During the past few weeks this glorious bag of yarn as been delivering me a huge amount of daily pleasure. The deep familiarity of these seventeen colours that are so very "me" has felt both comforting and inspiring, and I can honestly say more than ever that a good dose of colour therapy really does absolute wonders for mind, heart and soul. This bag of yarn is making me so so happy!
I hatched this blanket plan back at the start of May - at this time of year I get a strong urge to make outdoor picnic blankets as opposed to indoor bed sized blankets. So far I've made two of these which we use a lot during the summer months, they come with us in the car whenever we go to idle about at riversides, hilltops or beaches. Do you know the ones I mean? There was the Granny Patchwork blanket which I made in 2013, then the Colourwash blanket which I made last year. These two blankets were both stash-busting projects and ended up being roughly 140cm / 4.5ft square.
This year, I felt the strong pull back to my original collection of 17 colours which you can see above.
Top row, from left to right ::
♥ Aster ♥ Turquoise ♥ Cloud Blue ♥ Sherbet ♥ Spring Green ♥ Aspen ♥ Meadow ♥ Saffron ♥
Bottom row, from left to right ::
♥ Plum ♥ Magenta ♥ Lavender ♥ Wisteria ♥ Clematis ♥ Fondant ♥ Shrimp ♥ Pomegranate ♥ Lipstick ♥
I also had in mind that I'd like to try making my Harmony Granny Squares in these bright colours - I've been thinking about doing a second version of the Harmony Blanket for quite a while, and this seemed like a good time to give it a go. I am all about comfort and familiarity at the moment :)
I absolutely love love LOVE setting out on a new blanket journey, the thrill of it hasn't in any way diminished over the ten years I've been hooking up blankets. It gives me such a buzz, a real infusion of pure happiness where everything feels right with my world.
Over the coming weeks, I'm going to try and document my progress with this blanket in as much detail as I can, so that any of you who might feel like joining me can jump in and give it a go. This would be a brilliant stash-busting blanket to use up odds and ends of yarn left over from other makes. As you probably know, there is already a full tutorial for the Harmony Granny Square on my blog. These squares are crocheted in six rounds, with the final/sixth round becoming the join-as-you-go bit of the making process. Now if I was making this blanket with odds and ends of stash yarn, I would simply dive in and make each square completely at random, picking out colours on the hoof and hoping for the best. However, in this case I have my seventeen balls of yarn and I've decided that the best thing to do is approach it in a little bit more of a methodical way. So instead of making each square in full, I'm making them all round by round. Let me explain......
There will by One Hundred squares in total (arranged in a 10 x 10 square format).
Each square will use a different colour for each round (so six colours per square), and no two squares will be the same.
So unlike the Harmony Blanket which used one single colour for the sixth/joining round, these squares will be ALL-the-colours in the joining round (sooooo excited about that!)
With seventeen colours, this means working in groups of 6 (17 x 6 = 102, so I'm just going to make up 102 squares and abandon two of them in the last joining round as I only need 100).
I hope all that makes sense, and you get what I'm trying to do!!! If you look at the picture above ↟↟ , that's how this blanket started out - 102 little granny squares (6 of each colour) which form the first round of each Harmony Square. It felt really great to get that first fiddlesome round out of the way!
After the first round is complete, the fun really begins - time to choose the right colours to make up the next round (picture me hopping about in my back yard doing this in the hot sun!) In theory it's a simple method, but it does take a little bit of skill to keep the colours balanced out (hot/cold, light/dark) and to be able to visualise how the colours will work together. The above picture shows you exactly how I did it - I laid out the seventeen balls of yarn, then one by one placed the little squares on top of the yarn ball which will form round two. No two squares of the same colour should be put on any one ball, keep them all different. It's quite a challenge, but a really excellent way to learn about colour combining, if you fancy giving it a go yourself.
Its quite an instinctive way to work, and I don't have any real rules that I apply to this process. Some colours just feel right together and some colours just feel wrong together. Some colours give something of a zing when they come together, some colours sing in harmony when they are together. It's just about what makes me feel happy I guess. For example, I really dislike yellow and purple together so try to avoid that combo, but I really LOVE putting blues with reds or pinks for a it of a colour pop!
I have actually written out all the info for this first part if you wish to follow my choices exactly. Click on the following link and you should land on a PDF file which contains a colour info table for rounds one and two (I really hope this works - let me know??!)
Download Summer Harmony Part 1
Once you've decided which 6 little squares go with each ball, the next thing to do is gather them up and make sure you keep a note of what decisions you've made! I decided on this method - take a length of yarn from the ball approx. 30 cm and fold it in half. Thread the looped end through the corner spaces of each square.....
....then pass the ends of the yarn through the loop and pull tight.
This way, your six little squares are all gathered together and you know exactly which colour to use for the second round of crochet.
The advantage of doing this (other than to avoid making colour mistakes), is that it makes this project extremely portable. If you are going out and about with your crochet, all you need to do is pick up a couple of "bundles" and make sure you have the right balls of yarn to go with them. No need to lug all 17 big balls out and about, just take a few at a time and get ready for some easy, therapeutic hooky.
Working on all 102 squares at a time means that you quickly become familiar with the pattern too, and those rounds really start to fly off the hook. I find it very addictive working in this way ("just one more set, then I must go and cook dinner......"), pleasurable too.
Before you know it, you will be stashing and stacking those two-round squares feeling mighty happy with your progress. It's hooky heaven!
One thing I do need to mention is about the ends........now don't start groaning and rolling your eyes, honestly, it's really not that bad! With a project like this (six hundred colour changes, people), it's vital that you dig deep and find some end-darning discipline. Keep your needle with your scissors and get used to darning in the ends as soon as you snip off the yarn.
Crochet, snip and darn.
Don't even question it, just try it and you will be surprised how quickly it becomes a habit - trust me, it's the only way to go.
In my next update, I'll show you how round 3 looks and I'll have a go at putting all the colour info together in a way that makes sense.....now there's a challenge!
Here are some links that you might need :
♥ ORIGINAL ATTIC24 YARN PACK ♥
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ps Forgot to say - as per the title of this post, I'm calling this blanket "Summer Harmony"
I am color-challenged, but I learned that I can just come to your site and see what colors you're working with and happily copy you. I love your blanket already. Thank you so much for the inspiration and your wonderful eye for color. From Wyoming, USA.
Posted by: Judy | June 23, 2017 at 01:57 PM
Making blankets is my most favourite thing to do so I can completely understand where you're coming from Lucy, I used your method when I made my violet meadow blanket but my centers were little cog wheels not squares and I had so much fun with it. Once I get some of my many wips out of the way I will be making a summer harmony blanket too although by then it will probably have to be an Autumn or even winter harmony blanket haha have a great weekend. :) xx
Posted by: Linda | June 23, 2017 at 10:00 AM
About this darning business: one can do it with the hook. Simply thread the yarn ends through one leg of the top Vs of each stitch half way around the first round. That's my way of getting round my darn-o-loathia.
Posted by: Ingeborg | June 23, 2017 at 09:01 AM
Just finished my second Moorland CAL blanket and am wondering what to do next! Now I know! Thanks for this new blanket. I've made several of your blankets and have a good stash of left over yarn so I think I might be using yarn for,your new blanket!
Posted by: Quiltperson | June 23, 2017 at 07:59 AM
Color me happy... it sure is the best of therapies. Great project and you're being so tactic about the process. It looks like a really happy crowd of squares. Enjoy the journey.
Xxx
Annette
MY ROSE VALLEY
Posted by: Annette - My Rose Valley | June 23, 2017 at 06:33 AM
Oh no! Another blanket to add to the list. I am so slow and still doing the hydrangea blanket with two more in the wings. Oh well at least its winter here and I will eventually catch up. Thanks for your inspiration.
Posted by: Julie | June 23, 2017 at 05:27 AM
You inspire me every day!
Posted by: Eleanor MacLean | June 23, 2017 at 04:10 AM
Love this! Thank you so much. Love all your designs. Finished a Harmony blanket in the fall and have a Cupcake almost done. This looks like the next one up. 😊
Posted by: Mary | June 22, 2017 at 11:08 PM
Always look forward to your posts. Love the colours, can't wait to complete my unfinished blankets (only 4 to go...) before I can start this one!? No room for anymore yarn at the mo. The cat likes it too :)
Posted by: Crafty Cath | June 22, 2017 at 10:21 PM
Ooh, a new summer picnic blanket, lovely. I'm a big fan of outdoor blankets as well, they're so nice to pop in the car / bag for lounging on down by the river or at the beach. I shall enjoy watching it take shape. CJ xx
Posted by: CJ | June 22, 2017 at 10:15 PM
oooh this looks wonderful but I have to admit I shuddered a bit at the thought of all those ends! even doing them as you go must feel like you do more darning than crocheting...
Posted by: Sophie | June 22, 2017 at 10:13 PM
Beautiful colours!
Posted by: Cathy | June 22, 2017 at 08:35 PM
Glad that your crocheting is good therapy for you. Love the colours!
Posted by: winifred waite | June 22, 2017 at 08:14 PM
End-darning is one of the reasons why I love the non-clustered granny squares, the one of just solid double crochets (treble for you). You can crochet over the ends as you go with those, and never have to work in a single one. :-)
Posted by: Janis | June 22, 2017 at 07:26 PM
What fun! I can't wait to see Round 3!
Posted by: Beth in Maryland | June 22, 2017 at 05:39 PM
Lucy, could you please edit a picture to show exactly how you snip the darns. Thanks!
Posted by: Lorenza | June 22, 2017 at 05:35 PM
Dear dear Lucy, you are the best doctor in the world!
Loooove your therapy!
Take care
Lorenza
Posted by: Lorenza | June 22, 2017 at 05:29 PM
I absolutely love these colours. Also, that you're doing a granny square blanket again. Pure inspiration!
Posted by: Cate | June 22, 2017 at 05:29 PM
Lovely! So happy to see you playing with the colors again. :) This week I ordered the original colors from WoolWearhouse, and I'm going to try the Granny Stripe blanket. I've never crocheted before, but you have inspired me!
Posted by: Zoe | June 22, 2017 at 05:27 PM
I'm so with you on this, the colour play, the ticking off of a round at a time, even snip and darn as you go. Hooky perfection!
S x
Posted by: Sandra | June 22, 2017 at 05:12 PM
This is a perfect summer crochet project. Jean x
Posted by: Jean the Creative Pixie | June 22, 2017 at 04:52 PM
This is just wonderful Lucy. Thank you! I am working on several blankets at the same time which I don't think is a great idea! But I can't seem to finish one before diving into another... oh well, this one I'll save for the near future... love it to pieces!
Posted by: Bex Crowell | June 22, 2017 at 04:10 PM
I think that round 1 and round 2 are reversed on your PDF
Posted by: Charlotte. | June 22, 2017 at 04:06 PM
Love the tip about grouping squares together in the yarn for the next round. I'll definitely be using that for future projects!. I used to bag all my little piles up! Thanks ever so much! :)
Posted by: rosina | June 22, 2017 at 03:55 PM
I love your colour lay-out. It's like "crochet as Sudoko", no 2 colours in the same sextet. Now we can argue that crochet helps keep our brains working! Thanks for enduring the sun to show us your plan.
Posted by: Barbara Seiver | June 22, 2017 at 03:45 PM