Sungold Blanket CAL Update

It's just over a week since the new Sungold yarn pack was let loose on the world (blog post HERE in case you missed it), and the response has been fantastic. It's always a bit of a wobbly feeling for me to share a new design, it's a weirdly emotional experience, a combination of fluttery anxiety and almost overwhelming excitement. Even after all these years and the many new blankets I've shared I do still get nervous, hoping that you'll like what I'm creating enough to feel inspired to join me for the ride. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the all round lovely response you always give to my designs and colour palettes, I appreciate it very much indeed.

As always, the team at Wool Warehouse are doing a stellar job and yarn packs have absolutely flown out, so much so that at the moment Sungold is temporarily out of stock. We are awaiting one missing colour which has been delayed, but all being well there should be lots more packs coming together in about ten days or so.

I am SO excited for this crochet-along journey, I know that I'll be more than ready to embrace these uplifting colours in the New Year and get stuck into some pretty floral inspired stripes. I love love love that there will be thousands of you joining me, isn't it a wonderful thought? All over the world there will be new Sungold blankets growing, it makes me so ridiculously happy just to think about it. So thank you again, our crochet community really is something special.

In my Sungold introduction post I mentioned that alongside my stripes there would also be the option to make a square blanket. This will be run as an alternative CAL in the "Hooked on Attic24" Facebook Group, and is being made at the moment by my crochet friend Kaz Hall. You can find more details about all of Kaz's crochet work on her Facebook page {Insomnia Crochet}, and I'll keep you updated about accessing the colour information for the squares when we get closer to the start of the CAL.

Kaz is really hooking up a storm and as you can see, her progress photos shared on social media this past week have been amazing. I am soooooooooooooooo excited about this blanket!!

As of today, this is where Kaz is up to.....oh my!! The COLOURS!!!!!!!!!!! I mean, I know I chose them, but seeing them like this puts a whole new delicious spin on the colour palette, it's utterly glorious. And now can you imagine what's going to happen when the greens and golds and reds start washing in on the diagonal....it's going to be spectacular. 

Remember that if you want to make this version of the Sungold blanket, you'll need the Sungold yarn pack (15 colours), plus an additional ball of Meadow and Violet (17 colours in total).

Now then, I've got some hot yarn news to share with you today, and it's all related to the above photo. Do you see all that glorious yarny colour, all One Hundred and Twenty balls of it? That's the new extended range of Create DK yarn, which is part of the Yarnsmiths range. And if you hadn't already heard of it, Yarnsmiths first launched in the summer of 2022 and is the in-house yarn brand belonging to Wool Wearhouse. You can see all the current yarns in their range ((here)).

The first set of yarns that Yarnsmiths worked on is called Create, and it comes in double knit, aran, chunky and super chunky weights. It's a premium acrylic yarn wound into 100g balls, very similar to our beloved Stylecraft Special DK.

Initially the Create DK range consisted of 44 shades, and as a good many of those were neutrals, there wasn't quite enough colour to really float my boat. However, a few weeks ago, there was an almighty big colour explosion and the Create DK range expanded to now boast a whopping 120 shades, and let me tell you they are beeeeeeautiful.

I was lucky enough to be gifted a full yarn peg set which came in its very own hand crafted wooden display box.

Do you want to see?

OK, let me show you the entire Create 120................

......ta-dah!!! Isn't that a sight for weary eyes?

These pegs have been meticulously made by Emily who runs an online Etsy shop selling them - you might have already heard of it, it's called Eliza and the Giraffe. She makes up yarn pegs for many of the most popular yarn ranges on the market, the ones with a focus on colour that are favoured by crocheters.

You have probably seen me faffing with my own yarn pegs many, many times here on the blog - they are one of my most valued "tools of the trade" as a designer. Did you know that I made my own set of Stylecraft yarn pegs way back in the day, long before I ever saw anybody else doing it? I do believe I pioneered the humble clothes peg/yarn sample idea - I made my first ones back in 2014 when I had my studio and was designing the Cosy stripe blanket for my very first crochet-along. You can read more about the way I personally use yarn pegs as an aid for colour planning and design in this archive post.

Anyhow......back to Create DK. The colours....oh, the COLoUrS! They are wonderful - still rather a lot of neutrals to be honest, but the vast yarny colour spectrum that Yarnsmiths have given us is a true delight.

And what about the yarn itself? Obviously this is a relatively new yarn and I haven't had the opportunity to work extensively with it just yet. But I can certainly give you my current opinion.

The first thing I noticed was the softness. As you can see in the above photo, Create yarn has a certain amount of surface floof which gives the yarn a very soft feel. It's not fluffy as such, but it's not what I would call a smooth yarn either. This means that it handles a little differently - I find it slightly slower to crochet with.

And it's definitely not a shiny yarn (which is a personal no-no for me), no, Create has a delightfully soft, matt look and feel to it which makes it feel cosy and warm. This is very noticeable in the finished crochet fabric as well as seeing/feeling it in the yarn ball.

The other thing I've noticed relates to the yarn strand itself - the ply of the yarn doesn't have quite the same twist as the Stylecraft Special. Less twist generally gives the yarn strand more "loft" which means it's a little airier in feel and appearance. You can see in the above photo, the difference in the ball sizes - both are 100g balls with the same yardage, but I would say that the Create feels a little plumper, simply because there is slightly more loft in the strands.

Now do please keep in mind that I am no expert on these things, and this is merely my observations and opinions as a yarn lover. And the differences are very slight. Take a look at the next photo......

....I took the two balls of Sage (Stylecraft) and Spearmint Green (Create) and laid out the yarn strands for you to see. In the above photo, the Stylecraft yarn is on the top, and the Create yarn on the bottom. There is very little difference to be honest, and in terms of the finished crochet these yarns produce, the gauge and feel of the crochet is very, very similar.

I had a little play with working up a sample of my new Sungold stitch pattern (shown above) and I really like the way it crocheted up in the Create yarn. It's got a slightly different feel to the Stylecraft Special, but I honestly can say that I like them both.

Now this wasn't planned, but during the past week I was chatting back and forth with Wool Warehouse and we decided to do something spontaneous and put together a Sungold yarn pack using Create DK yarn. I thought it might be a good opportunity to see how the colours can work together in an Attic24 blanket, and it also gives you (the worldwide hooking community) a chance to give this yarn a try if you are curious about it. I think having choices is always good.

You can find the Sungold Create yarn packs in my shop at Wool Warehouse (they are at a discounted price right now).

Here's the link >>

SUNGOLD CREATE DK YARN PACK

SO what does this mean for the Sungold CAL in January? Well, I'm making my own Sungold blanket in Stylecraft yarn as it's still my favourite. But if you are curious about the new Create yarn and want to give it a go, when the CAL begins I'll list both sets of colours for the stripes. I'll only be crocheting with the Stylecraft myself as that's my personal preference, but I want to make it easy for you if you wish to try out the Create. Does that make sense?

Coming back to the Sungold Harmony blanket that Kaz is making, remember I said you will need 17 colours for this version? Well if you are going to use the Create DK yarn pack, you will need to add in Grass Green and Dark Lavender as your two extras. Kaz will also be offering two charts in her version of the Sungold CAL, so you can easily choose between using Stylecraft Special DK or Yarnsmiths Create DK.

The Crochet-along begins in five weeks time, on Friday 5th January, so there's still time to gather in your chosen yarn and get ready to join in the fun.

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Comments

[shoshana]

Hi Lucy,
i've followed your blog for years and then it just disappeared. i just found you again but can't figure out how to sign up to start receiving emails again. what can i do? thank you so much.
shoshana [email protected]

[Jane Twibey]

Hello, like the lady who posted earlier I do not use Facebook but would really like the pattern for the square Sungold blanket. Could you please tell me where I can buy this.

Thank you Jane x

[Linda In Texas]

Just ordered my pack in the Create yarn since it’s in stock. Living in Texas, I expect it to arrive in about two weeks, so Merry Christmas to me! That’s about the time frame as in previous years. Looking forward to trying this new yarn, but expecting to play with a different hook since it looks to have a bit of loft to it. Fun to have an alternative yarn this time.

[Lynne]

Merry Christmas to me! My Stylecraft Sungold pack just arrived, beautifully packaged and promptly shipped all the way to Ohio in less than 2 weeks. I'm getting excited ...

[gina in alabama]

I love all the blues! But they need to add more greens I think. The range is lovely and I look forward to seeing it develop in the future.

[Louise]

Blimin' gorgeous! (I'd say bloody gorgeous, but I didn't want to sound too sweary...) I love your Sungold blanket with your gorgeous DRENCHED colours, and also Kaz's squares with the purple...OMG! A dopamine blast for the senses.

[CJ]

Gorgeous colours and I love all the colour samples set out together, I would have hours of fun with that. Kaz is making a beautiful job of her blanket, I just love all those pinks. I love the planning of a CAL at this time of year, perfect to start something all together in January after the overwhelmingness of December. CJ xx

[Anne]

As usual beautiful colours. I will ordering my pack as soon as its back in stock. Want to make the granny square blanket, but I don't use Facebook, please can you let me know if you will be putting the pattern up on your blog, so I can follow along weekly.
Thanks Anne

[Catlady]

I must say,I'm very tempted, I really like the colours! Such a shame that we have to pay a huge amount of taxes now, since brexit. Nowadays I usually buy my stylecraft locally to avoid this.

[Jacqui]

I accidently hinted to my daughter for my birthday /christmas I wouldnt mind this and well I think I will have it roll on january it will be interesting to use yarnsmiths !!!!😁😁

[Linda in Boston]

I think I’d stick to Stylecraft yarn. I enjoy the slight thinness of it. The blankets are soft and cozy without being heavy. Plus I have lots of leftovers in my stash!! Which is not a bad thing!

[Cindy]

Anyone know how it washes? I have Stylecraft blankets that are several years old and still look great...minimal piling and still holding color.

[Charlotte]

Like you, I love the slightly more intense, vibrant result you got with the Stylecraft yarn. The Create certainly comes in an amazing range of shades, though. If the glorious aqua was available in a wool yarn, I'd certainly be making myself a jumper in it! Cx

[Helen Ciotti]

Please can you ask Wool Warehouse to make up packs of Create DK for all your other blankets? I want to try making Moorland in it if they can do that one first! Thank you so much! Sorry if I'm being cheeky!😂

[Lynne]

Look forward to seeing everyone’s thoughts

[Caitlinn Bree]

With "Create" being a loftier yarn, will it feel heavier or lighter when a blanket project is finished? The yarn is beautiful!