Sweet Pea Blanket CAL :: Part 6

I think in all the years that I've been creating and hosting my annual Crochet-A-Longs, the Sweet Pea has been the easiest blanket to keep up with. The Trellis Stripe is a fast pattern to hook, and once you've got the first few rows under your belt it's possible to switch off your mind a little and allow your hook and yarn to speed along quite happily. I can't tell you how good it has made me feel to hear about so many of you creating your stripes and keeping pace with me each week, it's been truly wonderful.

We all know that this isn't a race though, and many of you will be taking your time, for many varied reasons. Please believe me when I say that this is absolutely OK!! All CAL posts will stay here in the Attic waiting for when you are ready, and I like to think that as the months roll by there will be sweet pea blankets continuing to grow and bloom all over the world.

I've loved hearing about so many proud moments as new hookers have shared their first ever blanket projects. It's been joyful and encouraging to witness the happiness in all the photos and stories from those of you just starting out on your crochet journey. I've also read some very emotional stories from those of you who have found solace in your stripes as you've coped with illness, hospital visits and bereavement during the past month. My heart goes out to all of you who have been struggling, and I so hope that these gentle colours have lifted your spirits a little. Our crochet community is so special and it's genuinely heart warming to experience that unique sense of belonging and creative friendship. You are never alone when you are crocheting an Attic24 blanket that's for sure - you will always be in great company with friends all over the globe! Isn't that the best kind of realisation?!

I continue to be so impressed by the creativity within our Sweet Pea community, and have seen some gorgeous photos being shared. This beautiful bunny was knitted by Natasha, complete with her very own Sweet Pea dungarees, isn't she adorable? Natasha used a Little Cotton Rabbits pattern (see here) and this little Bunny has had a lot of admirers on Facebook this week.

Nic has been on a creative roll, do you remember the beautiful wreath I showed you last week? She went on to create a really lovely colourful nest for her kitty to curl up in. Gosh, I do really love to see all this creative energy, it makes me so happy!

Do you remember me telling you that on Sunday there was to be a Sweet Pea gathering down in Dorset, at my beloved West Bay? Well by all accounts it was a great success, and Sandra shared some wonderful photos with me a few days ago. You can read more about it over on Sandra's blog (here).

Hello lovely Dorset ladies, I'm waving to you from the Attic!! I gather it was rather windy down on the beach, but I'm so glad to see you with your blankets out in the wild!

Talking of Wild photos....a few weeks ago I came across the most fantastic hashtag on Instagram called #crochetinthewild which I thought was great fun. So this week I thought I'd run with this theme for my photo gallery and show you some Sweet Pea Blankies out and about on their adventures........

Sandra (the same lovely lady who organised the SP gathering) shared her blanket perched on the harbour wall at West Bay....

Sue shared her blanket looking very scenic on the island of Jersey....

Sandie took her SP to Aldeburgh beach in Suffolk and positioned so that we could also see Maggi Hambling's Scallop sculpture in the background (love this!)

Rachel took her blanket to the famous Stonehenge on a gorgeously bright and sunny day....

Cecily works near Barnard  Castle and showed us her blanket having a very chilly lunch time outing!

Cyndi braved the snow in the US and one of her kitties certainly seemed to appreciate the extra outdoor comfort!

Fran also braved the cold and shared this beautiful photograph with the famous Forth Bridge in the background.

We had some gorgeous photos from sunnier climes too..............

 

Jan was in Cypress (check out the lemons on the tree!)

Rebecca's work with native plant habitat restoration takes her out into the wilds of California and she says she often takes her crochet with her when she drives out to field sites.

Gaynor shared this stunning photo of her crocheting in New Zealand, aren't the colours of the landscape dreamy? She told us this is lake Hawea, near Wanaka, South Island.....oh, it really is beautiful.

Jennifer lives on Maui in Hawaai and took her Sweet Pea out to Ho’okipa Beach near where she lives. I loved the above photo, but when she moved the camera over to the beach, look what she showed us.......

.....Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles!!! Jennifer said "It’s common to see several on this beach in the morning, but 9 was a real treat!" Wonderful stuff.

I think this is my favourite photo from the #crochetinthewild hashtag on Instagram - it really made me laugh out loud! Laura took her blanket to Crosby beach in Merseyside and used it to add a little cosy warmth to one of Sir Antony Gormley's famous sculptures. This is just brilliant, thanks Laura!

Massive thanks to everyone who has joined in with this and taken the time and trouble to photograph their blankets outside for me. I have really love love loved seeing them all. xxxx

Back in the Attic and this week has been a little bit stressy for me and my Sweet Pea journey. Making two blankets for this CAL has been a challenge, and although I've really enjoyed it, the time pressure has added a certain urgency to my rows at times! I finished my Posy blanket stripes weeks ago, but due to me changing my mind about the border colours I had to pull back 8 stripes and remake them this week. Yesterday in fact. I sat on the floor next to the fire with the kitty close by and worked like the clappers to get to that final row....

.....ahhhh, just in time! Most of you will be heading through your final stripes during this next week, and let me tell you it's something of a bitter-sweet feeling when you get to that final top edge. Glad to have succeeded, but sad to see it end. Of course we've still got the border to make and I'll tell you a bit more about that a little later.

One thing that has pleased me enormously about the Posy Sweet Pea blanket is how true the colours are to the flowers which inspired it. I look at the above photo and immediately I can see this.......

.....a sweet posy of summer flowers sitting in a jam jar on my table. These colours make me so happy!

The Sweet Pea Posy has 83 stripes in total, and I think the glorious mixture of hues works extremely well.

There is a vibrant energy to these stripes which makes the blanket radiate with happiness, and there is nothing nicer than a truly happy-looking blanket to snuggle yourself into.

I'm so pleased with this blanket, it's everything I imagined when I was prancing about photographing my flowers back in July last year. It's the essence of Summer, right there. Love love love love love. I LOVE Sweet Peas (can you tell???!)

Here is the colour info you need for this week............

SWEET PEA BLANKET CAL PART 6

🌸 POSY 🌸 

#teamposy #sweetpeacal

So your last stripe from Posy Part 5 should be Pistachio - that was stripe number 75.

And here is the colour information for Part 6 : stripes 76-83, working from the bottom upwards.

Yes, there are only 8 stripes to make this week - your blanket should be long enough with 83 stripes in total, measuring approx 175cm in length.

SWEET PEA POSY Part 6

76. Pomegranate

77. Wisteria

78. Plum

79. Lavender

80. Cypress

81. Blush

82. Cream

83. Candyfloss **remember to straighten the final row!

When you reach your final Candyfloss stripe, work the first row following the usual Trellis Stripe pattern, then for the second row of the last stripe, this is what you do ::

FINAL ROW TO CREATE STRAIGHT TOP EDGE

Chain 3 (counts as 1 tr);

1 tr into each of the next 2 stitches;

**1 dc into each of the next 2 stitches;

skip the chain-1 space (ignore it completely!);

1 dc into each of the next 2 stitches; 

1 tr into each of the next 3 stitches;

Repeat from ** to end, ending the row with 3 tr. Fasten off.

It's pretty straightforward, but if you need additional photos, I've added this final row to the Trellis Stripe Tutorial (click on the link below, then scroll on down to the end of the tutorial to find it)

{TRELLIS STRIPE TUTORIAL}

After part 6 (83 stripes) your blanket should be measuring around 6ft in length. If you are using two yarn packs and making a double or king size blanket, you might like to add some extra length so I've put together an optional set of stripes which you can add on. Remember that when you reach the final Magenta stripe, you need to follow my pattern to straighten out the top edge.

ADDITIONAL ROWS FOR DOUBLE/KING POSY BLANKETS (OPTIONAL)

84. Fuchsia Purple

85. Meadow

86. Plum

87.Lavender

88. Soft Peach

89. Blush

90. Pistachio

91. Lavender

92. Candyfloss

93. Pistachio

94. Cream

95. Candyfloss

96. Clematis

97. Wisteria

98. Cypress

99. Violet

100. Pomegranate

101. Magenta **remember to straighten the final row!

Now we're going to move on and take a look at the final colours for the Colourwash version of the Sweet Pea blanket. This week we are moving into the deep dark floral shades, and these are some of my absolute favourites. The sweet peas I grew at my allotment last year were from Sarah Raven and they included some stunning colours which were far removed from the usual soft pastel shades that are generally associated with these flowers.

There were beautiful deep plum colours (above).....

....and the most intense indigo/violet flowers too.

For my colour palette I chose Plum and Violet to represent these flowers.....

....and mixed in with a little Fuchsia Purple, the top end of the Colourwash blanket is absolutely beautiful. 

I love the transition in the top half of the sweet pea colourwash. It's not easy to move from the lightest to the darkest shades, but I love the dynamics of it very much. When you look at the blanket as a whole (I'll show you in a moment) you'll see how well these top colours compliment the greens and mauves down at the bottom. 

I really like how the above photo shows the Trellis stitch pattern so well and I hope you've enjoyed working this pattern and seeing it bloom with your colours. I've been besotted with it myself (it's sooooooooo fast and rhythmic!) and I can definitely see myself using this pattern again with a different set of colours.

And there we have it - the whole sweep of the colourwash from the leafy greens up to the deep floral purples. As you can see, it was a deliberate decision to keep the pale colours right in the centre. I didn't want the blanket to feel like it was fading out to nothing at the top (colourwash designs naturally want to run from dark to light). I spent a lot of time working out how to order the colours so that the whole blanket feels balanced and not bottom or top heavy.....

.....I'm so chuffed with it!

It's a beautiful blanket to play with and I already love having it in my home. 

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

SWEET PEA BLANKET CAL PART 6

🌸 COLOURWASH 🌸 

#teamcolourwash #sweetpeacal

So your last stripe from Colourwash Part 5 should be Plum - that was stripe number 75.

And here is the colour information for Part 6 : stripes 76-86, working from the bottom upwards.

We'll be adding 11 stripes this week.

SWEET PEA COLOURWASH Part 6

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.

SWEET PEA COLOURWASH Part 6

76. Fuchsia Purple

77. Plum

78. Fuchsia Purple

79. Plum (double stripe)

80. Plum (double stripe)

81. Violet

82. Plum

83. Violet

84. Plum

85. Violet (double stripe)

86.Violet (double stripe) **remember to straighten the final row!

The final colour of the Colourwash (Violet) is a double row, so work 3 rows as normal, then follow the straightening out pattern for the fourth row.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep, I do so LOvE the colours!!!!!!!!

Many of you who have been following my Repeating colour order (above) have already finished your blankets, and it's been so satisfying to see your photos. 

Heather decided that her blanket was long enough after five repeats, and I think it looks terrific.

Patricia worked her stripes as "mirror" repeats and finished the blanket off with a deep linen stitch border. It's stunning, and looks so lovely draped over her bed.

The border pattern will be given out in Week 7 which is on 22nd February, so you've got a couple weeks to get everything in order and ready to go. I've chosen 7 colours to use for the border :

Meadow, Pistachio, Soft Peach, Wisteria, Magenta, Fuchsia Purple and Violet. 

I don't know exact quantities yet (still working it out!) but you will need around 18-20g of each colour for the border, with a little more for the final Violet round. If you've made your blanket following my gauge/tension guidelines, you should easily have enough yarn left. If you are unsure, the best way to check is to use accurate digital kitchen scales and weigh your balls.

To keep things simple, I'll be using the same border for both the Posy and the Colourwash blankets. I hope you like the colours I've chosen, I think they work beautifully together and contain the essence of sweet peas goodness.

Next week will be our "catch up" week where we'll be taking a little breather. Use the time to catch up if you need to, darn in your ends if you need to or just snuggle your blanket if you're all up to date. As mentioned above, it's also a good time to weigh/check your yarn quantities and make sure you're all set for the final edging stage. 

I'll be back with Part 7 (the border) on Friday 22nd February.....enjoy your final stripes!

Here are all the CAL links you might need  ::

🌸 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)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 2 (colour info for stripes 16-30)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 3 (colour info for stripes 31-45)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 4 (colour info for stripes 46-60)

🌸 SWEET PEA CAL PART 5 (colour info for stripes 61-75)

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Heather Bentley]

Thank you Lucy for using my blanket in your write up, I’m so proud of it and really admire all your skills and creativity I think you are a saint doing SO much!!! I shall be a fan of you forever 😘💜💕xxx

[Elsie]

Thank goodness for the extra week!! I think I need to order a few of the 7 border colors, since I started with less than full balls of some colors. Just hope Wool Warehouse can get them to Illinois, USA in time. Whew, but all my ends are sewn in!!!

This CAL has been the most rewarding crafty project ever! Knowing I'm doing this with a couple thousand of my closest crochet friends is so satisfying. Lucy, you are amazing!!!

[Amanda Wasilewski]

Thank you so much Lucy - will be quite sad to actually finish the project(s), but I have some granddaughters who will love these blankets.

Have a super half term x