Dahlia Blanket CAL :: Introduction

Good morning! If you're here looking for the new Dahlia yarn pack, click on the following link to go straight there >>

❧🏵️DAHLIA YARN PACK 🏵️❧

If you'd like to read on and find out the inspiration behind the Dahlia blanket, I've got lots to show you.....

I've been so excited to share this creative journey with you, and to show you just a little of what I have been obsessing over during much of this year. My head has been so full of floral colour that there hasn't been a lot of room for anything else, but honestly I wouldn't have it any other way. My colour palettes and crochet blankets are always at the forefront of my creative thinking and I pour a huge amount of emotional energy and passion into them. Nobody could ever accuse me of being half hearted about my projects that's for sure - I'm always a 110% kind of person, all in and full to overflowing.

I have to tell you that pretty much as soon as we finished up with the Sweet Pea CAL back in February, I was already craving more floral inspiration. I adored making the Sweet Pea blankets and found myself pondering endlessly on the idea of creating another floral inspired blanket. I noodled over a few different flower options (tulips, zinnias) but very quickly settled on one of mt all time favourites - dahlias.

Photo Source : Sarah Raven

I've been a massive fan of Sarah Raven for many years, and her plant catalogues bring me a huge amount of visual joy. Her range of dahlias are absolutely breathtaking and if you've got a minute, I can highly recommend popping onto her page and scrolling through the collection just to breathe in the colours. Take a little look then hop back here to the Attic........

https://www.sarahraven.com/flowers/bulbs/dahlias 

.......wasn't that beautiful?

Now I did fantasize about turning our shabby little overgrown allotment plot into a full-blown Sarah inspired dahlia patch but in all honesty I am just not that good at growing things. I tried planting some tubers but forgot to protect them and they were mercilessly devoured by slugs and snails pretty much as soon as their delicate shoots appeared. So after much heart ache and deliberation I decided to abandon the idea of big flowers and grow some miniature dahlias in back yard pots where I could keep an eye on them and protect them with organic, wildlife friendly slug deterrent. I loved having them in my yard over the summer and picking a few small stems to have on my table was wonderful.

If you've been visiting the Attic over the years, you will be familiar with my enduring dahlia crush - market dahlias have kept me very happy for many years (just found this post from 2009). I love having fresh flowers in the house and the more colourful they are the better.

I am very lucky to have real life friends who are very much better at growing stuff than I am, and was thrilled one day at Coopers Café when I was gifted with some beautiful stems wrapped in newspaper. Oh, the joy! I can't put into words how fabulous it is to be given something like this, it was just the best feeling ever.

As you can see from the above photo, Judi's home grown newspaper wrapped dahlias were absolutely gorgeous and I adored having them in the house. I also had a jolly good play with them when I was teetering on the edge of choosing a dahlia inspired colour palette - you just can't beat having real life inspiration at the tips of your fingers.

As well as feeding my brain with real life flowers and a tonne of images on the internet, I took plenty of inspiration from this fabulous book too.

{ "Dalias" by Naomi Slade }

This book is really beautiful with the most eye catching photography...

....there is also lots of practical advice about growing dahlias, as well as page after page showcasing all the different varieties of dahlia that you can get your hands on.

However, the best inspiration can always be found where there are experts involved, so I spent some time surfing the web trying to find out where I could go to see how the professionals do their dahlia growing.

I discovered a small nursery up in Northumberland where they have been growing and breeding prize winning dahlias for almost one hundred years. Imagine that?!!! Established in 1921, Halls of Heddon is a small family run business, specialising in dahlias and chrysanthemums. During August and September you can visit the nursery in Heddon-on-the-Wall to see their growing field in full bloom, oh yeah......what a trip that would be!!!! Can you just picture me in such a place????

So on a sunny Friday in mid September, J and I made the one hundred mile journey north to see what we could find.

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

Nothing prepared me for the dizzy reality of seeing more than 10,000 dahlia plants growing in one place.

After parking the car we started out exploring the covered areas first. These were like huge open sided sheds with clear plastic roofing, designed to allow the air to circulate but protect the floral blooms from the wind and rain. 

This is where they grow all the big blowsy flowers, the ones that take your breath away with their size and flamboyance.

Many of the blooms were bigger than I had ever seen in my life.....

...look......

...!!!!!!!!!! Bigger than my HEAD!!!!!

These are known as Dinner Plate dahlias and honestly they absolutely blew my mind. 

The outside field was filled with hundreds of different varieties and hybrids in every dahlia-ish colour you can imagine. 

Row upon row of the most stunning flowers....

....it was quite overwhelming (in the best possible way).

I just love the sheer joy of dahlias, they are so vibrant and charming and never fail to make me smile.

I don't know how long we spent wandering up and down the rows in the early afternoon sunshine....

...but it was one of the happiest and most inspirational days I can remember in a long while.

J snapped the above photo on his phone, of me crouching down amongst the flowers taking photographs. I was pretty giddy I have to say, barely holding it together.

I took soooooooooooooooooo many photos, I just couldn't seem to stop myself.

238 images to be precise.

I am trying hard not to bombard you with a humongous amount of dahlia overload right away, so here is just a teensy-weensy sample of what found its way onto my camera....

Ahhhh, so much floral colour and beauty, quite overwhelming really. I'll show you a lot more in the coming weeks as we get ready for the Dahlia CAL....you've been warned - flower spam will be hitting the Attic!

Once we'd finished in the field, I decided to try and see if I could purchase some cut flower stems to take home with me.

I didn't have to look very far as there were already a good number of stems freshly cut that morning, waiting for me to do a crazy happy dance around them. 

I think I had real hearts in my eyes when I saw this little lot!

I tried hard to think about my yarn choices right there on the spot, and how the flower colours would translate to Stylecraft Special shades (oh, you know I'm pretty accomplished at doing that). I picked out the stems one at a time, placing them in a bucket to make a real life floral colour palette. It was such good fun and I think I did pretty well!

My precious cargo was tucked safely in the back seat of the car ready to travel one hundred miles south. We had such a beautiful drive home, coming off the main A1 and driving over the top of the Pennines instead. Let me show you...

...it was such a lovely, memorable day, better than I could ever have hoped for.

But of course, the end of the day trip wasn't the end of the dahlias for me.
Do you want to see what came home with me?

OK............here you go......

................WOWSERS!!!! Aren't they just STUNNING? 

I was so so so so happy to have these flowers to play with...

...oh my heart. Aren't they delicious?!

By the time I had these flowers at my disposal, I had already chosen the colours I wanted to include in my Dahlia blanket. I still had a huge amount of fun playing around though, arranging the flowers into something of a colourwheel.....

....what do you think? I didn't quite get the deep red right (my camera makes the dark red flower look very dark) but I absolutely love the sweep from dark to light and the way the colours all seem to belong to each other.

Building colour palettes is something that makes me so happy, it's feeds my creative soul in a way that often takes me by surprise. It's fun and exciting, and so very satisfying when after a lot of playtime (often over many months) it all comes together to create the most beautiful visual harmony. I love it so much!

As is usual for my blankets, I've chose fifteen shades of Stylecraft Special DK for my Dahlia blanket

Top row, left to right...

🏵️ magenta 🏵️ fuchsia purple 🏵️ shrimp 🏵️ apricot 🏵️ powder pink 🏵️

Middle row, left to right...

🏵️ boysenberry 🏵️ pomegranate 🏵️ spice 🏵️ lemon 🏵️ blush 🏵️

Bottom row, left to right...

🏵️ claret 🏵️ lipstick 🏵️ tomato 🏵️ saffron 🏵️ fondant 🏵️

You can find the Dahlia yarn pack in my shop at Wool Warehouse, click on the following link...

❧🏵️DAHLIA YARN PACK 🏵️❧

These colours are extremely harmonious together, mainly because they all sit very closely together on the hot side of the colour wheel. They blend and sing especially well when arranged in this particular order ↑↑ and I really love the way the colours instantly transport me back to that warm, sunny flower field. 

For my Dahlia blanket, I'm using an easy variation of a Spike Stitch which I think suits these colours perfectly. I wanted something that would echo the flower petals and I'm really super-happy with it.

This is a great stitch to crochet, a really clever construction which makes it very easy to see where your hook is going on each row. The counting is minimal (yay!) which makes it easy to keep on track, and I would definitely say this pattern is a good'n' for beginners, or for those looking for some soothing rows to sit on the sofa with.

I'll be sharing a full photo tutorial for this spike stitch on my blog at the start of the CAL in January. I'll also be creating some printable pattern sheets for those who don't need all the photos and prefer to have a traditional paper pattern tucked in your bag (or downloaded and saved to your tablet/phone).

Having these colours in my yarn bag has brought me so much pleasure over the past few months, the vibrancy of the shades has really lifted up my spirits. By the time we come into the start of the New Year, I'm sure that they are going to feel even more special, bringing sunny warmth into the grey of our winter months.

I want to let you know that I've been working really, really hard on trying to get a head start on my Dahlia blankets so that I could show you just how well the colours work together. Similar to the Sweet Pea, I've worked the fifteen Dahlia colours in two different ways - there is a Mixed Stripe (the colours worked in a "planned random" order like a big bunch of flowers) and a Colourwash (the colours ordered in a dark-light-dark sweep from top to bottom)

I haven't quite finished the mixed stripe blanket yet, but there is enough of it to give you a pretty good idea of how it'll look.

Both versions are stunning I have to say, the colours are just gloriously uplifting. If you are struggling to decide which blanket you like best, I've created a little sneeky peek for you. You don't need to look if you'd rather keep an element of surprise, but I know from last year that many of you prefer to have a look at the blankets before starting the CAL to see how the colours are playing.

CLICK HERE to download Dahlia blanket SNEEK PEEK!

Now, for those of you who are "Planners who Hook" (Or Hookers who Plan), I've got sticker news for you! My lovely friend Rachel who owns EllieBethDesigns has worked her magic with my Dahlia colours and designed a special sticker sheet for the Dahlia CAL. I'm sorry the above photo isn't the best (such low light levels here), but the colours really are lovely in real life.

The art work she's used is just beautiful as you can see, the dahlias look soo pretty! Rachel's shop is taking a weeny break right now but the good news is that next Friday 29th November her shop will reopen for her famous "Bright Friday" sale. This means a generous discount, yippeeee!!! I'll give you the direct link here on my blog and on social media closer to the time, but do bookmark her shop if you don't already know it >> {https://www.elliebethdesignsuk.com}

❧🏵️DAHLIA YARN PACK 🏵️❧

I really am obsessed with these yarn colours and the way they look all together, and I'm so so excited for the blanket to begin. Just a reminder that there is no need to sign up for this CAL - it's all very relaxed here in the Attic so all you need to do is gather your yarn together and join in when the pattern is released in the New Year.

I'll be writing more about the CAL a little closer to the time (just over six weeks until the CAL starts), but here is a quick round-up of information for you :

♥ The Attic24 DAHLIA CAL will will run for 8 weeks in total, beginning on Friday 3rd January - that'll be the day when the pattern will be published here on my blog and I'll give you all the information you need to get started. I'll then give weekly updates every Friday throughout January and February 2020 so that we can make the most of weekend hooky time.

♥ There will be a full picture tutorial here on my blog for the new Spike Stitch pattern. Each week I'll share the colour stripe order for the two different versions of the Dahlia blanket I'm making (Mixed Stripe and Colourwash)

♥ The DAHLIA YARN PACK contains 15 x 100g balls of Stylecraft Special DK and is enough to make one blanket/throw. There is no printed pattern included in this pack, all pattern info will be here on my blog, with updates every Friday throughout January and February 2020. 

♥ The Dahlia blanket will measure approx. 120cm x 175cm. You will need two packs if you wish to make a larger/double bed size blanket. I'll give starting chain/pattern guidance for those of you wishing to make larger (or smaller) blankets.

Thank you so much as always for your friendship and encouragement for my blankets, both here on my blog and on social media too. I appreciate it deeply, right down to my toes.

Thank you, thank you xxxxxxxxxxxxx

ps a note about my yarn packs - I am thrilled to be working with Wool Warehouse who do an absolutely amazing job of enabling crocheters all over the world to join me in my ongoing colourful blanket making. I earn a commission on all the Attic24 yarn packs sold through Wool Warehouse, and I am truly grateful to everyone who supports me in this way. Thank you so much. xxx

 

 

 

Comments

[Pamela Lawson]

Just got the wool in and cannot wait to start. Such beautiful colours. Thank you Lucy for another courful blanket

[virginie]

This blanket will be wonderfull..as usual !
Thanx for all your designs, i LOVE then all.

[Susan]

Oh! Those colors!!! 💗💛🧡❤️💗

When you start the CAL, would it be possible to talk about how to choose which size crochet hook? (Did you have a post about that already?) I can crochet enough to make a potholder, but no more. I love the colors so much that this may be the one where I take the plunge...!

[Dawn]

Beautiful, uplifting, inspirational - your blog is the best and I love recommending it to my friends who are new to crochet. Thank you so much Lucy for your AMAZING generosity in sharing your expertise with us lot! So much appreciated.

[Silvia]

I am going to print some of your photos and make myself a 2020 Dahlia Calendar!! I am really happy about this CAL!!! Can't wait to start!!!:)

[JC]

Can we now assume that the "lots of pictures" you mentioned you took at this years Yarndale Festival including the table of Bears you promised will not be coming?
Those of us who contribute but can't attend look forward to those pictures.
This is what you wrote on October 3:
"I took lots of photos so will share much more of those when I write up my Yarndale post proper next week."

[Mary Marsh]

Absolutely lovely colorway! You do have an eye for making colors work; I envy you! Keep up the good work, LOVE your blog.
From across the pond in Maine, USA
Mary

[Kathy]

Hi Lucy - another work of art! A quick question. I am thinking I would like to incorporate a green into this colour palette - for the leaves /stalk. I think the 'Green' colour in this same yarn migh work. Will there be a 'repeat' on the colour stripes as this might be a good place to include the green otherwise will just see what I hint.

[Carol]

Hi Lucy
I'm sure your work will be as brilliant as ever and I thank you for all you do for us crochet-holics. Just one tiny, whispered plea though - pleeeease can your next blanket not be so pink?!
I have a family which includes lots of males which is part of the reason for my plea!
All good wishes

[Crafty Cath]

I love Dahlias and I love your blanket - can't wait to make it and all the other blankets! I just love 'em all!!!

[Ruth]

Ordered and I cannot wait to begin. Something pretty and colourful to look forward to in January.

[Ruth White]

Well the postman has just delivered a parcel of absolute deliciousness from Wool Warehouse. The colours are simply gorgeous. A real pick me up on such a wet and miserable day. I’ve never done a CAL before and can’t wait til January to get started. Just hope I can master the stitch as I’m fairly new to crochet and have never tackled anything this big before.Roll on the new year!

[Winifred]

Those colours are so gorgeous hadn't realised there were so many beautiful colours and shapes of dahlias. You've translated them so well in your blankets. Congratulations, your blankets are amazing.

[Helen]

Dahlias always remind me of my long gone Dad, he grew them all my life, eventually he ended up on a farm and invested in tunnels, as in your photos. I used to help him then take off most of the buds, that way ending up with 3 beautiful blooms on long stems.
He sold them to florists.
They also remind me of my mum, moaning about the amount of earwigs that dropped out of the petals after he had presented her with yet another bunch, many years before the tunnel growing.
Good memories

I like them, don’t grow them though.
Blanket looks lovely, I love colour but do not have any colourful blankets here. They have worked well in older cottages and other houses.
All the best to you and yours from Dorset !

[Silvia Broekhuis]

What a gorgious blanker!!
Love it.
Is there a color wash version to??

[janet]

Hi i love the Dahlia blanket can't wait for the pattern.
I have been trying to subscribe to your amazing web site but i am not having much look is there another way i could subscribe please i want to stay in touch with your colourful crochet work

[Elizabeth Sawyer]

Gorgeous,gorgeous, gorgeous 💕

[Gaynor Jamieson]

Oh, just what the doctor ordered for a dark wintry day! Have followed your blog for a while since learning crochet but never tried a blanket. Just ordered a pack to jump in and give it a go - something to look forward to in January! Thanks for all your lovely work, it's a joy to follow.

[Lynne Stankard]

WOW!! Lucy - don't know what to say apart from Wow!! Sat here on this very grey, dank November day - then I opened your blog - just blown away!! Those colours hit me like a brick (gently of course) - I've been through our blog about six times from beginning to end just revelling in thoe wonderful colours. I have a confession - I can't hook to save my life - I've had so many lessons and my hands just become useless objects that can't function! But as I make handmade cards - that' where my colour loving comes out. I need some clever person to translate all these colours onto card!! Lucy thank you so much you've made a horrible morning shine with colour. ((Hugs))) xx

[Karen Hagan]

Thank you so much for all your hard work and passion.
Your colour choices are always so beautiful, looking forward to trying the new stitch 🥰

[Selina Baihn]

g'day Lucy!
i don't often write as you usually have about 50 comments by the time i read your posts lol
i just wanted to ask about the stitch, the spiked? stitch, it looks like what i've seen as the Lark stitch? are they the same?
OMGoodness! those dahlias were amazing! so many colours, you have a wonderful colour sense, if it was me putting this together i'd probably throw a bit of green into the mix!
you always make gorgeous blankets & one day i hope to make one of yours but for now i have way too much knitting to catch up with (if i ever will, several jumpers, a cardigan & socks on the go) i do enjoy a little crochet from time to time & have a bavarian blanket going which has been going for quite a few years now.
you are always so generous with your patterns
thanx for sharing

[Barb W]

So PRETTY! I just ordered my yarn pack even though I still need to put the border on the Summer stripe and haven't even started Dune!

[Barbara]

Fabulous!! I love the colors you have chosen...those dahlias are gorgeous! I so enjoyed looking at all of your photos. Love your enthusiasm and I just love reading your blog... thank you. I can’t wait to someday be able to visit your beautiful country. I fell in love with that area through the writing of James Herriott and I just love seeing all of your photos that put visuals with his words. I might join you in making this blanket... I’m overdue to make another afghan and this stitch is intriguing. Your afghans are just gorgeous!

[Linda from Boston]

CAL = Crochet A Long

[lilia]

Люси привет! Замечательная прогулка среди цветов. Очень люблю георгины. Их выращивала моя мама. Они всегда напоминают мне её. Спасибо