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

[Anne]

Absolutely beautiful! Looking forward to making this one.
Anne❤️

[Susan]

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.

[Liz]

love, Love, LOVE this color palette!!!!! Hoping to join you in the CAL.

[Angela]

Absolutely stunning! Love the colours and the white blends in well too!

[Loni]

Lucy - you and your work are amazing. You have no idea how much joy I get from your blog and yarn packs. I am so grateful to have found your blog! Thank you!

[Angela Conroy]

I have never done a crochet along before so I am quite excited to do this. The colours are beautiful & the blanket is stunning. My kit is ordered & I can’t wait to get going xx

[Eleanor]

That very first stunning photo at the top -- there's the color scheme, right there. Magical.

[Linda from Boston]

Yay!!!! I’m in between projects and was wondering if I should order a kit just to work on, when you posted about the new CAL. I was hoping there was going to be one and I’m so excited. It looks beautiful. My kit is ordered!!!!

[Jay Crafter]

I really love both the design and the colour combination. It will be very uplifting to crochet this at the beginning of next year. A time of year I often find difficult. A big thank you. I shall look forward to joining this inspiring crochet along with fellow followers of your blog.

[Sally]

Ah thank you Lucy I am hopping up and down with excitement here!!! I really love that you do receive a commission from Wool Warehouse for each pack sold x

I had NEVER crocheted a single stitch before I bought myself the pack to join in the gorgeous sweet pea CAL - I had decided crochet was too difficult for me but reading your blog for years I began to feel I was missing out! I was not at all confident but the fact that it was so affordable gave me the courage to have a go and your tutorials were so amazingly clear and easy to follow......I finished sweet pea, dahlia , meadow and dune with your help xxx thank you so much Lucy x

I have had a lovely morning on the sofa with the cat reading this post, ordering my spring frost pack and checking my work diary- I was delighted to find I am not working on Friday 6th Jan and have blocked it out to sit down and crack out the tension sample, learn the pattern and hopefully cast on if time allows!!!

Thank you Lucy, you have brought so much colour and joy to so many of us and it is so much appreciated xxxxx

[Deb]

You have a real talent for picking color combinations. Very nice.

[Miss Daisy]

Love the colors and the pictures, as you probably don’t know but winter is my favorite season so I’m hoping to do this one. Thank you for all your creating geniuses.

[Linda]

Yay!!! Read all this about your ‘journey’ and am inspired too. And I’m delighted with the palette!!!
(I love apple blossom…..the way it always comes with the leaves so we get a perfect amalgam of pink, white and green. I can see all those in the palette.)
I shall order my pack later in the week so it comes next week when we are back home.
I shall make two lap/baby blankets with this pack.
And I’m so looking forward to this stitch pattern. I can see just how snuggly it will be!
Thanks Lucy!!!

[Annie]

Can't wait to get started, just ordered my yarn pack

[Winwick Mum]

I absolutely love these colours - I'm most definitely a winter baby and the Springfrost palette is most definitely my new favourite :) xx

[Helen Hawksworth]

An absolutely stunning blanket. Love your colours. You photos are so beautiful, they make me feel, along with your blog,they are places I would love to visit. Look forward to attempting this blanket.