Springfrost Blanket :: Introduction

Good morning!! If by any chance you've come to the Attic looking for the new Springfrost yarn pack, click on the following link to go straight there :

♥ SPRINGFROST YARN PACK ♥

I always really look forward to these posts where I introduce you to a new blanket because it means I can finally share what's been taking up so much space in my head of late. It's a huge relief for me actually as I'm a very open person when it comes to creativity and I find it really, really hard keeping things under wraps. So ((yay)) for today, when I can spill the creative beans!

Most of you probably already know about my annual crochet-along (CAL) which takes place at the start of January every year - this will be my ninth CAL blanket. Last year I wrote a blog post about all my crochet along blankets, so if you'd like to see what previous years have looked like, that post is ((here)). If you are new to the Attic and are wondering what on earth I'm going on about, I'll give more specific details about how the CAL works at the end of this post.

The idea for this colour palette started to form back in March when I was working on my Winter Garland. Do you remember it? The garland was a collection of crochet flowers and leaves in soft, muted winter shades with a touch of spring warmth and I fell head over heels in love with the colours.

As you know, I'm hugely inspired by nature and the seasons, and although I'm a summer-loving soul I can always find the beauty in every season and every type of weather (well, mostly. Drizzle and low cloud is a challenge). 

I actually love the winter months when temperatures fall below zero and we have a heavy frost, it can be incredibly beautiful and inspiring.

Here in Atticland our winters are very long. Take the above photo for example - May this year and even though the spring flowers were blooming we were still getting hard winter frosts. It remained soooooo cold with nights falling below zero and it felt like Spring never really had much of a chance to get going this year. It was very pretty out there, but brrrrrrrr, not really what you would expect spring to feel like.

Because our spring arrives very late, the arrival of the first early flowers is a real cause for celebration. Snowdrops are the first, bravely showing up in February when the weather is still doing crazy winter things. 

Then we look forward to the very early blossom. You can see in the above photo that sometimes these sweet little flowers have to brave a bit of snow and ice, but they don't seem to mind.

Early spring blossom is just the loveliest thing, so delicate and uplifting, it never fails to make me happy.

The colours of the land and sky at this time of year are amazingly  beautiful. The freezing cold weather covers the grass in sparkly frost and the morning sun glows soft and golden.

The early morning skies are often tinged with pink, and I really enjoy getting outside to walk and breathe it all in.

I hope from my photographs that you can get a feeling for how this colour palette came together in my mind. I began to imagine pale pinks, soft blues and frosty greens, with an undertone of cool white and silvery grey. A blend of winter and spring when the weather is still oh-so-cold but nature is gifting us the first flowers of the changing season. It's a quietly joyful colour palette, celebrating the first signs of spring after a long, cold winter.

As with all my colour palettes, I do a huge amount of faffing and deliberation when putting together a collection of colours which will eventually become a blanket. It's a lengthy design process for me, but it's one of my most favourite things to do. Quite simply, I get a massive amount of joy from creating with colour, oooodles of happiness!

The Springfrost colour palette is obviously much paler than my usual choices (it couldn't be more different from last year's Harbour palette) but I love the sweet gentleness of it. You might also be amused to know that this is the very first time I've ever used white in a blanket, and I'm mostly over the internal struggle of it (! if you know, you know !)

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

Top row :

♥ Lincoln ♥  Duck Egg ♥  White ♥  A Hint of Silver ♥  Mushroom ♥

Middle row :

♥ Pistachio ♥ Spearmint ♥ Blue Marl* ♥ Parma Violet ♥ Powder Pink ♥

Bottom row :

♥ Meadow ♥ Cloud Blue ♥  Baby Blue* ♥ Wisteria ♥ Pale Rose ♥

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

♥ SPRINGFROST YARN PACK ♥

* a little note about two of the colours I've chosen - on the left is Baby Blue, and on the right is Blue Marl. You might not be familiar with these shades as they are from the Stylecraft "Special for Babies" range. This yarn is compatible with the usual Special DK and crochets up in exactly the same way....and for this particular colour palette, the pale wintry shades are absolute perfection.

During the course of the past four months or so, I've been working on stitch pattern ideas for the Springfrost blanket. Endless samples have flown off my hook, ideas worked and re-worked, tweaked, frogged, modified and abandoned. When I sample stitch ideas, I don't look in books or at patterns that already exist (well very rarely) - my method is to sit with my hook and "doodle" with the yarn to see what comes up. Sometimes I might have an idea of something already in my head, other times I start with a basic stitch that I already know and attempt to grow it into something new. It's a fun process, a bit frustrating perhaps, but with my years of design experience I know that if I just keep going, eventually something will bloom and feel just right.

I deliberately keep my patterns simple because one of my true passions in life is to inspire crochet beginners to embark on a blanket journey. I use the most basic of stitches, put together in a way that creates something interesting but also very easy to learn and create. For those who are experienced hooksters, my stripe patterns gift you with a whole load of mindful therapy - you're welcome! Personally, I love love love to get lost in a stitch pattern, to allow my mind to quiet while my hands work familiar, repetitive, rhythmic stitches. Absolute bliss.

The Springfrost stripe is a very simple two row repeat which is easy to learn (prefect for beginners) and is worked using UK treble crochet. The resulting surface texture is absolutely delicious - just look at those soft, pouffy, bobbly, squishy lines! This blanket feels beautifully cosy and I can tell you that it's almost impossible to resist stroking it.

Of course I'm reaaaally excited for this crochet-a-long, it's such a lovely thing to look forward to in the New Year once the sparkle of Christmas is behind us. 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 free pattern is released on 6th January.

It's just over seven weeks until the CAL starts so there is a bit of a wait for the pattern, but here is a quick round-up of information for you :

♥ The Attic24 SPRINGFROST CAL will will run for 8 weeks in total, beginning on Friday 6th 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 2023 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 Springfrost stripe pattern. Weeks 1-6 I'll share the colour order for a set of stripes (around 18 each week). Week 7 will be a catch-up week (darn in those ends!), and the final week 8 will be all about the border.

♥ The SPRINGFROST YARN PACK contains 15 x 100g balls of Stylecraft Special DK and is enough to make one blanket/throw. The 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. This colour palette and stitch pattern would make beautiful baby blankets, so you could definitely make two of those from one yarn pack if you wished.

♥ 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 2023. 

♥ All CAL instalments (pattern and colour info) will remain FREE on my blog into the future so that it's there for you to access at a time that suits you. You don't have to squeeze your blanket journey into 8 weeks if you don't want to - take your time and work at your own pace.

♥ Something I often get asked - can you use your own colours, or use one of my other yarn packs and still join in with the CAL? The answer is YES, of course you can! I appreciate that many of you will probably already have yarn that you want to make use of, and I really look forward to seeing your creativity with stash busting. Perhaps you may not care for these soft pastel shades and want to use one of my brighter colour packs instead, and that's absolutely fine too.

All in all, you've probably guessed that this is a relaxed crochet-along project and the main aim is for us all to enjoy crocheting together. It's such a lovely way to start the New Year, and I hope you'll look forward to it as much as I do.

Before I go, I just want to say how grateful I am for my continued partnership with the lovely folks at Wool Warehouse, they really are fabulous. We've been working together since 2014 and they are just the loveliest people, a true family business who genuinely care about their customers. And for full transparency, I do receive a commission for every Attic24 yarn pack sold through Wool Warehouse, so thank you ever so much for your support, I appreciate it more than I can say.

Well I think that's about all for now, and I hope these soft, pretty colours have inspired you to plan a new blanket journey with me.....roll on January!!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

♥ SPRINGFROST YARN PACK ♥

 

 

 

Comments

[Bobette]

I had ordered the wool from England( I live in Canada)in order to crochet the Springfrost blanket. I have the wool and am raring to go but.. I do not know where to find the pattern on Lucy's blog as I would like to print the pattern off to begin making it. It's unfortunate that there isn't a pattern accompanying the wool but I'm ok with that as long as I can please be told where exactly to locate it online. I assume its somewhere under Attic24 but I didn't see it just now
Thank You.

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[Rosalind Pressland]

hi ,
I started your lovely blanket then had to put away because of work being done in the house, now I can't find it it can you head me in the right direction to find it
thank you
Ros

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Real art, these. Although it appears simple, the challenges are quite challenging, and the images are absolutely exquisite.

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[Ana]

Lucy! Thanks for this super blanket ! Where can I purchase the yarn pack? Is out of stock in WoolWaewhouse
My grandniece will be born in September!
Thanks!

[Jane Kazim]

Hi,
Can someone please tell me how you find the answers to the questions other crocheters ask? Not been able to find any?
I also keen to find out if anyone else has substituted ‘Blue Marl’ which is the only ‘speckly’ colour out of the 15 for another solid colour as I think whilst this doesn’t look obvious at a distant it does close up!
Many thanks! Jane

[kolo]

Lucy, the tones you picked are astonishing! Indeed, would they confirm or deny that they are generally?! You are so skilled… I generally love your variety decisions.

[Belinda Sadler]

Hello Lucy. I love the little flowers and leaves you have made to finish off. Where will I find the instructions to make them please.

[Susan Ridgway]

When will spring frost be in again

[Lucy VP]

Joining a bit late! But now I got my yarn pack delivered to Sweden. So I’m going to do my best to catch up. So excited!!!

[Kerry]

Hi. I’m doing the double size how many more stripes will I need to do after part 6

[Susan Ridgway]

I would love to do this blanket how do i find your blog from the beginning, i am having a operation in marcj so would be good to do them
What stitch is it ,thankyou my name is susan Ridgway. Waiting in anticipation.