The Fireside Blanket :: Ta-dah!

Good morning! If you want to go and grab a Fireside yarn pack, here is the link to Wool Warehouse >>

FIRESIDE YARN PACK

Please do read on if you'd like to find out more about the blanket design and drink in lots of colour!

I've been crocheting with Stylecraft yarns for over twelve years now, and this is the first time I was tempted to abandon my beloved Special DK to try something different. For those of you who don't know this particular yarn, it's called Highland Heathers DK which is a premium acrylic yarn with a rich depth of colour. The colour palette is heavily inspired by nature, so the shades are quite earthy and natural with a few brighter surprises to lift the overall tone and stop it from becoming too dreary.

I was very excited to try it out as I'd heard nothing but good things about it in the few years since it launched, and a warm, snuggly blanket for Autumn seemed like the perfect project for it.

Sadly, this yarn is a bit camera shy so it's hard to get a good photograph which shows off the true lushness of the colours. You have to trust me when I tell you it is absolutely BEAuTiFUL. The "heathered" look is created by heavily blending several shades together giving them a subtle tweeded effect, and it really is lovely.

The yarn itself is also slightly more floofsy than Special DK and it has a really soft, slightly fuzzy appearance. I think the technical word is "halo" - yes, this yarn definitely carries a halo, in that there are teeny, fine fibres all along the surface of the strand which really help to add to the soft, blended appearance.

Because this yarn is a little more expensive, I opted to make a smaller sized blanket so that I could create a neat palette of a dozen colours.

Twelve balls (100g of each colour) is enough to make a blanket measuring approximately 120cm square.

The Fireside colours from left to right...

♥ Tayberry ♥ Whiskey ♥ Lichen ♥ Loch ♥ 

♥ Thrift ♥ Marmalade ♥ Gorse ♥ Firth ♥ 

♥ Thistle ♥ Heather ♥ Bracken ♥ Cairn ♥ 

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

FIRESIDE YARN PACK*

*the yarn pack contains a 16 page full colour A4 printed pattern

I've been lucky enough to work with Wool Warehouse for over eight years now, and they continue to do such a fantastic job of sending my yarn packs out all over the world. They are lovely, lovely people too - a young family business, run by folks who genuinely love their customers and want nothing more than to make everyone happy.

You probably already know that I earn a small commission on each pack sold through my shop, so I want to take this opportunity to thank you so much for supporting me in this way. I am extremely grateful, thank you, thank you.

Also, you know I always publish my patterns here on my blog for free, but in addition to the online tutorial I've created, there is a 16 page full colour A4 printed pattern included in the Fireside yarn pack. Yes sixteen pages! 

The design for the Fireside blanket came together very slooowly over many weeks of sampling. I opted to combine some ideas from previous blankets that I've made - I think I was maybe searching for some familiar comfort, something that would bring me back to my roots so to speak. So you may well recognise the look of the fireside squares because they are very similar to the ones I designed for my Summer Garden throw. And you might also think that the layout looks familiar too, because I made a blanket many years ago which combined two different sized squares (the Sweet Flower granny).

Having said all that about wanting comfort and familiarity, this blanket journey was NOT especially comfortable! I spent a lot of time in the sampling stage (way more than usual), and then once I was about a third of the way through I realised it wasn't working out as it should and it then spent an extended period (almost three months) in the naughty corner. Eventually I decided that the only thing I could do would be to start all over again, so that is exactly what I did. And do you know, from that point on it was an absolute, total pleasure.

The centre rounds of any square design can often feel a little bit fiddlesome, so my preferred method is to crochet them all at once and get them done and dusted. If you would like to do the same with your own Fireside blanket, then here are the numbers for you :

5 of each : Loch : Thrift

6 of each : Bracken : Firth : Gorse : Lichen : Tayberry : Thistle : Whisky

7 of each : Cairn : Marmalade : Heather

There should be 73 little circles  in total which form the first round of each square.

As part of my design process I also needed to make all of the round-two circles in one go too. This was mainly to make sure that I used all twelve colours evenly, but they are also very photogenic arranged like this, aren't they? It's not necessary for you to do it this way, although of course you could if you wished.

Turning circles into squares is very easy and a little bit magic. I deliberately selected contrasting colours  so that the circles would stand out against their backgrounds.

I really like to join blanket squares using the join-as-you-go method where you use joining slip stitches as part of the final crochet round of each square. It's a wonderful, fast method which allows you to see your blanket grow as you work. I explain the technique in full in the tutorial, but if you really don't like joining in this way then it's perfectly OK to stitch your squares together instead.

I'm in my element here, working steadily away, making colour choices on the fly and designing the colour placement pretty much as I go along. In the above photo I'm away by the sea in Saltburn, spending many blissful hours listening to music and hooking those little circles into squares.

Home again - it's mid July now and I'm about half way through the joining process now. This is my favourite kind of design work as it's all about the colour balance and is a really delicious challenge for a colour-addict like me. 

I'm almost at the end of the joining now, and Tilly is on hand to inspect my work and make sure the yarn is pulling correctly. Whatever would I do without her?!

YAY!!!!!!! All the squares have been joined now, and I'm super happy with how it's looking. It's time to design the border, and I spend a long while working on samples and deciding on the order of the colours. I know the border is going to be big and wide and will use all twelve shades and I'm majorly excited about getting stuck into those long, soothing granny rounds.

We went off on a summer holiday at the very end of July and it was lovely to have the border to work on while I was away. Because I'd already made all the colour and design decisions, it was pure, hooky bliss! We stayed in a small fisherman's cottage which had a beautiful, sunny enclosed garden full of flowering shrubs and potted geraniums. I spent most afternoons sat there with my crochet on my lap, drifting in and out of seasidey daydreams as my hook did it's thing.

I also took the Fireside blanket to the beach, well of course I did. We were staying in a very special place - the Holy Island of Lindisfarne in Northumberland - and this quiet beach was just a few minutes walk from the holiday cottage.

I was absolutely living my best life during this week - oh, happy, happy, happy me!

Every day we would head to the beach in the evening to watch the sun set - it's around 8.30pm in the above photo. I would settle on a bench with my hooky while J and Little B went off to beach comb for sea treasures. So many happy summer memories stitched into the border of this blanket, which I hope will carry me through the cold months to come.

I made twenty-one rounds of granny stitch for the border, nice and wide to frame the squares.

And then a final round of dainty little scallops just to add a delicate finishing touch. In the above photo I had just made the very last slip stitch and knew that the blanket was finished. Such an odd feeling - huge joy in finishing up a project that has spanned many months, but also an acute feeling of loss too. Bitter sweet indeed.

I really, really LOVE the border and it does its job so well. It holds the squares in place, keeps them from looking chaotic and disorderly. It brings a calming finish to the whole blanket and allows the colour palette to sing.

Surprisingly for a blanket made up of squares, there wasn't really any need to block it as it looked wonderfully smooth and neat. But I think blocking is a lovely way to finish off a blanket journey and well worth the effort, so I did treat my Fireside blanket to a little spa treatment (blocking advice is given in the tutorial).

SO would you like to see it?

OK..........here it is.............

........................ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so, so happy with how it turned out, and absolutely ADORE it. The colours are really rich in real life (the photos really don't do it justice) and the blanket is warm, soft, cosy and snuggly - everything a blanket should be.

I really hope you love it as much as I do.

At the weekend I quickly worked up a stripe sample using all twelve colours arrange in a rainbow order. I'm calling it a "heathered rainbow" which I think is quiet poetic?! I used the super-squishy Hydrangea Stripe pattern for my sample, but if you wanted to make a striped blanket you could of course use any of my existing patterns.

I'm going to be working on a random stripe order during the next few days as I've already had many requests for this on social media. I'll share more stripy info in a separate blog post at the weekend for those of you who prefer stripes to squares.

Going back to the Heathered Rainbow - I followed the exact colour order on this lovely wooden shade card, made by my friend Veronica. You can buy these lovely birch wood cards via Etsy, they are brilliant for keeping a record of colours, and for reference while you are making your blankets. In the Fireside palette for example, the two blues (Loch and Firth) can look very similar, so it's really useful to be able to check which is which!

(wooden birch shade cards can be purchased via Simply Shade Cards on Etsy)

Thank you also to Jo for adding in yarn tassels for me especially for my photograph (I have the nicest friends you know)

Since I finished making my blanket in early August I've had plenty of time to get acquainted with it and I'm happy to report that it lives up to its cosy, homely name. 

It's ever so warm, and at 4ft square it's the perfect size for a generous lap blanket, or to fold in half and wrap around your shoulders like an oversized shawl. I've been doing  both on a daily basis because we've had an unexpectedly cold snap as we've come to the end of the Summer season.

I named the blanket "Fireside" as I wanted it to feel cosy and comforting, the kind of feeling you get when you are snuggled up warm at home on a chilly day. The colours really do give off that cosy warm vibe I think, so even if you don't have a real fire to enjoy, I'm sure you can still take comfort from this lovely blanket.

As always, I've worked hard to create a very full, in depth  tutorial to help you make the Fireside blanket. It contains LOTS of photos which explain the join-as-you-go technique and guides you through the whole process from start to finish. My hope is that it will enable beginners to have the confidence to give this project a go, it's my mission to help absolutely everyone find the joy in making blankets! 

Here is the link >>

FIRESIDE BLANKET TUTORIAL

If stripes are more your thing, then make sure to check back here at the weekend and I'll have some samples to show you and some guidance about yarn quantities, patterns and sizing etc.

Well I think that's about all the Fireside chat for now, I hope you've enjoyed a peek behind the scenes into my creative process and have enjoyed seeing my blanket journey take shape.

Thank you as ever for your enthusiasm and support of my work, it really does mean the world. THANK YOU!!!

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Here are a few useful links >>

♥ FIRESIDE YARN PACK (includes a 16 page full colour printed pattern)

♥ FIRESIDE TUTORIAL

♥ FIRESIDE WORKSHEET DOWNLOAD

 

Comments

[Susan]

Ooh, love it.....it may just pop onto my list for next winter's long nights as I've just received a pack from my DD for birthday/mother's day gift combined & still need to finish off some knitting, embroidery & of course quilts on the go before I make a start on that. Your work is always outstanding & playing with colour is the best thing. Thanks Lucy for all the hard work, take care & hugs.

[Susan]

Love it, love it, love it. Can’t wait to get this ordered and get started. Thank you

[Lorraine]

This is absolutely gorgeous Lucy, you’ve worked so hard, thank you I can’t wait to start mine, I love my advent blanket so much which is slightly smaller than the normal ones, so I’m pleased this is a cosy size as well x

[linda sue]

GLORIOUS!!! i admire your skill and lovely color pallet. This is truly a magnificent work, thank you for the tutorial , which i will never be skilled enough to take advantage of, but, still, brilliant.

[Ann]

So beautiful!

[Sue, East Yorkshire]

Another masterpiece! So cosy and cuddly with such beautiful colours for autumn. xx

[Linda Carpenter]

Oh the anticipation! Been waiting all summer for this one. I have just ordered my pack, so excited. I'm a little worried about the join as you go method as I am a beginner. I'm currently working on the Harbour blanket and love, love it. My progress is slow as I get pain in my left thumb and right elbow pretty quickly (old age). You had me won over Lucy when you said it was a cozy, soft blanket.Thank you Lucy, this will be a wonderful winter project.(I'm in America!)Blessings! Linda

[Linda]

I’ve just read right through all the tutorial and can I just say it’s a true 'tour de force'!
Thank you so very very much!
And the resulting blanket will be a work of art.
I’ve loved all the blankets, but this is the best yet!

[Dawn]

A really beautiful blanket Lucy, the colours and the way you put them together is a true gift you have.

[Claire Parton]

It's a beautiful blanket Lucy and I love the muted colours of the yarn. I've just ordered my pack!

[Kay Phillips]

So it is Blanket Statement but using a different granny pattern? I made several of them back in the day.
Gorgeous colours!

[Dawn]

It really is a beautiful blanket Lucy, I am in awe of your colour skills!

[Lyn neville]

Can I just get the pattern, the wool colours are too dark, I would prefer pastel colours