Sungold Blanket CAL :: Part 2

Friday is here and I don't know about you, but I feel like this has been one speedy week, over in a blink. I had every intention of coming here mid week to chat to you, but the days somehow just slipped away and now here we are doing all things Sungold again. I hope you've had a good week, a return to routine for many of us I expect as work and schools all started back after the festive pause.

During my CAL months I spend a lot of time in the land of Facebook and Instagram because the online socials that surround my blanket projects are absolutely brilliant. I love to immerse myself in the crochet community and feel connected to you all via our bags and baskets of brightly coloured yarn, it's one of the loveliest things I can think of. I hope you've been enjoying these glorious colours, and that in some small way they might have helped lift your spirits? I've seen many enthusiastic and happy posts all over socials as a great many new Sungold blanket journeys began during the past week, my goodness it makes me soooooo happy, right from the top of my head to the tips of my toes and into my very soul.

These happy, summer-floral shades are really rather lovely, aren't they? They are perfect for this time of year when the predominant shade out there is g-r-e-y and we all need some cheering up. They are a reminder that even when we can't see it happening, we know the seasons are slowly turning and that the flowers will be back again soon enough.

If you've completed part 1 of the Sungold CAL, then you will have used all fifteen colours in your new blanket. I took the above photo to give you a little insight into how I usually think about my colour palettes, because I always think it's interesting to see how designers work. I like to arrange the colours together in groups of three - my Creative Mind is an awfully messy, tangled place most of the time but occasionally it really requires balance and calm order for it to feel at ease. 

I'm not kidding when I tell you I have hundreds of photos from the summer gardens at RHS Harlow Carr, taken across the span of many years. Hundreds upon hundreds of images which capture family outings, picnics, gentle strolls, excited children, and a great deal of floral appreciation. Oh, so many photos of flowers! You know, I think I am rather obsessed with flowers, and they've provided me with a huge amount of creative colour inspiration over the years.

I wanted to try and find a way to share my photos with you during the Sungold weeks without bombarding you and making you dizzy. After a bit of deliberation, I decided that a great way to do it would be to focus on a particular colour group each week.....beginning with the beating heart of the Sungold palette....golden, sunny yellows.

The late summer borders are full of golden yellow flowers and they look incredible when woven into the floral patchwork of the garden. 

Stylecraft Special has some really great shades of yellow, but it's not a colour I find especially easy to work into a colour scheme. I find yellow to be a very dominant, attention seeking and shouty colour, and it needs careful handling for it to be kept in check. But oh my goodness, isn't it glorious?! It is warmth and sunshine and joy, happy vibes in abundance.

I chose my favourite yellow Stylecraft shade (Dandelion) and added two additional colours to complement it - Gold and Lime. Now I know Lime isn't a yellow, but it does sit very closely to the golden shades in the colour wheel and I love the way it so effortlessly bridges the gap between the yellows and greens. I think these three colours together really give the whole blanket it's sunshine vibe, and I know they make me smile every time they are on my hook.

As you know, I'm working my own Sungold blanket in real time and I'm currently just one week ahead of you in the CAL. My default hooky place of choice this week has been the sofa and it's where you can find me every evening after family dinner is finished and the kitchen is clean and tidy. Usually between seven and nine this is where I am settled, keeping warm with the fire lit, piled up with blankets and the comforting weight of the kitty on my legs. It's nothing short of blissful. I work on 3 stripes a day, just gentle, therapeutic, easy hooky, immersing myself in the calming rhythm and letting my mind daydream and wander where it likes. 

Now I want to talk to you a little bit about those annoying, dangly things that are messing up the glory of my beautiful stripes. Yeeeeesss, we are going to chat about THE ENDS. My usual method is to deal with my ends immediately after I finish a stripe - snip and darn, no excuses. But this past week when I've mostly been crocheting in the evenings I've found that my eyes have been quite tired and sitting on the sofa isn't an idea location for precision darning. I also lost my needle into the depths of the sofa not once but twice, and so I decided that I would change my approach and do my darning during the daytime when I can sit at the table and see what I'm doing properly. I do this every day, so there are never too many ends to deal with at any one time, just the ones created from my crochet the night before.

I am deliberately making the darning into a little bit of a slow, mindful practice, and I want to encourage you to do the same. Good coffee and a scented candle are optional but recommended. Darning isn't the chore that so many people make it out to be, it honestly isn't. Well at least it shouldn't be.  It's a way to finish each stripe with a bit of gratitude and mindfulness, darning love into your blanket in a way that ensures it will be around and in good shape for many, many years to come.

It occurred to me a few days ago that maybe many of you aren't using the right kind of needle for darning your ends, which would make life much harder than it needs to be. I was chatting with Christine about this, because it was a bit of a light-bulb moment for me - the type of needle you use for darning crochet makes a HUGE difference. Traditionally we are taught that a darning needle should have a slightly rounded, blunt end, because when you darn ends into a knitted fabric, you want the needle to pass smoothly underneath the stitches without splitting the yarn. Right? That's the knitty way, as confirmed by my Sock Queen friend Christine.

In crochet, it's the exact opposite - we want a thinner needle, sharply pointed, because we want it to split the yarn! I recommend searching out a CHENILLE needle as they have an eye large enough for wool and a lovely sharp point. You need to know your needle numbers too - large eye needles are usually numbered 18, 20, 22, and 24. The eyes get smaller as the numbers increase (which does seem a bit backwards) - so you want to get your hands on a number 18 chenille needle (shown above) as the eye is the perfect size for threading DK weight yarn. You can find them on Amazon (HERE)) - search for "chenille needle number 18". 

With the Sungold pattern, you should be darning your ends along the tops of the shells, passing your needle through the chains of the stitches which run along the top of each row. This way you aren't adding bulk to your rows, but instead you are invisibly weaving your ends so that they become part of the stitches. With a sharp chenille needle you can split the yarn and weave directly into the stitches you've crocheted, and this creates a very strong, invisible finish.

I also highly recommend Double Direction Darning (DDD). By this I mean you darn in towards the centre of the blanket first (shown above), then reverse and darn back the way you came, splitting the yarn threads as you go so that your tail end effectively becomes a part of the crochet stitches. You don't need to darn far either, just pass your needle as far as it feels comfortable (again, look at my photo above for clarification), then turn and go back the way you came.

You will be snipping off your ends at the outer edge of the blanket (which means they will be covered by the border later on), and the DDD means they are very unlikely to wiggle out.

I took the above photo to show you my edge where the darning has happened. You can see it's a little bit uneven, but it's certainly not distorted or bulky, and any little bumps will be hidden once you crochet the border.

I hope this additional darning chat and info has helped - I really want you to enjoy every single nano-second of this blanket journey, and take pleasure in creating something well made.

So....lets take a look now at the next bit of the Sungold blanket, the next set of glorious, scallopy stripes.

........there you go..........don't they look GOOD???!!!

With part 2 you will be completing the first third of your blanket (thirty three stripes) and the colours will be singing beautifully.

When I'm ordering my mixed stripes, I try very hard to resist the lure of the rainbow but it's not easy. The temptation is strong because our brains are pre-programmed to recognise this natural harmonious order and be in love with it. Every so often I give in, and in part two of the Sungold I created a claret-tomato-gold sequence which I absolutely love - haha!! It's the simple pleasures in life which can make us happy! I hope you enjoy stripes 19-21 too, you'll have to let me know when you've done them.

This colour palette continues to really float my boat, and I hope you feel the same way. They are impossibly happy and joyful, and remind me so much of summer time which as you know is my favourite season of all.

This week (and for the next three weeks) we are aiming to complete 18 stripes per week. Remember it doesn't matter one bit if 18 is too much and you have a busy life, make one stripe a week if want, just take your time and enjoy the journey.

Shown above is the colour info for Part 2 of the Sungold MIXED STRIPE Blanket. Remember each stripe is made up of two rows of crochet. Click on the following link for the printable worksheet...

♥ PART 2 MIXED STRIPE WORKSHEET 

I've seen many of you have chosen to do the colourwash version of the Sungold, and next week I'll be sharing some of your photos here on my blog.

Shown above is the colour info for Part 2 of the Sungold COLOURWASH Blanket. Remember each stripe is made up of two rows of crochet. Click on the following link for the printable worksheet...

♥ PART 2 COLOURWASH WORKSHEET 

And of course we mustn't forget the squares....I know a good many of you are following Kaz and making a Sungold Harmony square blanket, and it's very exciting to catch sight of progress in the Facebook groups. You can join the "Hooked on Attic24" Facebook group to join in with the Sungold Harmony gang, or visit Kaz's web page (Insomnia Crochet) where you can get the colour charts each week of the CAL.

Well I think that's me all typed out for now, I just don't seem to be capable of making short blog posts. Thank you so much for reading all my blurb, and for joining me here in the Attic. I do so appreciate your company.

Have a wonderful week xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ps links are all down below for easy finding x

♥ SUNGOLD YARN PACKS 

♥ LACY SHELL TUTORIAL

♥ SUNGOLD BLANKET PDF PATTERN

♥ SUNGOLD BLANKET INTRODUCTION

♥ CAL BLOG POST PART 1 (stripes 1-15)

♥ PART 2 MIXED STRIPE WORK SHEET

♥ PART 2 COLOURWASH WORK SHEET

 

 

 

Comments

[Louise]

We are darning twins it seems! I use pretty much the same type of needle as I have always found the blunt ones too clunky. Plus by darning through the yarn back and forth through the threads of yarn (splitting as you described it), the ends of the rows feel much sturdier. The only time it is annoying is if I've made a mistake and have to frog!
And I bought a Sungold yarnpack!!! The colours are so beautiful. I am a little behind as I'm also working on another project, but after all the umming and erring, I decided to make the Sungold Harmony blanket. I have little cute piles of baby Round 1 squares growing on the arm of my couch!

[Sandra]

I would never split my yarn when sewing in the ends. It could weaken the yarn, is hard to undo if required and can set you up to make a bit of a mess really. The only time I might consider it helpful in my view is when using a very slippery yarn. I think the commonly held and suggested practice of using a blunt needle for knitting AND crochet holds good. Just do it neatly and well and there will not be any issues. I enjoy sewing in ends well and they stay secure and look v tidy. However, having said that,there are no 'wrong' and right ways of doing things, just ways that work for us and that we are happy with.

[Laura]

I just love your blog!

[Angela]

Thank you for the darning info! I never knew that a sharp pointed needle should be used to darn ends in crochet! I need to get myself the right needle now. Thank you for that snippet of info 🙂. The sungold blanket is looking fantastic too, such vibrant colours.

[Kristine S]

Ta lovely Lucy❣️😘👍🫂

[Patricia A]

Thanks for all the work you do on the CAL, Lucy.

[Betsy True]

Thank you so much for the tutorial on weaving ends in! I wove my ends in for part 1 using a blunt needle; this is SO much easier. I was glad to find I had a size 18 chenille in my needle collection!

[Jane]

Dear Lucy
Eagerly awaited your blanket pattern, Thank-you for sharing your expertise and the hard work that goes into it. I seem to have a little problem though on one side of the blanket with a visible gap. Its in the same place so is accentuated the more stripes i do. As far as I can tell the pattern is right and it's not happening on the other side. Can you help?

[JoB]

VERY helpful info about weaving in the ends. I had specifically been trying to avoid splitting the yarn, doing it the knitting way I guess, so I guess that's why my ends love to pop out! Thanks for the clarifying photos :)

[Andrea cooper]

I would like to thank you for a wonderful blanket to crochet in front of the fire during these really cold nights and keeping me busy

[Sarah Star]

You have done it again! I am LoVinG these beautiful lacy shells, so easy to learn and so satisfying to work! My colourwash blanket is already looking soooo pretty I love it <3. This is my eighth Attic 24 blanket and I'm making it especially to go in my camper van, because that's my Happy Summer Place and what could be better than a Sunny Sungold blanket?! Thank you thank you so much xxx

[lily Veenendaal]

Thank you for ll the colourfull stripes!! They really brightened up a gloomy day!!!

[Sue Templeman]

I hope the people who sell the needle via Amazon (your link) are giving you a commission to all sold. I purchased a pack this morning at just over £3. Just received an email saying they're out of stock (stock error) and theyve refunded my money. Very efficient I thought. Gone back onto Amazon to order the Clover version and see that the same pack I ordered this morning is now over £8.93!!!!! They've obviously sold loads as a result of your post and maybe feel it's okay to inflate the price so much!!!! Bad form if that's the case

[Connie]

Lucy,I don’t think you can ever know just how much you mean to us and how much we appreciate you. As a somewhat newer crocheter and someone that suffers from lack of attention abilities whilst also having hyper fixation as well. Well I can’t express how happy this CAL (my first) is making me. I start a project and lose interest fast because I can’t follow the pattern (again, I’m new) or it just doesn’t look nice enough and I lose confidence. This pattern is easy to do, and the end results after each row just leave me gobsmacked that I’ve been able to create something so beautiful. My confidence grows with every stitch. Again. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Xx

[Ellie]

Morning Lucy,
I totally agree with you about the type of needle to use for darning in the ends.
Many years ago, when I started doing fair isle and intarsia work for a knitwear designer, my mum gave me what I assumed was a large darning needle to darn in those many ends.
It is 2.5 inches long with a large eye and a (very) sharp point, don’t know if it is a chenille needle?
It lives in the pin tin on my side table but has been known to go missing, panic stations!!
I’m loving your blanket more each time I see it, thank you

[Sheila]

So sorry, it’s just me. Have now found them. Whoops!!!

[Sheila]

Hi Lucy, I am really enjoying this my first CAL, thank you.
Is it just me but I can’t find the colour sequence for part 2. Am I looking in the wrong place🤔.

[Jane Bishop]

Morning Lucy - i too struggle at night to weave in ends in the artificial light due to my eye condition -it is much easier in daylight… thanks for the tip about using a chenille needle…. there are two ends of each colour to weave in so do you weave them both into the same place? If not, where do you weave the second end into?
Many thanks

[Linda]

Yay!!!
I’ll be on this after I have walked the dog!