Sweet Pea Blanket CAL :: Preparation

I'm working hard at the moment creating the full picture tutorial for the Trellis Stripe pattern (only two more sleeps!!!!!!!!!!!) but I wanted to pop in to chat about a few things ahead of us setting out on the Sweet Pea journey on Friday. I know that so many of you have already received your squishy bags of Sweet Pea yarn and it's been an utter delight to see so much love for these colours all over social media. I am soooooooooooooooo excited for you to begin turning these colours into stripes, and I'm hoping you'll all be in floral heaven during the next few months.

So today's post contains a few things that you might need in preparation for beginning your blanket, just some reminders and recommendations really. I gave a lot of guidance in my Q&A post a few weeks ago, so please do go and read that if you missed it.

Before a new blanket begins, I always recommend making a note of the yarn colours (before you trash the ball bands completely) so that you've got some visual reference to guide you. In this particular colour palette, it can be a bit tricky to differentiate between Pomegranate and Fuchsia Purple, also Cream and Soft Peach, especially if you are working in artificial light in the evenings or early mornings.

It doesn't need to be anything elaborate - you can simply snip little lengths of the yarn, stick them to some paper and scribble the name next to them. On Friday I'll be sharing some of the lovely ways in which people are choosing to remember this colour palette, it's been so lovely to see.

One thing I've noticed about the Sweet Pea CAL so far is that there seems to be a significant number of new crocheters about to set out on their very first blanket journey. This makes me unbelievably happy, oh, I am honestly thrilled!!! One of my true passions in life is to spread the joy of crochet blankets as I believe that they bring so much comfort, fulfillment and happiness. 

I've noticed on social media a good number of questions from beginners about hook size and tension, and how to find out what hook size to use. My advice would be to have a small selection of hooks if you can afford it - Stylecraft Special DK yarn requires a 4mm hook as standard, but it's a great idea to have bigger and smaller hooks too.

When I write my tutorial, I'm going to strongly advise you to make a small tension sample - this doesn't take long and is a great way to familiarise yourself with the pattern as well as giving you something to measure to determine your tension/hook size. If you have used this yarn before then you will probably have a good idea  as to whether you are a loose or tight hooker (!!) - this blanket pattern looks/feels better if the stitches are slightly tighter rather than looser. All will be explained in the tutorial.

You might also like to get some stitch markers, although these aren't essential (you can use paperclips, or small lengths of waste yarn).......

....stitch markers are brilliant for giving you a helping hand when you are making your wiggly-worm starting chain, and crocheting your first row of double crochet. I was able to count my chain in my head without stitch markers (by banishing the Little People from the room) and I always add on 3 or 4 extra chains just-in-case as these can easily be unpicked afterwards. But I do like the security of stitch markers for that first row - I place them every 25 stitches, and it's very reassuring to know that you are making an accurate count which can be easily checked at any time (especially if you are rudely interrupted/distracted whilst counting, kitty, I'm looking at YOU!). That first row does need an accurate count or else the pattern repeat won't work.

Now then.....here we come to probably the most talked about part of the Sweet Pea blanket preparation - the choice of colour order. Ah yes.....if you've been pootling about with me on my Facebook page this week then you will know ALL about this!!

To save any further confusion, here are the facts ::

1. The Sweet Pea blanket contains 15 colours.
2. I will be using the exact same 15 colours to create two different blankets for the CAL.
3. The POSY blanket is created by mixing the 15 colours throughout the blanket (see the left image above).
4. The COLOURWASH blanket is created by ordering the 15 colours from bottom to top (see the right image above).
5. Both blankets will have the same number of stripes and use the same yarn pack/15 colours.
6. You need to choose which one you are in love with!!!

Now I know that many of you have been deliberating over this, and although I don't usually show the whole blanket(s) in advance of a CAL starting, I felt that in this case you might find it useful to see. To confirm this, I conducted a quick 24 hour poll on Facebook a few days ago and a whopping 6,400 people took part. The overwhelming result was in favour of a sneak peek (91%), so I decided the fair thing to do was to create a hidden PDF file to show you. That way, if you wish to keep the surprise and don't want to see the blankets, you can skip on by. And for those who have a crushing need to peek, well here's your chance........

Download Sweet Pea Blanket SNEAK PEEK!!!!!

I'd like to say a massive THANK YOU to my lovely Facebook friend Darlene who is the maker of the Sweet Pea Colourwash blanket shown in the sneaky peek photo. She offered to pattern test for me, and I'll be sharing some more of her beautiful photos as we go through the CAL. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm making both versions of the blanket myself but I'm working my own colourwash slightly ahead of real CAL time (I'm currently on part 2) so without Darlene's help I wouldn't be able to show you an awful lot of that just yet! A big shout out to my fab group of testers in the HH group, you know who you are and I am beyond grateful for your support and help.

I've had a few requests from ladies who wish to make a repeating stripe using the colour order of my sample (shown above). You'll most likely be able to work this out for yourself from the photo, but I'll list the colours on Friday for you just so it's clear. 

So I think that's about all for now - I've got my Sweet Pea candle ready and I absolutely cannot wait for Friday. I'm hoping, all being well, to have everything ready for 9am on Friday so that you've got the whole day ahead to make your tension sample (you know it makes sense!) and get started with your rows. 

All the love from the Attic, I can't imagine how dull January would be without you all jaunting along with me. Thank you, thank you.... xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

🌸 SWEET PEA YARN PACK

🌸 SWEET PEA BLANKET INTRODUCTION

🌸 SWEET PEA BLANKET Q&A

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Sally Freeman]

Thank you for thinking of everything Lucy. Can't wait to start. It's colourwash for me!!

[Ecehan]

Renk seçimlerin harika Lucy. Çok büyük bir zevkle takip ediyorum<3

[Andra Ridout]

Thanks so much for your wonderful patterns and fabulous instructions! I have too many projects to join in on this one, still working on a cosy stripe and a neat ripple as well as a poncho. I love the colors though and will definitely be looking to complete this in the future.

[Teresa Kasner]

Hi Lucy... I have my yarn and am ready to go. I am going to use the repeating stripes of colors similar to how I did the Woodland blanket, almost just like your last image. It appeals to the orderliness of how my brain works.

I'm so proud of how many people are getting on board with this CAL.. you continue to inspire multitudes of people with you brilliant creations!

I posted about this CAL on my blog post this morning.

*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*
  *H*A*P*P*Y* *N*E*W* *Y*E*A*R*!*
*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*

((hugs)), Teresa :-)

[Ondrea]

I am so looking forward to crocheting this beautiful collection of colours. I think I shall be doing the repeat pattern. Thankyou so much for sharing your lovely blanket with us.

[Toni]

I enjoy your color selections so much! I am having a hard time choosing, but choose I will! Thank you for hosting this!

[Julie]

I am coming to the end of the Moorland blanket and asked for the Sweet Pea wool pack for Christmas. Now I cant decide between the posy pattern or the colorwash although my husband likes the posy. I suppose I have 24 hours to decide.

[Jacinta]

I’m a complete beginner - I can chain! Are there particular videos I should watch or just wait for the instructions? Getting a bit nervous I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.

[Margo Thompson]

Much as I love the sweet pea colours, they don’t go with my decor. But, I love the stitch and I want to use it to make a birthday blanket for my mother in law who hates pinks. Her decor is creams and terracotta. So I am going to use copper, vintage peach, apricot, cream, parchment, mocha, cypress, khaki and walnut instead. I am looking forward to this new stitch as it looks very pretty and delicate. Can’t wait to get started!

[Mary Lloyd Jones]

It gets more and more exciting.....should I look ,think I had better. Just to make sure,a tension sample ....suspect that I’ll be looser rather than tighter. Wheest,I am only making problems for myself .😏

[DeLynn]

They are both beautiful, Lucy! I am not doing this CAL (working on the Moorland now and loving it!) but I love watching the CAL--reading posts, seeing pictures. Such fun. I would do the posy for sure!

Also, you have a tiny typo in this post--"Sweep Pea" instead of "Sweet Pea." :)
("The Sweep Pea blanket contains 15 colours.")

[Green Girl Gardener]

How has it never occurred to me before to use stitch markers in my foundation row? I mean! Really! I also have the kitty interruption issue so I will definitely be using this tip to save me counting my chains a gazillion times! Thanks Lucy! I’ve resisted (so far) looking at the pics. I already know I’m going to do the posy version - I love the feeling that the sweet peas have just blown in the breeze into random colour order. Can’t wait for Friday - my first ever CAL xx.

[Karen]

looks lovely thanks for the sneak peak - I am ordering my yarn here in the US and they were out of stock of a few colors so it is likely that I will be behind a bit but I will be following along closely to see what is going on. I must look for your facebook group!

[Belinda Bramall]

Wow both gorgeous, can’t decide 🤔😍

[Deb Pighetti]

Now I want to make both! Darn it😀

[Elizabeth FOWLER]

I'm doing the repeat in hydrangea stitch....but I might have to do a sweet pea harmony too

[Sue Fortune]

I’m a crochet beginner, and slightly terrified but Im sure with the help of the CAL I’ll be fine! Really looking forward to brightening up January with you, I love your blog and Facebook posts so thank you very much

[Kim Scott]

i will be doing the posy one this will be my first time doing a cal looking forward to this i cant read a pattern so im sure i will muddle through somehow and im certain there's a lot of ladies and gents that will help me if i get stuck waiting on the postman to deliver my pack woohoo and the reason im doing the sweet pea posy is when i had my first child my mother in law came into hospital with a posy of them for me out her garden and my daughters nickname became sweet pea lols thank you for this cal xx

[Michelle]

Ok I have peeked and I’m going posy ...no colour wash ...no it’s posy definitely posy or shall I do colour wash mmm I could do both but then how will I get another pack past the Rottweiler i mean husband 🤣
Love love live them 2 more sleeepsss 😁

[Heidi Clarke]

Now I can't decide, I was going to do the posy pattern but seeing the repeat pattern I am tempted. Ohhh decisions.

[Gillian McM]

Thank you so much! So looking forward. Alas, the sweet pea candle cannot be delivered to the US because it's flammable material - what a shame!!

[Tinke]

Love how you did it again Lucy, such sweet colours <3