Sweet Pea Blanket CAL :: Part 2

Hello petals, how has your week been? Tell me, has it contained plenty of happy moments, and possibly a little hooky action? Have you been closing your eyes at night and seeing neat rows of pretty floral inspired colour? Have you longed for the scent of sweet peas to waft in on the summer breeze? I've had a great week myself, a little emotional but that's to be expected in these crazy-intense CAL weeks.

For those of you who are joining me on this yarn-filled blankety journey, I hope very very much that you got off to a good start. And if the start was a little iffy, I hope that you managed to overcome any wobbles and are well on your way with your sweet trellis rows now. For those of you who don't crochet (why ever don't you??!!), I do so hope that these posts aren't boring your to tears and that you're enjoying the waves of summery colour that I'm sending your way.

So here we are about to embark on week two, and this week you will really begin to see the colour palette springing to life in your hands. These colours are so optimistic - I know for some of you these aren't the type of colours you are usually drawn to, but aren't they uplifting to look at? I do love them, because I am a summery type of person right down to my soul.

I'm surprisingly not missing my favourite blues too much either, and thinking about it, this may possibly be one of the only blankets I've ever made (ever, ever) that doesn't have any blue in it at all. Believe me when I tell you I really seriously thought about including some summer sky in this colour palette (Duck Egg was positively SHOUtInG at me from the sidelines!) but in hindsight I'm glad that I resisted. I think it would have diluted what is a very strong colour palette with a very distinctive floral essence.

I took dozens and dozens of photos of these flowers during the summer, the majority of them all on one glorious day in July after I'd been to the Sweet Pea Flower Show. I remember it so well, the almost overwhelming excitement when I realised how beautiful this whole sweet pea colour palette was going to be. Playing with colour makes me so happy!

Back to the blanket, and I'm wondering how many of you have been darning in your ends as you go along? Are you listening to the Voice from the Attic and being good with your ends, or are you leaving them dangling?!

A few people have asked about the best way to darn in ends when working the Trellis Stripe - I did include this info (with photos) in the tutorial, but possibly you might have still missed it. If you're looking for it, you can find it within the Trellis Stripe tutorial just after row 4 (the second stripe). Hope that it's helpful.

During this week I've spent a humongous amount of time on Facebook and Instagram, attempting to keep up with the huge volume of Sweet Pea posts, answering questions, giving encouragement, having some little tearful moments and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments too. I really enjoy sharing this whole blanket journey with you all, and today I thought it would be inspiring to show you how many variations of the Sweet Pea blanket I've come across.

Be warned......there are a LOT!!!!! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Connie wowed me by sharing all three versions of the Sweet Pea blanket that she's started making. On the left is the Repeat stripe (following my sampler colour order), in the middle is the start of the Colourwash, and on the right is the Posy. Enlightening, don't you think?!

There are many of you who are making two blankets together, and it's been so fun to see these......

Rachel is following the Posy colour order, using the Neat Ripple and the Trellis Stripe patterns.

Michelle is making the Colourwash Sweet Pea blanket as well as a beautiful Posy granny stripe where she's changing colours every row. This granny stripe has had a lot of love on Facebook, and I agree it looks absolutely great.

Susan is following both the Posy and the Colourwash, but has chosen to work them into granny square blankets - I'm so looking forward to seeing these grow as the weeks progress.

I've come across pretty much every Attic24 blanket pattern being used with the Sweet Pea yarn pack.......

take a look........

Weia is making the Cosy Stripe....

Michelle is making the Woodland Ripple....

David is making a gorgeous Granny Stripe (2 rows per colour)....

Ida is making an Interlocking Colour Ripple....

Alta is making the Neat Ripple....

Jacqui is making the Neat Wave....

Margaret has used the Hydrangea Stripe with the repeating colour order....

Kaz has astounded us yet again by working like the clappers and finishing a whole Sweet Pea Summer Harmony blanket, isn't that something? She added in two additional shades (Fondant and Apricot) to make 17 colours in total, and "mapped" each colour to a corresponding shade in my Original yarn pack. She was then able to use the formula I created for my Summer Harmony Blanket to allow the sweet pea colours to cascade in this beautiful colour wash. At the beginning of March, Kaz will be releasing a PDF file to list out the colours she used for each of the one hundred squares in her blanket - I'll be sure to let you know where you can find all the information if you fancy creating your own Sweet Pea Summer Harmony.

As well as all these Attic24 patterns being used, I've also spotted some other gorgeous stitch patterns which have been given the Sweet Pea treatment.......

Liz has used this dense stitch for her repeating stripes - it's called the Elizabeth stitch or Bean stitch, and creates a fabulously neat texture.

Carol has taken the Sweet Pea yarn pack and made a Granny Stripe baby blanket, choosing to work single rows of each colour. She followed the repeating colour order from my sweet pea sampler, alternating each single row with a soft silvery grey....isn't it inspiring?

Ruth is doing something similar by adding silver grey to the Sweet Pea colours, but this is the beginnings of a cardigan (adapating this pattern, which was originally written for 4ply yarn).

Honor....well Honor is doing something stunning with her yarn pack!! This is the beginning of the "Briar Rose" pattern by Hooked on Sunshine which you can find on Ravelry (here). I'm so looking forward to seeing more of this in the coming weeks.

As well as blankets, I have spotted Sweet Pea Fever sweeping through our community.........

Sue crocheted these super-pretty sweet pea flowers, aren't they delightful? You can find the pattern on Etsy (here).

Judy decided that instead of crocheting Sweet Pea colours, she would grow her own real-life flowers instead.....fab idea, and I hope to see many more of you bringing these beautiful flowers to your gardens this summer.

Sarah made my laugh out loud this morning by sharing her Sweet Pea nails.........utterly brilliant!!!!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing just a fraction of the many hundreds of photos which have been shared on Facebook during this past week. Thank you for making our online Sweet Pea gathering a truly lovely place to be.

Oh, and speaking of gatherings, please can I tell you about a little get together that is happening next month? A lovely lady called Sandra is organising a Sweet Pea Gathering in my childhood home town of Bridport in Dorset. Sadly I can't make it (it's on Sunday 3rd February) but I so so wish I could be there!! If you like the idea of taking your blanket to Bridport to socialise with other lovely Pea Podders, please go visit Sandra's blog to say hello and get the details {SWEET PEA GATHERING}

Right, shall we get on and take a look at Part 2 of the CAL????????

Lets begin with the Posy version first........

At the end of Part 2 you will have thirty delicious stripes to twirl around your person, and will be just over a third of the way through your journey.

This is the Posy version of the Sweet Pea blanket where the colours are mixed together, and I absolutely love love love how it is turning out. You will find that the more your blanket grows, the more defined the stitch/texture will look.

Size wise, each weekly part should be giving you approximately 30 cm in height (so 60 cm tall after week 2 is complete). You may find your width has shrunk a little and isn't quite measuring the full 120cm - please don't worry too much about that, I'm planning a delicious border which will add on a little extra width at the end.

You will hopefully fall more deeply in love with these colours as you progress through this next week - don't they look great???

Right then, here is the colour info you need for this week............

SWEET PEA BLANKET CAL PART 2

🌸 POSY 🌸 

#teamposy #sweetpeacal

So your last stripe from Posy Part 1 should be Pistachio - that was stripe number 15.

And here is the colour information for Part 2 : stripes 16-30, working from the bottom upwards.

Remember each stripe is worked in two rows, so 15 stripes = 30 rows of crochet.

SWEET PEA POSY Part 2

16. Clematis

17. Lavender

18. Plum

19. Pomegranate

20. Cypress

21. Violet

22. Clematis

23. Wisteria

24. Soft Peach

25. Meadow

26. Fuchsia Purple

27. Blush

28. Candyfloss

29. Cream

30. Pistachio

Now lets take a look at Part 2 of the Colourwash version............

Last week you probably remember that it was all about the greens, with just one stripe of Lavender appearing at the very end. This week we are going to continue with Lavender and add in two additional colours.

We'll be finishing off with Cypress and adding the remaining Lavender, along with Wisteria and Clematis.

I didn't manage to grow any lavender/pale purple Sweet Peas on my allotment, but they certainly do exist. I saw plenty of them at the Flower Show and they were very, very pretty indeed.

So this is how the Colourwash blanket will be looking at the end of Part 2. I apologise for the poor lighting in this photo which is making the Lavender and Wisteria look very, very similar. They are close colours which often get mistaken for one another, but they are definitely more distinct in real life than this photo shows.

As the greens gently give way to the pale purples, there is a real sense of the flowers beginning to bloom. I love it!

Darlene was one of my amazing pattern testers and I'll be sharing more of her lovely photos as we progress through the CAL. She worked so fast in order to show me how each part would look, and I am very grateful for her stunning photos which make my heart explode with joy.

Jane also tested the pattern for me and I adore the way she has shown us the blanket in a vertical position - don't the stripes look different when you see them this way? 

Right, on with the all important colour info for this week's stripes...............

SWEET PEA BLANKET CAL PART 2

🌸 COLOURWASH 🌸 

#teamcolourwash #sweetpeacal

So your last stripe from Colourwash Part 1 should be Lavender - that was stripe number 15.

And here is the colour information for Part 2 : stripes 16-30, working from the bottom upwards.

Remember each stripe is worked in two rows, so 15 stripes = 30 rows of crochet.

SWEET PEA COLOURWASH Part 2

Note that throughout the colourwash blanket there are some double width stripes (4 crochet rows of the same colour). I've marked these in red so that they stand out for you. Remember you don't need to fasten off between the double rows.

16. Cypress

17. Lavender

18. Cypress

19. Lavender

20. Lavender

21. Wisteria

22. Lavender

23. Wisteria

24. Lavender

25. Wisteria

26. Wisteria

27. Clematis

28. Wisteria

29. Clematis

30. Wisteria

I hope that whichever colourway you are following, that you are enjoying the way your blanket is blooming?!

Finally, lets take a quick look at the repeating colourway which I know many of you have been smitten with.....

SWEET PEA BLANKET CAL PART 2

🌸 COLOUR REPEAT 🌸 

So the repeating colours are listed above, and there are a few different ways to go about repeating this sequence. Obviously we are only just touching into part 2 this week so I can only show you what has been shared on Facebook so far, but hopefully you can get a good idea.........

Dawn started her blanket with the greens and worked through to Plum - she then chose to "mirror" this colour order and work backwards towards the green again. We are calling this #teammirror.

Sarah is also #teammirror, but she started with Plum and is mirroring her colour repeat when she reaches Pistachio.

Verity is #teamrepeat and is currently four stripes from completing part 2. Once she reaches Plum, she'll start over through the greens again.

I am so enjoying all these variations, and the obvious joy that you are all finding in the colours and the soothing nature of the repetitive Trellis pattern.

I'm wishing you all a pretty amazing week - I hope you enjoy every minute of your hooky time!

I'll be back with Part 3 on Friday 18th January.....until then, here are the links to all Sweet Pea CAL pack, pattern and posts (sounds like a tongue twister!!) :

🌸 SWEET PEA YARN PACK

🌸TRELLIS STRIPE PATTERN🌸

🌸 SWEET PEA BLANKET INTRODUCTION

🌸 SWEET PEA BLANKET Q&A

🌸 SWEET PEA BLANKET PREPARATION (includes a sneak peek of the Posy and Colourwash blankets!)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 1 (colour info for stripes 1-15)

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Comments

[Giesela]

So many lovely blankets! Thank you Lucy for the CAL. This is my very first one to join.

[Connie Hill]

Thank you for using my photo on your blog, I am honored. I love every version of this blanket. Thank you for the work you put into these projects and thank you for sharing them with everyone. Sending big hugs you way.

[jane wood]

Thank you very much Lucy for the sweet pea blanket design . It is the most addictive . I do it all the time .I do it when listening to the Archers and Woman"s Hour . Any free time is spent on the blanket . The colours are beautiful and I am going to grow some sweet peas this year . I now have Sarah Raven"s seed catalogue . What a feast that is . Thank you for brightening these gloomy days . With love and thanks . Jane w UK

[Ruth Langford]

Thank you so much for including my cardigan in your blog. I'm making slow progress, but hope to have it completed before the CAL ends. I am loving the sweet pea colours - a welcome breath of fresh, flowery sunshine during these cold dark Janurary weeks.

[Dawn Heffernan]

Thank you so much for using my #teammirror pic on your blog! I'm bursting with pride! These colours and pattern are absolutely fabulous! Thank you for all your hard work bringing so much pleasure to so many x

[Lisa]

I Just want to make them all so beautiful thank you so much

[Fiona M]

They're all fabulous!

[Denise Fordyce]

Gorgeous. Thank you for your generosity in sharing this with all of us.

[Jacqui]

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay Thank you x

[Marie Montoya]

Just wanted to say THANKYOU! This is a first for me (haven't been crocheting long) and I am thoroughly enjoying it. You have put so much hard work and time into this - it is very much appreciated!

[Lucy @ Attic24]

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HI Sharon,
Colour number 4 is definitely Violet, and colour number 5 above it is Lavender x

[Jenny Jones]

Thank you thank you for this glorious post and all that stunning hooky goodness. Such loveliness. You are amazing, generous and ever so inspiring!

[Liz Smith]

Just gorgeous!

[Sharon Gaskill]

Hi, just checking colourwash repeating photo. Have you got the violet in the right placing at colour no 4? Isn’t colour no 4 lavender?

Ta Sharon

[sandra dorey]

Yippee! Part two!
Thank you for the shout out for the Sweet Pea Gathering Lucy. You will be with us in spirit! <3