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 :
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...
* 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!!
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Hi Lucy just love the pastel colours. I am a complete newbie to crochet but would love to try this do you think it's possible. Thank you
Posted by: Theresa | December 14, 2022 at 11:12 AM
Hi Lucy, so glad you found some time to clear your head and rest for a bit definitely need to listen to ourselves when needed. I’ve done several of your blankets for gifts this year and have several waiting to be done but I fell in love with the colours of your garland and so have bought the Springfrost yarn from WW and look forward to doing this blanket for me 😊 . Thank you for your beautiful patterns & have a restful Christmas ❤️
Posted by: Carol Gipson | December 09, 2022 at 01:38 PM
Dear Lucy
What about a blanket that starts out dark grey storm colour and gradients to a bright blue sky colour? It'd be like therapy for winter blues by changing the skies to blue from grey!
Have fun with your CAL
Sam (who now sews instead of crochet, but this does tempt me back)
Posted by: Sam | December 05, 2022 at 06:28 AM
Hi, can you help please. I am new to your site and would like to subscribe but when I click on the 'Subscribe (Atom)' link it seems to take you to a page of code. I'm very interested in your Spring Frost blanket, the colours are beautiful. Maybe you can subscribe me from the info below. Best Wishes, Aly.
Posted by: Alyson Williams | December 04, 2022 at 09:31 PM
Lucy,
This blanket is beautiful! I work much better when there is a pre-printed pattern included in the yarn pack. Will there be a pattern included in the package after the crochet along is over?
Posted by: Julie | December 04, 2022 at 04:08 PM
I used to receive your blog posts regularly but then they disappeared for some unknown reason. I have made several of your blankets and hope to start the new one in January. How do I sign up for the blog postings again? I cannot find a place to do this on your blog. Please help!
Posted by: Betty Clark | December 02, 2022 at 02:54 AM
Looking forward to another CAL! It’s something exciting to have on the calendar after the holidays. I’m going to order my yarn today! I’m a little behind on my blog reading but I’ll be caught up soon.
Posted by: Lynn | November 28, 2022 at 03:55 PM
Thank you for another stunning CAL, your designs are easy to follow and perfect for beginners, I have learnt a lot from you, particularly as I'd decided to give crochet a go during lock down, your website has been invaluable!
I will definitely be doing Springfrost at some point next year, I'm working on two of your blankets atm and have just completed Sweetpea which is proudly displayed on the back of my sofa.
Thank you Lucy you are very much appreciated.
Best wishes Lucy x
Posted by: Lucy J | November 27, 2022 at 07:21 PM
I love your blankets but I'm so slow at crocheting because life gets in the way. I hope to be able to make this one day. I love the serene colours, so relaxing :)
Posted by: Crafty Cath | November 27, 2022 at 05:37 PM
I've made your blankets before but never been part of the CAL. My husband just ordered my pack from Wool Warehouse and I am looking forward to starting the blanket in the new year. Thank you for sharing this new blanket with us and for letting us have a peep inside your head regarding the journey you've been on to come up with the pattern and colour palette.
Posted by: MrsG | November 25, 2022 at 03:46 PM
Love the way you work, really impressed.
Posted by: WhatsLinkHub | November 24, 2022 at 12:02 PM
Hi Lucy! This will be my third CAL year with you now and I (and my family) love it when these patterns come around.
Just wondering if this one is going to have another colour gradient option??? I like the random coloured blankets but there's just something about the gradients that soothes some part of my busy brain.
Posted by: Reece | November 23, 2022 at 02:35 PM
Lovely colors and great pattern. Jus wish there was a yarn pack that wasn’t acrylic but either wool or cotton.
Posted by: Charlotte | November 22, 2022 at 12:46 PM
The Springfrost stripe looks so good! Look's like I'm going to have my hands full trying to replicate these patterns :)
Posted by: Claire | November 22, 2022 at 06:28 AM
Hi Lucy i love your pattterns i have been trying to subscribe to your web page for a long time with out any luck please can you help me please
Posted by: Janet | November 20, 2022 at 04:10 PM
I'm a knitter but have been following your blog for a number of years. Working my way toward joining this CAL after reading the comments above. The colors would compliment my spare room florals.
Posted by: Gwen | November 19, 2022 at 01:03 PM
Beautiful colours again but it I really must finish the two blankets I’m currently doing before I start this one! Will be putting the wool pack on my list for Santa xx
Posted by: Sue | November 18, 2022 at 09:40 PM
I have followed along with your CAL for many years. This is my first year to join. I just ordered my yarn pack. So excited.
Posted by: Ginney Camden | November 18, 2022 at 03:13 PM
Hi Lucy, what wonderful colours and pattern for this blanket. Like you I am usually drawn to more vibrant colours, but this blanket is looking so beautiful I might just have a go. I love reading your blog and you give me so much inspiration. I made the Harbour blanket and created a seaside themed guest bedroom around it. I usually work this way when I redecorate, I choose an item I love and play with a mood board until I am happy with the room I imagine. I am currently in the process of crocheting your Moorland Blanket (I am half way) for our living room and it and the room are coming along nicely. Hopefully I will be ready for this new blanket on the 6th, our bedroom needs a revamp. 😉 Thank you for your wonderful blog always look forward to reading it and loving the photos. xx
Posted by: Bärbel Adcock | November 18, 2022 at 08:09 AM
Beautiful! Love those colours and amazing photos.
Thank you for sharing and inspiring me.
Posted by: Carol | November 17, 2022 at 11:22 AM
Dear Lucy, you are such an inspiration! Just look at all those comments from people who have been reading your blog for years, or have just discovered your little spot in blogland. Personally, the first thing I do every morning is make my latte and open up my tablet to see if you have posted. A bit of quiet time before I have to get ready for work. My day always starts a little happier, a little more peaceful, a little more creative, if I read a post from the Attic first. Love, love, love this color palette and the stitch pattern, too. This is going to be a smashing CAL.
Posted by: Elizabeth | November 16, 2022 at 03:35 PM
Well Lucy you have done it again, a lovely new pastel blanket, I really must get the new pack, thank you so much for the time you spend making these wonderful patterns, and I shall be really looking forward to crocheting this blanket. Your blogs have inspired me for years, and what a joy it is when
I find a new one, and I sit with my coffee and soak up your words, and pictures, you are such a joy, and inspiration to me. The post I return to over and again is your trip alone to Saltburn, because it could be me on my own exploring crocheting etc, I just loved Saltburn, but I have now moved back down south where I belong, so will never go there again, but I can always visit it with you, on your very special mini break. Thank you for being you, and writing your beautiful blogs. Daphne xx
Posted by: Daphne | November 16, 2022 at 02:52 PM
Ohh the colors are fantastic! I love it!
Will you ever do a Christmas blanket? I love those 1950’s Christmas colors!
I love your blogs that are a lovely gift!
Thank you.
Posted by: Rita | November 16, 2022 at 02:10 AM
Absolutely beautiful! Looking forward to making this one.
Anne❤️
Posted by: Anne | November 15, 2022 at 11:22 PM
Wow, you've done it again..........another gorgeous rug in both colour & stitch choice. I love it and will ponder for a bit as I've still got the pack DD bought for my birthday waiting to be started. Things have hectic of late, but I think it will definitely be on the list of "I want to do". Thanks for the lovely accompanying photos of the countryside I love. Take care, stay warm & hugs.
PS: Not like Spring this year here too with rain, more rain, cold winds & grey skies. Also terrible floods here on our east coast.
Posted by: Susan | November 15, 2022 at 08:44 PM