Attic24

Harbour Blanket CAL :: Part 4

I do love to see a pile of crochet blankets sitting pretty in the home and it really doesn't matter if they are finished items or works in progress. It's like they give me a profound sense of wellbeing just by sitting there, fulfilling something deep in my soul which I never knew was empty until I learnt to crochet. Quite simply, I cannot imagine my life without at least a dozen colourful crochet blankets at my disposal, and at least one under construction at all times. 

I'd love to hear from you in the comments how you feel about crochet blankets, do you feel the same as me? Do you love them with all your heart? Do you have stacks and piles of them made over the years or maybe you're just starting out and the Harbour blanket is your very first? Lets chat about it, I'd love to hear from you if you have time.

I've been reading some wonderful comments about the Harbour blanket during this past week in my wanders through the interwebs, so much positivity and enjoyment, it's made me feel very emotional to be honest. It makes me so happy when I read about how much these bright, cheery colours are helping you through the weeks, it really is the best kind of therapy in my opinion.

This past week I've found myself very drawn to the colour yellow which is unusual for me because normally I'm all about the blues. I think it must be my subconscious mind trying to recreate a sunny outlook for my poor light-deprived brain.....give me ALL the yellow things and let me pretend that the sun is shining!! 

When I visited the coast last May to gather together some visual inspiration for the Harbour blanket, I was exceptionally lucky with the weather. As you can see in the above photo there was plenty of sunshine and blue sky, and it was also the time of year when the surrounding countryside was swathed in bright yellow fields of rapeseed crops. This colour is extremely vivid and it really stuck in my mind when I was creating the colour palette back at home.

I spotted some self-seeded rapeseed plants growing right out of the harbour wall in Staithes, and of course I loved seeing that bright pop of colour against the cool coastal landscape.

There were a good number of yellow fishing boats that caught my eye too, so despite my usual hesitance with using yellows in my designs I felt I absolutely had to include it in the Harbour blanket.

Luckily, the latest shade of yellow introduced to the Stylecraft Special DK range is a truly beautiful colour and I am absolutely smitten with it. This is Dandelion, and is everything a good yellow should be. It's bright without being garish, it has a depth to it which makes it look very natural and it blends beautifully with so many of the other colours. It really is sunshine in yarn form, and any blanket that's inspired by the coast really deserves to have a bit of sunshine thrown in! 

I'll chat a bit more about the Harbour colours when we take a look at Part 4, but before we get into that, lets have a look at some blankets of yours that have caught my eye on social media. This week, it's all about squares....

⇞⇞ Judith is making a granny log cabin blanket which is a wonderfully simple but effective pattern.

⇞⇞ Martina is working on this stunning square harbour blanket and every time I see it pop up on instagram it immediately makes my heart leap. 

⇞⇞ Chris is making solid granny squares and will be following the design made by Kaz Hall for the Hooked on Attic24 facebook group. I think it's looking great already, even in its deconstructed state.

⇞⇞ Brenda has really powered along and made a fantastic Harbour blanket using the Yuletide square pattern. If you look closely you'll notice that she's crocheted the colours in a repeating sequence which gives the blanket a very harmonious feel. 

⇞⇞ Hannah has been following along with the ripple pattern, but felt inspired by seeing the Harbour Yuletide blankets shared online and decided to jump in and make a second square blanket. I'm all for doubling up!! 

Incidentally, this combination of colour palette and pattern (Harbour x Yuletide) has been named "Harbourtide" on Facebook and I absolutely love love love it. I wish I'd thought of it haha!!

⇞⇞ Another Harbourtide creation taking shape, and already looking stunning. Holly has decided to make four large squares which she'll then crochet together at the end - I'm really looking forward to seeing this.

⇞⇞ And here is one more beautiful Harbourtide work in progress, not a blanket this time but a poncho. Carol decided to make her own version of my Home Poncho (this one), by combining the Harbour colours with the Yuletide stitch pattern, and my goodness it really does look amazing. Her photo received so much interest on facebook and inspired a good many people, so Carol very kindly explained her pattern in case anyone else wanted to give it a try....

Here is the basic method, written in UK Terms :

Row 1: Ch 128. Join with a sl st to form a ring. Ch 1 and dc around. End with a sl st. [128 sts]

Row 2: Ch 3 (counts as 1 tr); (1 tr; ch 2; 2 tr) in the same st; 1 tr in each of the next 63 sts; (2 tr; ch 2; 2 tr) in the next st; tr in each of the next 63 sts; end with a sl st.

Row 3: Follow Yuletide pattern from the 2nd round which is the Sk 1 st; 2tr in next st; sk 1 st pattern round.

 

I've so enjoyed my time spent on social media this week, there is a lot of feel-good around this year's CAL (well there always is every year) and it's really heart warming to be a part of it.

So this week we're moving into the second half of the Harbour blanket with another fifteen stripes being added. I was crocheting this part of the blanket on my long train journey home from Dorset last autumn, and it was a very enjoyable way to pass the time as the miles flew by. Oooo, see, there's that glorious yellow again, bringing in the sunshine!

As you crochet part 4 you'll find that the extra length really makes your blanket feel extremely blankety. It'll be getting to that perfect size where you can have a snuggle underneath it as you work, and you should be so familiar with the pattern by now that you can really allow your mind to relax as the ripple rhythm flows.

I hope that you're enjoying these colours as much as I am, they really do bring some much needed summer sunshine at this time of year.

I always get a jolt of pure joy each week when I lay my blanket out to take the progress photograph and I get to see how it's looking. When you're immersed in crocheting those ripples you don't often view the blanket in it's entirety, so there is always that little element of surprise when you lay it out and take a long look.

I don't mind telling that this is quite a challenging colour palette to work with in terms of balance, and creating random stripes that have a harmonious feel is much harder than you would think. I'm actually pretty proud of it :)

I had to show you the above photo which was completely unplanned and unstyled - I'd left my blanket in a heap on the chair after I'd been photographing, and Tilly decided that it was obviously there for her comfort. I love love love it when cats curl themselves into a ball and turn their little heads upside down to sleep, it's so cute!

Ok, lets have a look at this week's colours, we'll be working on stripes 46-60.

Here is the colour info for Part 4 of the "MIXED STRIPE" Harbour Blanket.

Remember each stripe is made of two rows of crochet.

Click (( HERE )) for the printable worksheet.

46. Lipstick

INSERT OPTIONAL STRIPE HERE - Storm Blue (for double bed size blankets)

INSERT OPTIONAL STRIPE HERE - Apple (for double bed size blankets)

47. Aspen

48. Lapis

49. Cloud Blue

50. Storm Blue

51. Clementine

52. Spearmint

53. Denim

54. Turquoise

55. Apple

56. Dandelion

57. Tomato

58. Aster 

59. Spice

60. Cornish Blue

Stripy blankets are just soooooooooo good for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Haha!!

Lets look at this week's colourwash blanket now........

As you know, I'm working on the harbour colourwash myself at the moment, so I know first hand how uplifting these brightly coloured stripes are. It's been chilly here in Atticland during the past week - you can see in the above photo that I'm stretched out on the sofa wrapped up in the mixed stripe harbour while I work on the colourwash version - double therapy!!

You can also see that this week there'll be some sunshine streaming into your blanket because we have Dandelion incoming - yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You'll be using four colours this week...

Cornish Blue : Clementine : Dandelion : Turquoise

As we leave the oranges and reds behind, we'll be lightening the balance now as we add in yellow. It's a lovely, uplifting part of the blanket and I really hope you enjoy seeing the sun rising........

......ahhhhhhhhhhhh, so good!! 

Here is the colour info for Part 4 of the "COLOURWASH" Harbour Blanket.

Remember each stripe is made of two rows of crochet.

Click (( HERE )) for the printable worksheet (the Colourwash is on page 2 of the PDF)

46. Cornish Blue

47. Clementine

48. Cornish Blue

49. Cornish Blue

50. Dandelion (here comes the sun!)

51. Cornish Blue

52. Dandelion

53. Cornish Blue

54. Dandelion

55. Dandelion

56. Turquoise

57. Dandelion

58. Turquoise

59. Dandelion

60. Turquoise (hint - don't fasten off, there will be another stripe of Turquoise next!)

Oh, hi Tilly.....!

I think that's about all for now, I hope this week goes well for you all - isn't it strange to think that next week we'll be stepping into February? Time flies when you're having fun.....enjoy your ripply stripes and soak up those glorious colours!

Here are some links you might need this week ::

♥ PART 4 COLOUR WORK SHEETS

♥ HARBOUR YARN PACK 

♥ EASY EYELET RIPPLE TUTORIAL

♥ HARBOUR PRINTABLE PATTERN

♥ HARBOUR BLANKET INTRODUCTION

♥ HARBOUR CAL PART 1 - stripes 1-15

♥ HARBOUR CAL PART 2 - stripes 16-30

♥ HARBOUR CAL PART 3 - stripes 31-45

 

 

 

Winter Weekend

I wonder how many times I've talked to you about coffee in my one thousand, five hundred and ninety three blog posts? Rather a lot I think is the answer, especially in recent years since J decided he wanted to enjoy a slice of my enviable "cafe lifestyle" and now actively encourages a good many of our quick jaunts to enjoy a coffee together. The above photo was taken on Saturday morning after we'd finished our market food shop - a chance to sit still for a short while and practice some gratitude before the busy day continued to gallop away. Small, cosy cafés are the perfect place to be on a cold wintry morning, and I thoroughly enjoyed that mighty fine frothy cappuccino. 

Crochet time nearly always features in my weekend, and I'm forever grateful for this soothing creative pastime. Similar to my morning coffee break, I find that sitting down to crochet presents a really great opportunity for some mindful moments. I adore crochet for that - it's such great therapy, and very restorative for the mind and soul. My Harbour Colourwash blanket is now long enough to snuggle under while I'm adding extra ripples and it's ever so toasty under there.

On Sunday I had a deliciously slow start to the day and enjoyed some crochet in bed - oh the cosy factor was sky high! Tilly very rarely comes onto my bed, but I'm pretty sure those yarny stripes lured her in.

We took a short, bracing walk at Bolton Abbey, wrapped up in warm layers as it really was very cold.

I really enjoy coming down to this little river beach, the river is very still here (I find myself wishing for waves, even just teeny ones) but I still find it soothing to crunch along the pebbles and take in the watery reflections.

It felt really good to be out walking, even on a cold, rather bleak day....

....and there was beauty in the quiet stillness of the winter landscape.

The sheep were out and about enjoying themselves at Bolton Abbey too!

Back home, and one of the highlights of my weekend was the arrival of the first daffodils of the year. Yay!! I started this ritual many years ago (before the children were born) and absolutely love to begin the year with these cheery yellow blooms on my table.

I really appreciate that they are so readily available in the supermarkets these days - these bunches cost just 65 pence each so I splashed out and bought two. They bring such a lot of visual pleasure to each day, little rays of sunshine brightening up the room.

I always make time to enjoy a healthy breakfast every day, so there isn't any change at the weekends, but I do enjoy the slower pace of weekend meals in general.

I've got a new breakfast obsession - overnight oats made with coconut yoghurt. This past weekend I tried plain yoghurt with coconut for the first time and oh my word it is SO GOOD!! There is something about the creamy taste of the coconut paired with the slightly sharp flavour of natural yoghurt which makes me squirm with pleasure. This is quite a runny yoghurt so it's perfect for making overnight oats (they're hiding underneath all that fresh fruit in the above photo). I measure out 20g oats and mix with 100ml of yoghurt (it's this Alpro soya one), then leave in the fridge overnight, adding the fruit on top when I'm ready to eat. Yummmmmm.,,,happy me.

Fireside loafing always makes me happy too, and the grey dreary weather we're having right now can be totally ignored when I'm sat beside the hearth. Add in a warm crochet blanket and a mug of frothy coffee, and right there is a truly wonderful winter moment. I hope with all my heart that there will be many, many more happy moments this winter - did you know that there are only eight more winter weekends before the Spring Equinox? Holding that thought.

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Harbour Blanket CAL :: Part 3

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside....oh, I do like to be beside the sea.....la la la! Yes, I've been daydreaming again with that song in my head, it's unavoidable during January and February when I am living and breathing my crochet-a-long blankets and finding myself transported to another (warmer) place and time. You may have noticed that many of my CAL designs have something of a summer theme (Meadow, Dahlia, Sweet Pea, Sunny), it's my favourite season by far and I find it endlessly inspiring. As we crochet along together through the cold winter months I think it's wonderful to have colours which lift our spirits and bring a little sunshine into our homes - bright summery colour palettes are so good at doing just that.

I've been daydreaming about this place today ↑↑, this is the beautiful little fishing village of Staithes on the North Yorkshire coast, and it's rooted itself deep in my heart. I love spending time here, especially in the early mornings when the narrow streets are sunny and quiet and there is such a relaxing sleepiness about the place. Of course it has the most picturesque little harbour, with colourful boats that directly inspired my blanket - you can see more photos of it online ((here)). I'm hoping to be walking down that little street again in March, so I'll be sure to take you along with me and show you around a bit.

Daydreaming of summer holidays while I warm myself beside the fire in the midst of winter is actually a pretty lovely way to pass the time. I love the way that crocheting blankets allows my mind to wander in and out of my memories as I quietly sit and hook each stitch. It's such a pleasure! I deliberately design easy, rhythmic, repetitive stripes for this very reason, well I do also very much like to encourage beginners to jump in and find the joy in making blankets - two very good reasons why I keep my designs simple. I really, really hope you're enjoying these colourful ripply stripes, whether you are an accomplished daydreamer like me or a newbie hooker just starting out.

As you know, when I create these weekly CAL instalments I love to celebrate our online crochet community by sharing photos that have caught my eye on Facebook and Instagram. This week I'm sharing some fabulous blankets which are using the Easy Eyelet Ripple pattern but with alternative colour palettes. 

Lets take a look.......

↑↑ @calamitycrochet on Instagram shared this photo of her nautical ripple blanket - I love the bright pops of red amongst the cool, calm blues.

↑↑ Elaine is working on a Harbour Harmony blanket (you can see the beginnings of her squares all neatly arranged in a box), but she is also using the Eyelet Ripple pattern to crochet a super sweet blanket in pastel shades.

↑↑ Fran is stash busting for her blanket and I love the mix of colours she's using.

↑↑ Another stash buster, Lisa's summery colour palette is looking delightful.

↑↑ Orla has chosen a stunning colour palette of purples, pinks, blues and greens and is making a gorgeous colourwash blanket - I'm really looking forward to seeing this one grow.

↑↑ Michelle has added white ripples in between her bright shades to create a really eye catching design.

↑↑ B has chosen to use Stylecraft Highland Heathers yarn, and I think it's looking absolutely beautiful. The subtly blended colours in this heathered yarn is very appealing, and I wouldn't mind having a play with it myself.

↑↑ You might remember that I shared this Harbour Yuletide last week, it's had a lot of love on Facebook I can tell you! Denise has added a lot more rows since last week so I thought you'd like to see progress - isn't it fabulous?

Thank you to everyone who's shared photos on Facebook or Instagram this week ( #harbourblanketcal ), our online communities are absolutely thriving and buzzing with hooky excitement, I couldn't love them more.

So here we are at week 3, and this week we'll pass the half way mark (stripe 42). When I was crocheting my own Harbour Blanket last year, I was actually down in Dorset at the time I was working on part 3. This is the harbour at West Bay where I grew up - the colours of the sea and the fishing boats have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.

It's always a very nostalgic experience when I return to Dorset for a visit, especially coming down to "the Bay". I have so many precious memories tied up here, layer upon layer of happy times spent with family and friends. 

On the day that I finished the final stripe of part 3, I folded the blanket and popped it in my racksack so that I could take it on a little seaside jaunt. It was extremely windy on this day so I couldn't safely photograph it near the harbour (I had visions of it being blown straight into the water, oh, the horror!). Instead, I took it onto the pebbly beach and had the pleasure of seeing it with a sea view backdrop.....

....awwwww, my heart!! I absolutely love the above photo - the colours look so vibrant against the muted shades of the beach.

Forty Five stripes of bright seaside colours, don't they make you feel happy to look at them? Pure holiday vibes!

I asked Lady B to help me hold the blanket upright so that I could show you how cute the eyelets look with the light shining through - yeah, it really was a blustery day so it didn't go too well, but you get the idea. I'm sure that if you've already completed the first 30 stripes, you'll know first hand how lovely the eyelets are.

Ok, lets have a look at this week's colours, we'll be working on stripes 31-45.

Here is the colour info for Part 3 of the "MIXED STRIPE" Harbour Blanket.

Remember each stripe is made of two rows of crochet.

Click (( HERE )) for the printable worksheet.

31. Lipstick

INSERT OPTIONAL STRIPE HERE - Dandelion (for double bed size blankets)

INSERT OPTIONAL STRIPE HERE - Spearmint (for double bed size blankets)

32. Storm Blue

33. Lapis

34. Apple

35. Cornish Blue

36. Cloud Blue

37. Dandelion

38. Spearmint

39. Clementine

40. Tomato

41. Aspen

42. Denim

43. Spice

44. Aster

45. Turquoise

I've seen many of you enjoying your colourwash blankets during the past couple of weeks, and I'd like to say thank you for having faith in the design. The bottom section is full of very strong contrasts and is not for the fainthearted,  but remember that these bold colours will add visual weight to the blanket. It really is a wonderful exercise in colour play and I'm excited for you to see it play out.

You'll be using four colours this week...

Spice : Storm Blue : Clementine : Cornish Blue

Putting blues and oranges together creates a really dynamic effect full of contrast - blue and orange are opposites on the colour wheel so they don't always like to play nicely together! But look how amazing they are when you see them with the deeper colours beneath......

....wow!!!!

This is such a fun colour journey, and I really hope you're enjoying it as much as I am. Every week I get so excited to see how the next set of colours will look, and how the overall look of the blanket keeps shifting and changing as it grows.

Ah, so, so good!!

Here is the colour info for Part 3 of the "COLOURWASH" Harbour Blanket.

Remember each stripe is made of two rows of crochet.

Click (( HERE )) for the printable worksheet (the mixed stripe is on page 2 of the PDF)

31. Spice

32. Storm Blue

33. Spice

34. Storm Blue

35. Spice

36. Storm Blue

37. Storm Blue

38.  Clementine

39.  Storm Blue

40.  Clementine

41. Storm Blue

42.  Clementine

43. Clementine

44. Cornish Blue

45. Clementine

I'm wishing you a week full of hooky pleasure and happy daydreams, I hope these bright colours make you happy right down to your toes!

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Here are some links you might need this week ::

♥ PART 3 COLOUR WORK SHEETS

♥ HARBOUR YARN PACK 

♥ EASY EYELET RIPPLE TUTORIAL

♥ HARBOUR PRINTABLE PATTERN

♥ HARBOUR BLANKET INTRODUCTION

♥ HARBOUR CAL PART 1 - stripes 1-15

♥ HARBOUR CAL PART 2 - stripes 16-30

↑↑ ps, yes, tis me, loitering about on a cold blustery beach with my blankie and looking very happy about the whole situation. Please ignore the windswept state of my appearance and focus on the stripes - don't they look amazing?! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

January Feels Good!

I was walking down the cobbled hill this morning on my way to the shops and found myself thinking about you all, and realising that I was missing our friendly chats about this and that and nothing in particular. I love creating my weekly CAL posts but they are very time consuming and not nearly as easy for me to write as my normal everyday style posts.

So, hello-hello, I hope you're feeling good as we navigate these early days of the year, and as always let me tell you I am so thankful for your company. 

J and I did our usual early morning walk routine this morning and it was a bit miserable really. It was cold, dark and wet, a light drizzle at first and then by the time we were coming out of the bakery it was full on pelting with rain and we got absolutely soaked. But as you can see from the first photo, by the time 9am rolled around all the rain clouds had disappeared leaving clear blue skies and the most glorious bright sunshine in their wake. Oh, I was so, so glad of it I can tell you. We popped down the road to the coffee shop mid morning and sat a while on the comfy sofa together drinking cappuccino. It's always a short and sweet kind of coffee break as it's a working day for J and he doesn't like to be away from his screen for too long, but I really love that we make this happen for ourselves a few times a week. It gives me a feeling of pure contentment right down to the ends of my toes.

I'm very lucky that I get to spend some wonderful hours each week in the company of great yarny friends at Coopers Café too, gosh, I do so value that part of my life. I've just looked back into my archives to try and remember when our creative group first started out at Coopers, and discovered it was almost NINE years ago, what a shocker! Wow, I honestly had no idea it was that long. I love love love my Friday mornings spent chatting and hooking - right now I'm working on my Harbour Colourwash blanket which is a really enjoyable way to spend a few hours. I'm currently a week or so ahead of the CAL schedule so kind of doing it in real time which is a bit seat-of-pants-ish, but all good fun.

So we're almost three weeks into January and it's been a pretty wintry month so far, but not unpleasantly so. We've had a real mixture of dull, foggy grey days.......

.....and the most delightful, clear, icy cold days which I've loved. 

Even though I'm no longer doing the school run, most mornings I do still find myself heading out to walk somewhere for one reason or another. It's a habit that feels very deep rooted and I'm certainly not complaining, I welcome the quiet alone time, walking with just my own thoughts and enjoying a little bit of mindfulness.

I continue to observe the daily weather, sky, clouds, trees, views and reflections as I walk....and I can't imagine living a life where all this goes unnoticed. Everyday life is full of so much remarkable detail, don't you think?

Every so often I get the chance to head out of town and I really appreciate those times a lot. At the start of the year we renewed our annual season ticket for Bolton Abbey, and I walked there with a friend last week.

It was a cold, clear day and we were wrapped up in woolly socks, hats and mittens to keep the extremities cosy. It was a lovely morning, a chance for my friend and I to catch up and chat while also doing some healthy exercise which felt like a very Januaryish thing indeed.

You might remember that J and I are lucky enough to both have Mondays free from work commitments, and if the weather is good we often take a walk together. Lately we've been staying close to home and walking very locally from our front door, but this week we decided to drive out into the Yorkshire Dales and walk along the river.

It was such a beautiful morning, so still and clear that the river looked more like a pond in certain places. This suspension bridge across the river Wharfe is extremely bouncy and it's quite an experience walking across it - it makes my legs feel very wobbly!

Can you see me in the above photo, looking at my own reflection in the river?

It was a cold day, with the ground still frozen in places where the sun hadn't yet reached.

One of the lovely things about walking on a week day is the blissful quietness of the footpaths - this is a very well used, busy trail at weekends, but on Monday there were just a few dog walkers out and about enjoying the crisp, sunshiny winter weather.

Reflections in water.......it's my thing.......need I say more???!!

On the home front, my January days have been peaceful, slow and absolutely lovely. I've been gently easing myself back into familiar, well established routines and am feeling really good actually. I've not made any new years resolutions or set any intentions for the year ahead - for me personally, I find that January is the completely wrong month to try and do this. I prefer to come through January and February with as little change as possible, then come March I might feel ready to think about new intentions.

I packed away the Christmas decorations at the weekend which included a major sorting out of everything, repacking into some new storage boxes, and recycling a lot of unwanted stuff too. It was a long overdue job that's been on my virtual to-do list for about five years (at least) so I'm very happy to have got it done. I bought a few new decorations last week from Oxfam in the online sale, and thought you'd appreciate seeing them - aren't they beautiful?

They are handmade in India and the detail is incredible, I can't tell you how much I love them (there are still a few left online if you want to look - here you go). I can't wait to unpack them in December and see them on my tree, I'll most likely have forgotten all about them by then, so it'll be a nice surprise for future me. I do like nice surprises.

In celebration of the season we're in (and I'm really trying my best to celebrate Winter this year, rather than just enduring it), I treated my home to a new framed print. It hasn't arrived yet, but I'm so excited to have it on my wall above my fireplace. It's by my fave artist Janet Bell and is called "Morning Light" - I already have three of Janet's prints that I've bought over the years so I guess I am now a collector (how lovely that thought is). My idea was to have four prints for the four seasons that I could hang above the fireplace, changing them around throughout the year. I'm pretty excited about the whole idea I can tell you. By the way, Janet currently has 10% discount on her website for the whole of January if you wanted to treat yourself or your home (use code HELLO2022 at checkout).

I haven't really taken that many photos indoors this year so far, so I really need to do more of that. I try to create one or two new photos each week for my Instagram account though, so I thought you might like to see them here too. The above one was totally un styled - this is pretty much what my sofa looks like on a daily basis, so I simply held my phone up and captured an image. Instagram can be very over-designed, but I much prefer the un-styled, un-filtered, natural look of things.

This is the photo I took earlier on today, and yes I obviously did have to spend time setting this up and getting it just so. I had an idea that I wanted to see my three coastal inspired blankets all together, so I had to go around the house to try and locate the coastal ripple (eventually found it in the Big Teen's room). I absolutely love how they look together - each so different, and yet they are very harmonious together too. I love my blankets SO MUCH. My goodness, words can't describe the true depth of my love for these handmade yarny things. Love love love love love, times a million.

Oh, do you know, thinking about coastal inspiration has reminded me that I haven't yet shown you any photos from our New Year trip away, how very slack of me!! Tut tut, shocking bloggy behaviour indeed. As you can see above, it was absolutely FabUlOus, we had fantastic weather, did loads of coastal walking and had the best time. I came home feeling so energised and re-charged, and definitely want to do that kind of thing more often if we are able.

I'll start looking through my photos to put together a holiday blog post very soon - it'll be nice to share some coastal inspiration in amongst my Harbour CAL posts I think.

Well, I seem to have come to a full stop (.) so I'll sign off for now.....I hope you are taking these days slowly and gently and finding happiness in your days xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

 

Harbour Blanket CAL :: Part 2

Hello, hello, I hope you're well and happy and finding lots of joy in your days as we step through the first month of the year. Here in Atticland I've been having a slow, restorative week for the most part, attempting to settle my days into some sort of routine which allows me to get things done while still having plenty of time to rest if I need it. I have to say, I'm finding myself daydreaming quite a bit at the moment, my mind wandering to sunnier, warmer times and I'm looking forward to the seasons shifting and changing to give us lighter, brighter days. 

These photos were taken in May last year when I spent a few days at the coast with a good friend. We rented a small apartment in Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast and our days were filled with walking the coast path, strolling on the beach and pottering around the harbour. The weather was glorious - bright and breezy and absolutely perfect for taking photographs. As soon as I got home I pulled out my yarn pegs and began working on the Harbour colour palette inspired by all that I had seen. 

The bustling holiday town of Whitby and the quiet little village of Staithes are some of my favourite places to visit when I need a sea fix, and never fail to uplift my spirits. It was this happy kind of feeling that I wanted to capture in my Harbour blanket - the carefree, uplifting joy that takes hold when you're on holiday and the days are filled with relaxation and pleasure seeking, and when every view makes you sigh with happiness.

I know from all the photos I've seen on social media since last Friday that there are a good many of you joining me on this blanket journey and I hope that you've enjoyed getting started with your stripes. I would like to thank you all so much for sharing your progress online too (the Facebook groups have been buzzing with excitement!) and for all the heart warming friendship and support you've freely given to our online groups, it's been absolutely wonderful to see.

If you aren't already a part of the Attic24 Facebook community, I can highly recommend it if you're looking for some friendly banter and to join up with hundreds of other hooksters all over the world. You can share photos of your blanket progress, pick up lots of handy hints and tips and chat to your hearts content. There are three groups on Facebook to look out for (there may well be more but these are the ones that I visit) :

Hooked on Attic24

Attic24 and Lots More - UK

Just Attic24 Friends

These groups are very active and friendly, and you'd be made so welcome if you wanted to join in. I'd like to say a massive heart-felt thank you to the fabulous folks who administrate these groups and take care of the day to day running of them, I am so grateful to them.

I also want to take this opportunity to mention that there are absolutely no time restrictions involved with my crochet-alongs, and it's perfectly acceptable for you to take it slowly if that suits you better. You probably already know this but I think it's worth mentioning again - my patterns stay free and accessible on my blog for always, so that you can jump in and use them whenever you like. I see people picking up the cosy stripe blanket all the time, and that was my first ever CAL in 2014!! This year more than in previous years, the Harbour yarn pack continues to fly out of the warehouse as we jaunt through January, so I know there will be hundreds of new blankets starting out every day. All I ask is that you enjoy your own personal hooky journey, no matter when you start or how fast or slow it is.

I've really enjoyed seeing you all fall in love with the Harbour colour palette as those stripes begin to grow....it really is a mood lifter that's for sure. Many of you have found your way to Veronica's online shop (Simply Shade Cards) and are using her wooden shade cards to keep a record of the Harbour colours. Thanks to Karen for the lovely photo above.

I thought it would be fun to share some more blanket beginnings that have caught my eye online this week. I know that the majority of you are following along with me and giving the Easy Eyelet Ripple pattern a try, and it's been fantastic for me to see how much you're enjoying it. It's an easy pattern to get to grips with once those first few rows are done and dusted and I know that you're already appreciating the top notch relaxation therapy that it's bringing to your days.

↑↑ Maria's cat Minty looks happy enough testing out the snuggle factor don't you think?!

↑↑ Awwww, just look at this little cutie!! Poppie shared this adorable photo on Instagram - her Little Man decided that he would like to wear his very own Harbour stripes, so Poppie decided to start her blanket all over again and let him stay cosy in his brand new Harbour Scarf.

Some of you have decided to use alternative Attic24 patterns for your Harbour stripes, and I always think it's inspirational to see....

↑↑ Allison is hooking up the Neat Ripple for her blanket

↑↑Amy decided that a simple Granny Stripe would be the way to go for some relaxing hooky time

↑↑ Christine has chosen the Hydrangea Stripe which looks super snuggly in these bright shades

↑↑ Gaye is making the Harbour Eyelet ripple, but at the same time is hooking up a smaller lap blanket using the Dahlia Spike stitch

↑↑ And Denise is crocheting her Harbour colours into a fabulous Yuletide square which already looks stunning. I'm really looking forward to seeing this one grow.

Thank you again for sharing your photos - do please keep posting on Facebook and Instagram ( #harbourblanketcal ) as I absolutely love to see them.

Right then, lets take a look at the second part of the CAL, and the stripes that will be flowing off your hook this week.

If you're making the Mixed Stripe version, then this week you'll be adding another fifteen jolly stripes to your blanket. The bigger it grows, the more happiness seems to radiate out from those ripples, don't you think? It's just such a JOYFUL thing!

You will no doubt have noticed that some of the colours are very bright (hello Clementine, I'm looking at you), but the predominance of cool blue tones allows the bright shades to pop out and sing without being too over powering. 

It's the pops of bright orange, yellow and green which give this blanket it's unique signature, and I hope they are making you happy. Do they remind you of being on holiday? Do you think of the seaside as you ripple up and down those rows? Oh, I really do hope so! I hope your daydreams are as sunny and happy as can be.

Ok, lets have a look at this week's colours, we'll be working on stripes 15-30.

Here is the colour info for Part 2 of the "MIXED STRIPE" Harbour Blanket.

Remember each stripe is made of two rows of crochet.

Click (( HERE )) for the printable worksheet.

16. Turquoise

INSERT OPTIONAL STRIPE HERE - Clementine (for double bed size blankets)

INSERT OPTIONAL STRIPE HERE - Cornish Blue (for double bed size blankets)

INSERT OPTIONAL STRIPE HERE - Dandelion (for double bed size blankets)

17. Lipstick

18. Lapis

19. Cloud Blue

20. Storm Blue

21. Apple

22. Clementine

23. Aspen 

24. Aster 

25. Tomato 

26. Denim

27. Spice 

28. Dandelion

29. Spearmint

30. Cornish Blue

Part two of the Colourwash version brings a subtle progression to last week, with similar mid-blue tones dancing along with the orange shades. You'll be using four colours this week ::

Tomato, Denim, Aster and, Spice.

I'm currently working on this blanket myself so I am really, really enjoying the colour play first hand at the moment. I think to be honest, the Colourwash Harbour Blanket looks better in real life than it does in photos, so trust me when I tell you that it gets better and better the bigger it grows. 

Here is the colour info for Part 2 of the "COLOURWASH" Harbour Blanket.

Remember each stripe is made of two rows of crochet.

Click (( HERE )) for the printable worksheet (the mixed stripe is on page 2 of the PDF)

16. Tomato

17. Denim

18. Tomato

19. Tomato

20. Aster

21. Tomato

22. Aster

23. Tomato 

24. Aster 

25. Aster 

26. Spice

27. Aster 

28. Spice

29. Aster

30. Spice (hint - don't fasten off, there will be another stripe of Spice next!)

I hope this week passes by gently and harmoniously for you - January can be a tricky month to navigate but one thing I do know for sure is that bright colours and soothing yarny stripes really, really help. It's the best kind of therapy there is......enjoy every stitch!!

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Here are some links you might need this week ::

♥ PART 2 COLOUR WORK SHEETS

♥ HARBOUR YARN PACK 

♥ EASY EYELET RIPPLE TUTORIAL

♥ HARBOUR PRINTABLE PATTERN

♥ HARBOUR BLANKET INTRODUCTION

♥ HARBOUR CAL PART 1 - stripes 1-15

 

 

Harbour Blanket CAL :: Part 1

YAY, it's CAL DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good morning, a belated Happy New Year to you all and welcome to the start of what I hope is a very happy two month jolly along with these glorious coastal-inspired colours. This is the sixth time that I've shared a blanket journey at the start of the year and I can tell you from experience that it makes a huuuuuuuge difference to the feel of these tricky months. My hope is that you feel it too, and that you enjoy belonging to our vibrant online crochet community as we make a blanket together. I don't think you can beat the joy and satisfaction of immersing yourself in the gentle art of yarning along with a palette of uplifting colours through the darkest months of the year. If you don't crochet, I really hope that my weekly CAL posts will still make you feel good with a little bit of colour therapy, and I'll try my best to chat to you midweek about normal every day life kind of stuff too.

It's been two months since I introduced you to the Harbour blanket, and maybe some of you are new to the Attic and aren't sure what I'm talking about (a warm welcome to you if you're new here!). You can read the introduction post I wrote about the Harbour blanket by clicking on the following link >>

HARBOUR BLANKET INTRODUCTION

These colours are inspired by my childhood growing up by the sea in Dorset, as well the many wonderful holidays I've had at the Yorkshire coast. Harbours and fishing boats have always been a source of happiness for me and hold many memories of much loved places and times spent with special people. 

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

From left to right :

♥ Lipstick ♥  Tomato ♥  Spice ♥  Clementine ♥  Dandelion ♥

♥ Apple ♥ Aspen ♥ Spearmint ♥ Cloud Blue ♥ Turquoise ♥

♥ Aster ♥ Cornish Blue ♥  Storm Blue ♥ Denim ♥ Lapis ♥

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

HARBOUR YARN PACK

I really wanted this blanket to have a joyful, holiday-ish feel to it, and for it to bring forth memories of happy times spent beside the sea. It's an easy pattern (I promise), so easy in fact that I've named it the Easy Eyelet Ripple. I very much wanted to design a ripple pattern that would be perfect for beginners, and I really think this is it so don't be afraid to jump in and give it a go even if you are a complete newbie with the hook. 

For those of you who have made CAL blankets with me before then you will be familiar with the schedule. If this is your first time, here is a quick rundown of the weeks....

Today you have access to the pattern which remains free and accessible here on my blog for ever so that you can use it whenever you like. Each week I'll be giving you a list of stripes so that you can work on a portion of the blanket, and we aim to make 15 stripes a week. Don't worry if this isn't do-able for you, you can absolutely work at your own pace and take ten years to do it if you need to! 

Today - Part 1 (stripes 1 - 15)

14th January - Part 2 (stripes 16 - 30)

21st January - Part 3 (stripes 31 - 45)

28th January - Part 4 (stripes 46 - 60)

4th February - Part 5 (stripes 61 - 75)

11th February - Part 6 (stripes 76 - 84)

18th February - catch up week (darn in those ends!)

25th February - Part 7 - the Border

As always, I've created my usual photo-heavy tutorial to help you crochet your tension sample and learn how to work the Easy Eyelet Ripple. You can find it by clicking on the following link >>

EASY EYELET RIPPLE TUTORIAL

I've also made a simple written pattern that you can download/print if you don't need the step by step help and prefer to have a traditional printed pattern to pop in your bag. You can find it by clicking on the following link >>

DOWNLOAD HARBOUR BLANKET PATTERN

Even if you are an experienced crocheter, I would strongly advise you to crochet a small tension sample before beginning your blanket. This is just 31 chains, then 4 rows of the pattern which is enough for you to familiarise yourself with the way the rows work, as well as giving you reassurance that your hook size/tension is correct. It doesn't take long, and is worth the extra bit of effort I think. You don't have to change colours with the sample if you don't want to - just work up 4 rows in one colour, measure it, then frog it and re-use the yarn.

The Easy Eyelet Ripple uses just one stitch - a UK treble (this is the same as a double crochet in the US) and it's a very intuitive and easy-to-see visual pattern with simple rhythmic counting. It's an absolute joy to crochet, and once you've got that pesky first row out of the way you'll be jollying along with no trouble. I know the first row can be tough - crocheting stitches into a foundation chain can be hard going, especially for new hooksters. Here are my top tips for making this as stress-free as possible:

1. use a bigger hook size to make your chain, then switch down again to work your first row. You can go up two half-sizes to open up the chains a little (eg if you're going to use a 4mm hook for the blanket, make the chain using a 5mm).
2. take your time, and plan to make this first row when you can sit quietly and be completely undisturbed as you count and concentrate on the pattern.
3. make sure you have good light (the first stripe uses Lapis which is a dark blue, so you will need good light to see the chains clearly).
4. use stitch markers. You will need to have an accurate chain count for this to work, there is no room for errors. Make your chains slowly, evenly, and place stitch markers at regular intervals, say every 25 chains. This way, if your mind suddenly goes blank (it happens), or the cat distracts you and you lose count (also a distinct possibility in my house), you only have to go back as far as your last stitch marker.
5. when you work your first row, get into the habit of checking back over your stitches after every single ripple repeat (8 stitches). That way, if you've accidentally gone wrong and made too many or two few stitches, you can easily trouble shoot straight away. The eyelets really help with this - you will know straight away if you come to an eyelet space and you've mis-counted the previous stitches.

After that first row, you will probably need a coffee, or maybe a hefty glass of wine, but you will know that from here on out those rows will be flying off your hook. This is a repetitive, meditative pattern with uber-easy repeats so you will very quickly be able to ditch the written pattern and hook along to your heart's content. 

When I was crocheting the first part of the Harbour Ripple, I actually happened to be taking a short break by the sea at one of the places that inspired these colours. I really wanted to photograph the blanket beginning by the sea, and so I planned this trip to make it happen. It was back at the end of September, and the weather was mild enough for me to sit quietly on a bench overlooking the beach as I completed stripe number fifteen. Sitting and hooking outdoors with a sea view is one of my greatest pleasures, so of course I was in absolute heaven!

I mean, just look at it!!!! How wonderful this blanket looks already, after only 15 stripes!

In case you were wondering, this charming little harbour is in the enchanting village of Staithes on the North Yorkshire coast. I've been visiting here for decades and it holds some very special memories from when the Little People were small - you can see more of it in this post. 

So here we are back at home, and this is what Part 1 looks like. Fifteen ripply stripes of gloriously vibrant colour.

In the above photo you can clearly see how wonderful those little eyelets are, they add a lovely extra dimension to the look and feel of the blanket, but also they serve to really help when you are crocheting those rows. As they stack very neatly on top of each other they act like a full stop/pause after every eight stitches which will help to keep you on track with the pattern. Tis very clever!

I have a feeling that you are really going to enjoy this pattern, whether you are using the Harbour colour palette or going your own way with your own colours. 

OK.....shall we take a look at the colour order now, so that you can get cracking with it?

Here is the colour info for Part 1 of the "MIXED STRIPE" Harbour Blanket.

Click (( HERE )) for the printable worksheet.

1. Lapis (Foundation chain & rows 1 & 2)

2. Turquoise (rows 3 & 4)

3. Lipstick (rows 5 & 6)

4. Clementine (rows 7 & 8)

5. Cornish Blue (rows 9 & 10)

6. Dandelion (rows 11 & 12)

7. Spearmint (rows 13 & 14)

INSERT OPTIONAL STRIPE HERE - Lapis (for double bed size blankets)

8. Storm Blue (rows 15 & 16)

9. Apple (rows 17 & 18)

10. Tomato (rows 19 & 20)

INSERT OPTIONAL STRIPE HERE - Turquoise (for double bed size blankets)

11. Aster (rows 21 & 22)

12. Cloud Blue (rows 23 & 24)

13. Spice (rows 25 & 26)

14. Aspen (rows 27 & 28)

15. Denim (rows 29 & 30)

I always intended for these ripple stripes to be mixed in a jolly random way, to give something of a carefree holiday-ish feel to the overall design. But at the same time I know that many of you prefer your blankets to have more order and harmony, so I've also created a second "Colourwash" version which you might prefer. 

As you can see in the above image, both blankets will use the same set of colours but the order of them changes the look dramatically. The colourwash version is arranged so that the blues sweep upwards in a wash from dark to light, with the bright boaty-inspired shades popping up in between.

Lets take a closer look......

What do you think? I really love it, although I think my heart still prefers the mixed stripe.

Oh, I need to mention one important thing - this blanket is designed to have 84 stripes which will give a finished length of approx 175cm. The colourwash version is therefore not suitable for making shorter or longer blankets (you will need to follow the "Mixed Stripe" for smaller/longer blankets). 

If the colourwash has stolen your heart and you'd like to take your Harbour colours on this soothing journey, lets take a look at part 1.....

This week you will be using four colours : Lapis, Denim, Lipstick and Tomato.

This is the darkest part of the colourwash, and it's also beautifully vibrant - the combination of red and dark blue is very striking. As the blanket grows you'll see that this section very successfully balances out the lighter shades in the second half, and the whole effect will be stunning.

As you can see in the above photo, there are some parts of the colourwash where you crochet a double stripe (4 rows of the same colour), so there is no need to fasten off and restart your yarn in between these stripes.

Here is the colour info for Part 1 of the "COLOURWASH" Harbour Blanket.

Click (( HERE )) for the printable worksheet (the colourwash is listed on page 2).

1. Lapis (Foundation chain & rows 1 & 2)

2. Lipstick  (rows 3 & 4)

3. Lapis (rows 5 & 6)

4. Lipstick (rows 7 & 8)

5. Lapis (rows 9 & 10)

6. Lipstick (rows 11 & 12)

7. Lipstick (rows 13 & 14)

8. Denim (rows 15 & 16)

9. Lipstick (rows 17 & 18)

10. Denim (rows 19 & 20)

11. Lipstick (rows 21 & 22)

12. Denim (rows 23 & 24)

13. Denim (rows 25 & 26)

14. Tomato (rows 27 & 28)

15. Denim (rows 29 & 30)

I want to gently remind you that if you haven't already done so, you will need to find some way of identifying the yarn colours once you've removed the paper ball band. You can do this by simply sticking some strands of yarn to a piece of paper and writing the colour names next to them, or wrapping yarn pegs like I do. Or you can employ any other clever way that tickles your fancy.......which includes creating an actual shade card for your blanket project.

My friend Veronica has been making and selling these wooden shade cards for a little while now and they've become incredibly popular. She makes them for all of my current blanket designs and you can find them in her Etsy shop - the Harbour shade card is HERE.

I'm also thrilled to share with you these beautiful Harbour Harmony blankets designed by Kaz Hall who is one of the amazing admins in the "Hooked on Attic24" Facebook group. Kaz took my harbour colours and created these stunning versions of my Summer Harmony blanket. 

The Harbour Harmony blanket is being run as a mini CAL within the Hooked on Attic24 Facebook group. Kaz is organising this herself with my blessing, so if you would like to use your yarn pack to create your own Harbour Harmony, head on over to the Facebook group to join in.

There is also a rectangular version which I think is especially stunning - the wash of blues from dark to light makes me feel like I'm looking out to sea....isn't it beautiful?

I would like to say a huge thank you to Kaz for coming up with the idea and organising it all, and also to Sue and Catherine who crocheted the above stunning blankets to show us. Isn't our online crochet community the most amazing and inspirational place? I absolutely love love love being a part of it.

Well, I think that's about all for this week - remember you can share photos or questions on my Facebook page, in the "Hooked on Attic24" Facebook group, or an Instagram (please use the hashtag #harbourcal so I can find your posts).

I really hope you get your blankets off to a great start, have a fabulous, happy hooky week my lovelies!!!!!!!!!

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♥ HARBOUR YARN PACK 

♥ EASY EYELET RIPPLE TUTORIAL

♥ HARBOUR PRINTABLE PATTERN

♥ HARBOUR BLANKET INTRODUCTION

♥ PART 1 COLOUR WORK SHEETS