row 1/2/3/4 of pattern ( tip- read the pattern for the end stitches do not guess ) also get a stitch marker in the ch3 or ch2 that you start with, so you end in the right stitch ( found that crucial.) So - Row 5 meadow is Row 1 pattern, Row 6 Meadow is row 2 pattern, row 7 Pistachio is row 3 pattern and row 8 Pistachio is row 4. Continue writing out colours and row numbers if you have trouble like I did. Hope it helps as I think it is either end of the row that really matters. Count 180 for the row if you want to check too, Good luck xxx

[Hayley]

Good afternoon, I am totally loving the CAL on another note I am wondering where you got your yarn basket from? I am on the hunt for one that can hold this number of balls of yarn?

Thanks
Hayley

[Elizabeth]

Trying to finish a WIP afghan for new baby gift. Have the yarn a really wishing I could join you all. Soon very soon.☺

[roberta clancy]

Hello my name is Roberta Clancy
I live in Australia NSW
I am real interested in your moors blanket I dont crochet but I do no how to do chains

I was born in Glasgow Scotland
Thankyou R Roberta

[Diana Nieves]

Dear Lucy,

I have been following your blog for quite a while now and have fallen in love all your projects. The Moorland blanket is not only as beautiful as the rest but also the one most compatible with the type of color way I surround myself with. So, I finally went to your shop and got a pack. I discovered the CAL only at the end of December and ordered immediately, but I live in the Caribbean, so my yarn did not arrive until today (Yay!), so already i'm nearly two weeks behind. I already practiced the stitch pattern with some other yarn and can't wait to start the real thing. Many, many thanks for your beautiful patterns and your kind generosity.

[DeAun Nelson]

My best friend bought me the kit for Christmas (she knows I would rather make the blanket myself rather than receive a finished one most of the time!). I had to mail it from where I was visiting for the holidays and it just got here. I'm looking forward to catching up!

[Lin Kimenhour]

Lucy, please check the colors and row structure shown on the Neat Wave Pattern. It shows row 19 and 20 as Lime. I am confused. Please help.

[Jenny Turner]

Yay, at last part 2 day has arrived. My day off work and rotten weather - cold, windy and raining but no snow here in the Channel Islands - so I'll be checking the blog hourly looking for part 2 instructions. Can't wait to get going again.

[Jenn]

Lynne^ there's 20 stripes of color. Two rows per color.

[Lynne]

Can I ask, why it states there are 20 stripes per part but the first part gives the colourways for 34 stripes?

[Margaret]

Hello :)
Love the colours in this blanket. Even though I did testers and decided that I needed a 4mm hook, my work is coming up a bit narrow and short. I'm not going to undo as I don't want the blanket for a bed but for a bench in my hall ;) Thank you for such clear instructions, Lucy. This may be my first CAL but I don't think it'll be my last!!

[Catherine DuCharme]

Still waiting on my yarn. Forgot to fill in box for USA.

[Mary Z]

Hello Lucy. I just ordered my yarn pack today, so I will be behind all the others participating in the CAL. I am really looking forward to getting started on my blanket. The colors are beautiful.

[Lynn]

I'm loving the neat wave pattern, now I've mastered it. It was so exciting to do the grape stripe after all those greens, so I'm really looking forward to part 2. I thought I'd fall behind as I'm on holiday in February (no space to take all the yarn with me), but I've checked the schedule, and I'm away for the catch up week - result! Thank you for a lovely pattern, Lucy

[pat]

Hi Lucy, it is looking beautiful and I'm tempted to do my own after I've finished using all my scraps of wool on granny squares. I've been following your blog for a few months now and realised you are a local and your face is familiar. Been racking my brains as to how I know you and wondered if you ever went to Christine's on Otley street? Keep on crocheting and inspiring. x

[Tamar Dalton]

I finished the first 20 rows in record time; waiting for the next 20 is testing my patience! I'm making a minecraft-inspired blanket for my son at the same time to keep my mind off the wait... So very please with the colours and tutorial; great work, Lucy!

[Gee H]

I am very impressed by your clear tutorial, Lucy. I was concerned about the long rows and possibility of mistakes meaning ripping back and/or sloping edges but am now on my tenth stripe, accurate and with neat edges despite being my first attempt.

Your suggestion to do one less turning chain, and making sure that the trebles line up, I'm sure has done the trick. Darning in the ends as I go along also means a tight neat edge.

I have now succeeded in my first resolution for 2017, my retirement year, to try something new and testing in my yarn craft.

Thank you so much

[Julie Letton]

Loving this Lucy, thank you. It's my first CAL. I seem to be having an issue at row ends though... now and then I seem to run out of stitches at the end and as a consequence I have a slant forming on each side. I'm going to undo approx half of my work (I'm doing the double bed size) and see what happens. It's so lovely though, and will form the basis of redecorating our living room :-)

[Pauline (Clark) Stevens]

Sorry I could not manage to get the Moorland blanket started this week, but I would love to join it and hopefully catch up..

[L]

Awesome colour palette! Stitch choice brilliant! Tutorials really are fantastic! My first CAL- am even ahead of schedule- you're a marvel, THANK YOU!!!

[Elizabeth Hill]

I'm using stitch markers every 30 stitches. I'm fed up having to rip out rows, so this is making it easier to keep count.

[Gee]

have never crocheted anything but granny squares before and that was 40 years ago. I was inspired as colours are exactly right for my sister's living room that has a big moorland picture over the fireplace.After practising and tension samples on Saturday it now takes about an hour per stripe - this will be a labour of love!

[Kat]

Is it just me or does it look like there will be loads of yarn left over? I have done the 20 rows which looks like about half of the greens, and have hardly used any of the green balls. Might have enough for a cushion cover left over!
Twiddling my thumbs now till Friday...

[Aine]

My third blanket but my first CAL, so i'm very excited - even doing tension squares (x3) which i've never been bothered to do before - need a 5 hook. Wool pack arrived today, so looking forward to getting started later this evening. xx