Moorland Blanket CAL : Part 2

This past week seems to have speeded by in a whirl of everything and nothing, and I can't believe it's already a week since the Moorland CAL began. This time last week I was a bundle of nervous energy, checking through my tutorial a gazillion times, hoping that all would be ok and that there would be no glaring mistakes. Thanks to one or two of you getting in touch, I discovered a few small errors (mainly numbering mistakes) but all was quickly put right and I've been thrilled and relieved to see so many gorgeous wavy blankets beginning to take shape in your hands. I know the first few rows can be a real chew, and I've hoped and wished for a good many of you as I've seen and read about your initial struggles to conquer a new pattern. 

These rows do get easier as the blanket goes on, I promise you that. In the beginning, I found myself often frustrated with my own messed up counting and rows that didn't end up as they should. I frogged my fair share of stitches in the early stages, and I know first hand the irritation and disappointment it causes. Please believe me, it DOES get easier! The more rows you work, the more you begin to feel the pattern working. You feel the beautiful rhythm, the counting becomes second nature, you notice the way each stitch fits in and lines up, you spot the mistakes quickly. It really does grow on you this blanket, it creeps gently in,  takes root and brings satisfaction, happiness and peace.

I also had to laugh when I read about how many of you have been getting fed up with the Lime!! Hahaha, I know, I know! The way I've carefully planned the overall design means there is a lot of Lime in these bottom rows - this is the foreground of the landscape and it needed to be brighter than the rest. The heather is coming in part 2, you will really LOVE the purples!

I want to show a few photos that have been shared on my Facebook page during this past week, in the hope they might help and inspire. Many of you who have been struggling to nail the counting of this pattern have found that marking the pattern repeats with life lines or stitch markers has saved the day. The above blanket belongs to Heather, and her running life lines placed every 10 stitches helped keep her on track.

Stitch markers (here used by Rosalba) are also very helpful if you are struggling with the pattern repeat. Here they are placed every 10 stitches, but you could place them every 20 or 30 if you wished - it means that if you spot a mistake, you only need to pull back a small amount rather than the whole row. You might find you only need to do this for the first set of stripes - I am confident that as your blanket grows, so will your confidence!

I also thought you might like to see some alternative patterns being worked with my Moorland colours - I've been so happy to see people taking these shades and using them in their own way..... 

This is an Eyelet Ripple by Naomi...

Marie is using a Block Stitch to work her stripes in a beautiful repeating order....

Katie has opted for Granny stripes....

Yvonne has used the Cosy Stripe to work her Moorland colours....

Jo is making a really beautiful shawl....

...and just look at all this gorgeous texture in these stripes hooked by Nicky.

And lastly, a real feast for the eyes - Jennifer is using the Moorland colours to make a Sophie's Universe blanket, which is just stunning.

Part 2 of the Moorland blanket will see the greens and browns gradually make way for more of the purple heather colours. The shift in colours is very subtle, but oh so beautiful.....

....I'm hoping that as you work through part 2 you'll be starting to get a good feel of the colour journey, and that you'll enjoy it as much as I am!

Whilst I've been working these rows, I've had a continuous stream of images and memories flowing through my mind as I recall the many walks we've made on the moors amongst the heather. It's so energising and peaceful being surrounded by a landscape stretching out before you, all those layers of texture and colour and light to make your heart sing.

So your last stripe from Part 1 should be Mocha - that was stripe number 20.

And here is the colour information for Part 2 : stripes 21-40, working from the bottom upwards.

Remember each stripe is worked in two rows, so 20 stripes = 40 rows of crochet.

*Please note - stripes written in *red text* are additional stripes to be worked only if you have 2 yarn packs and are making a double bed size blanket. If you have one yarn pack, please ignore the red!

21. Grape

*Pistachio* (optional for large size)

22. Lime

23. Walnut

24. Cypress

25. Meadow

26. Khaki

27. Lime

28. Walnut

29. Mocha

*Cypress* (optional for large size)

30. Khaki

31. Grape

32. Walnut

33. Sage

34. Plum

35. Grape

36. Meadow

*Khaki* (optional for large size)

37. Plum

38. Violet

39. Sage

40. Walnut

After part 2 (40 stripes), your blanket should be measuring approximately 60 cm in height. It should also be starting to keep your knees warm as you work, which is a bonus for us shivering here in the cold of a Northern hemisphere Winter!

I just wanted to reassure you that all CAL posts will stay on my blog for you to access and dip into for always, so please don't worry if you can't begin just yet, the pattern and colour information will be here waiting for when you are ready.

And for those of you who have made a start, please, please feel comfortable working at your own pace. It's fabulous that we are all taking this journey together, but it really isn't a race - I so very much want you to enjoy every part of this blanket you are making, no matter how slow those stitches might be.

Here are the links you might need - Part 3 (stripes 41-60) will be here on Friday 20th January.

❤ Moorland Blanket CAL : Part 1

❤ Neat Wave tutorial

❤ Moorland CAL : Introduction

❤ Moorland CAL : Q&A

❤ Moorland Yarn Pack

Happy Hooking! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

...more little snippets from the Attic...

My Granny Stripe Blanket

Cosy Stripe Blanket :: ta-dah!

Harmony Home Stretch

Up Hill and Down Dale

Notes from the Studio

Comments

[Eva Sánchez]

Thanks a lot, Lucy. Now I'm ready for the second part! :)

[Lynne Gill]

LOVING those photos of the work completed by other hookers! (!) I guess I am going to take my hook in hand and finally get down to it - I've been putting it off after being so disappointed by the r=terrible starts and finishes of each row on my tension swatches. It has disheartened me. I can do the pattern but just cannot get the ends to work. A friend of mine has told me I shouldn't be afraid of failing - dive in and be prepared to frog. So I will. Perhaps this evening. Or tomorrow.. I promise.

[PJ Showe]

Lucy! all these are beautiful! I think a great deal has to do with the beautiful colors you've put together--as we can see all the versions of colors are very lovely. I have appreciated your beautiful patterns for quite a while and I love seeing the progress. I'm doing mine in the cosy pattern like Yvonne (when I receive the yarn). I'm in the US and ordered late so I'll be starting later. I love your color sense and the reason for the Moorland collection is so enjoyable to read about and see. I like your giving us the opportunity to expand our talents with different patterns.

[Vicky Jarvis]

Thank you Lucy for designing such a gorgeous blanket. I have just finished Part 1 and now about to start Part 2 which i must say looks lush!! I'm currently in sunny Norfolk but being transported to the Yorkshire Moors!

[Stel]

Lucy - I love the concept that you came up with here, and the colours work just beautifully. I'm already wondering how the colours of our Little Karoo or Fynbos would work out, since I've done a tiny stool cover in it some time ago! I might just have to play around with it!

[mrs. smythe]

Hi Lucy! I really enjoyed seeing the different ways people have used your colorway. Thanks for sharing. .

[Sophie]

Hi Lucy, just wanted to say thank you I'm really enjoying this. It's my first CAL and it's going well thanks to your fabulously clear instructions. I've only done 10 wave stripes so far as I can only really do an hour or so in the evening. We had a family holiday last summer walking on the Yorkshire Moors and Dales so the colours are bringing back lots of happy memories.

[Edwina]

After constantly pulling back rows because they didn't work out I decided that at my age I didn't need the stress, life's too short and all that, so I too,am doing an eyelet chevron version and it looks just fine.

[Brenda Cupryna]

some lovely work on view. thanks for sharing

[Kim]

I was trying to resist getting involved with this one but......I've just bought the yarn :-) Love the colours, love the moors and eternally grateful that there are lovely people like you Lucy out there to inspire and create community through crochet! Looking forwards to catching up!

[[email protected]]

Is there a pattern for the eyelet Ripple by Naomi?

[Michelle]

Can't wait to get my color pack in the mail so I can start working on this. I love, love the colors.

[Sandra]

Thank you for the next week's homework! This week has been dominated by this project every day my spare time has been devoted to it. It has been a challenge and lots of sighing and undoing has been the order of some days but at last it is beginning to sink in and become slightly automatic now. Having said that it has also been rewarding to see how lovely it looks and an achievement to have not let it beat me! Just finished stripe 19 so hoping to catch up next week.

[Glenda]

Wow it's my first CAL and am loving the community feel already. Everyone seems to be working through the same problems- why couldn't I see the pattern well initially? I needed to count the 10 stitches and now I don't need to count. I am still making mistakes but i see it at the next wave so am not pulling back so much. thanks Lucy!

[Tamar Dalton]

I'm loving being part of this CAL & reading everyone's comments from around the world. There are some amazingly talented people out there!
Very excited to be taking week 2 colours to the beach for the week (you may be freezing Lucy, but we are sweltering here in NE Victoria, Aus).
I agree with Madhurya - the Universe blanket may be my next project ...gorgeousness!

[Susan Smith]

Lucie, it is looking scrumptious. I loved seeing how others were using the colours too. I'm thinking about a pack, but have so much else to do, I can see it sitting about forever & a day before I get to it. Just have the borders to start on the cupcake cosy stripe rug & soon that will be finished & I'm just about to do a QAL type tutorial to start using up my gigantic fabric stash. THANK YOU for all the inspiration so that I now enjoy crocheting again, as it is my go to after tea to relax. Take care & hope the weather is not too bleak at the moment.

[Liz Barraclough]

Am making less mistakes as the rows go by. Haven't had to pull any back on the last two rows so definitely progress. It's looking good! Only thing I've been thinking is that I should have gone up a hook size for my initial chain. The edge looks a little tight compared to the rest. Do you think this will be unnoticeable when the border goes on or is there a way of correcting? Definitely not going back to the beginning at this stage!

[Gill]

I needed something that I don't have to concentrate on too much, so opted to make the ripple pattern. I made a coastal ripple two years ago as a gift, so I am glad to make a new one and I think it will be moorland like enough for me. I shall follow the colour sequence just the same.

[Zozie]

I love reading your blog lucy- don't like to miss updates...I have my CAL as well starting😊
https://whimsyandcosy.wordpress.com/category/crochet/

[Millimari]

I love your ripple blanket and ordered the yarns already before Christmas and started working on the blanket.

[Julierose]

Well, being a knitter, I am going to make myself a lap blanket by using a similar pattern (waves) for this lovely lovely yarn pack which I just ordered. hugs, Julierose

[Angela-Southern USA]

I love seeing everyone's different take on the blanket as well as the pattern you've chosen! It's been awhile since I've done that sort of pattern, may have to whip up a cushion or two. ; )xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Arlene]

Although this first week has been a lot of ripping out rows and trying desperately to finish before today (which I didn't manage to do) I think I now have it down and I am looking forward to catching up to the rest of you. I think tomorrow (Sat) will be an all crochet day.

I am actually loving all the greens and browns.

Thanks Lucy

[bekki]

I loved seeing the different blankets people have started with the moorland colours. They are all so beautiful.

[Charmian]

Thank you for saying it should be 60 cm after the first two parts. after my first 20 colours, mine falls short by 3 cms, so I am going to add in the rows you have suggested in part two for the bigger blanket, plus one extra before I start for 21, and hopefully the size will catch up!
Really getting into the rhythm of the pattern now and thank you so much for sharing all your lovely patterns with us.