Canalboat Blanket Cal :: Part 5

Fridaaaaayyyy here we go again, another week and another step towards lighter, brighter, warmer weather. At this time of year here in the north of England we are still very much in the depths of winter. We tend to have long winters with a very short spring season tacked on the end in late April so I learnt many years ago that I needed to really find the joy in the winter season because it lasts for almost half the year. There is much beauty in these chilly months, and on the days when the clouds lift I really appreciate the beautiful, crisp, clear light.

I spotted this wonderful window on a canal boat earlier in the week and snapped a photo to share with you. The boat itself is quite rough and ready with fairly messy paintwork, but this window is rather lovely and I bet it looks even more beautiful from the inside with the light shining through. As you probably know, swans are a familiar sight on the canal here and I'm very used to seeing them as I take my daily walks along the tow path.

This past week has been split into two halves for me as I was away in Dorset for four days. Last Friday I published my CAL blog very early in the morning before dashing around getting ready to catch the early 6:56 train. It was a long journey (the train broke down so we were stranded on the tracks for an hour with no power), but thank goodness for colourful yarny rows. These jaunty stripes kept me company allll the way down to London, and then on the slow jaunt west through Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset.

I stayed in Bridport for a few days before moving on to Weymouth, so I really made the most of being beside the sea and topping up my feel-good tank. I took some lovely photos while I was there which I want to put together into a proper blog post, but as you can see, me and the Canalboat blanket were very happy to be beside the sea....

.....in fact, we both nearly ended up right in the sea at one point as I was so busy taking photographs that I didn't realise my boots were getting a wash! I LOVE love love (LoVe) taking a blanket with me on a jaunt when it's still a work in progress, because it means there'll be an extra layer of special memories preserved in those stitches. This blanket is already full of happy memories (friends and cake and swans and boats)...and now there's some Dorset magic added to the mix.

On Sunday I had the pleasure of joining the Attic24 Dorset ladies in Weymouth for a morning of yarny pleasure. Gosh these ladies are a lovely lot! So much joy and friendship and happy vibes, it's always a huge pleasure when I'm able to join them. We met in the Alexandra Hotel for coffee and crochet (far too cold to hook on the beach, although I'd be up for that later in the year for sure), but we had a fun time taking our blankets outside for a little photoshoot. You can see that there were a good few Canalboat blankets all in progress alongside my own, and it was wonderful for me to see and hear first hand how much pleasure these bright colours are bringing to the grey days of winter for so many of you.

Sharing our blankets with each other is such a lovely part of the crochet-along experience (especially for me, but for you as well), and I continue to be hugely inspired by our online communities. We are using the #canalboatcal hashtag on instagram, and there are four social groups on Facebook (including the Dorset ladies if you wish to join them) - details are all listed in my CAL part 1 post. I haven't spent as much time online this week myself as I've been preoccupied with some new creative ideas, but today I'm sharing some inspiring photos that caught my eye in the last few weeks.....

↑↑Nicky is part of the Dorset group so I got to see her blanket in real life on Sunday and I absolutely fell in love with it. She's using the Canalboat pattern as you can see, but with the Harbour colour palette for a jaunty coastal journey. The Harbour colours are well suited to this pattern as there's enough contrast to make the shell rows pop.

↑↑ Well isn't this an absolute beauty??!! I've loved following this crochet journey on Instagram during the past few weeks as Kathryn has shared her photos and videos with us on her page (@daisiesdelight). She is crocheting this mesmerising moss stitch chevron blanket which is so well suited to colour play - the Canalboat colours look fabulous in this zigzag pattern, don't you think?

↑↑ Cathy shared her zippy bag project with us in the Hooked on Attic24 Facebook group and I thought it was really inspiring and wanted to show you. You may remember I made a tutorial for this project a few years ago (all pattern info and photos on my blog ((here)) and it's always lovely for me to see you enjoying my free patterns and creative ideas. These little zippy bags are perfect for using up the smallest scraps of leftover yarn and are brilliant colour therapy vehicles :)

↑↑ Now I've been SO excited to show you Claire's blanket and have been waiting patiently as it grew from just a few rows to this fully grown beauty. I mean, WOW, it really is a wonderful use of the Canalboat colours and I couldn't love it more. The pattern is taken from my square Fireside Blanket, extended to make a rectangle and I think it really captures the folksy, playful vibe of this colour palette.

↑↑ Not forgetting our four legged friends, I've enjoyed seeing your blankets being put through some essential Quality Control testing. Above is Caroline's blanket with Drusilla enjoying some colourful, cosy snuggles.

↑↑ Jenny shared this photo with the caption "the pouffy side is comfier apparently" which made me laugh out loud! Haha, I think I might have to agree with her kitty Morty - the pouffy side does have the perfect kind if squish factor.

Here in the Attic, Miss Tilly has given the Canalboat blanket her official seal of approval. I was sitting in the Big Chair working up a few rows one afternoon and as soon as I stood up to go and make myself a cup of tea she made herself right at home. I didn't have the heart to evict her, she looked so cosy and content surrounded by all that glorious yarny colour.

I too have been enjoying the "pouffy" nature of this blanket which is ever so warm and snuggly. I've had a slow week since I returned from Dorset on Monday evening, enjoying some quiet recharge time which is always needed after a lot of movement and emotional/social activity.

Can you believe we are nearing the home stretch with our rows already? Week five sees us gently sailing towards the top of our blanket, and my favourite parings this week are Teal & Tomato, with Turquoise & Royal coming a close second.

As you can see, the kitty has been very involved in my business (I do think she misses me when I'm away for a few days) and carried out a good many inspections of my work.

I thoroughly enjoyed taking this weeks photographs to share with you....

....the colour therapy was something special.....

......I mean, just WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, I am so stupidly in love with these stripes!!

I think I mentioned last week, that a big part of my creative satisfaction (and ongoing love affair with blankets) is due to the fact that they are so much fun to play with. Stacking, piling, folding, swirling and draping blankets is an underrated pleasure-fest and I can highly recommend you indulge. Immerse yourself in the creative pleasure of it, take a gazillion photos and see just how good it makes you feel. It's wonderful stuff.

The above photo shows the completion of week 5, and the Canalboat blanket is looking absolutely glorious.

IMPORTANT SIZE INFORMATION!

If you are making your blanket using the YARNSMITHS MERINO DK, you should finish at the end of PART 5. This should give you the right proportions (aiming for 100 x 150cm) and you should have enough yarn left to make the border.

Similarly, if you used Stylecraft Special DK but reduced your width to make a lap blanket, then you should have stopped at the end of Part 4, or when your blanket reached approx. 120cm in length. It's OK to add some extra stripes if you wish, please use your eye to gauge the proportions of your own blanket and feel free to stop at any time once you're happy with the length.

The border pattern will be released in three weeks time on Friday 28th February.

This week with our Mixed Stripe Canalboat blanket we are crocheting another 32 stripes.

Stripes 130-161.

Here is Part 5 of the MIXED STRIPE for you to download/print this week , click on the following link >>

PART 5 MIXED STRIPE WORKSHEET PDF

Interestingly, I haven't seen many colourwash blankets in progress as I've hopped about on Facebook as I think most of you are following my jaunty mixed stripe version.

My own colourwash merino blanket is mostly being used as a shawl - it's so beautifully warm and I love having it wrapped around my shoulders when I sit to work at the dining table which can be quite a chilly spot in winter.

The above image shows clearly the five "blocks" of repeating colours - this is where you will end your blanket if you are using the Yarnsmiths Merino DK. For the Special DK colourwash blankets you will continue onto part 6 next week.

So week 5 of the Colourwash is a repeat of week 1.

Stripes 121 - 152.

Here is Part 5 of the COLOURWASH for you to download/print this week , click on the following link >>

 PART 5 COLOURWASH WORKSHEET PDF

I mentioned last week that I have caked up my yarn and it's so satisfying to work from these neat, centre-pull balls. There were quite a lot of questions about yarn winding on Facebook and how to do it, so I thought I would mention it here. I use a cheap, standard kind of yarn winder which clamps to my dining room table. I bought it from Amazon years ago....here is the link to the exact one I have ((YARN WINDER)).

The balls work best if they are around the 50-70g size, so I either wait and wind them once I've worked up some stripes and reduced the size of the ball, or if I'm winding a new 100g ball of SSDK I generally wind into two separate 50g balls. The winder isn't big enough to cake a large 100g ball, so do keep this in mind.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed reading today's post and as always I wish you a wonderfully happy and creative week ahead. Have fun with your hook!

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♥ Part 5 Mixed Stripe worksheet

♥ Part 5 Colourwash worksheet

♥ Canalboat Pattern PDF

♥ Canalboat TUTORIAL (with lots of photos)

♥ CAL Introduction post

♥ Canalboat yarn packs

♥ CAL post Part 1 (stripes 1-33)

♥ CAL post Part 2 (stripes 34-65)

♥ CAL post Part 3 (stripes 66-97)

♥ CAL post Part 4 (stripes 98-129)

 

 

 

Comments

[Gail Hark]

The colours are absolutely glorious. I'm just starting week 4 now and have darned in the ends as I go. I have enjoyed every hooky moment. I live on a narrowboat painted in traditional colours inside and out so this blanket is perfect for me. Thank you for creating this and I look forward to more cals.

[Susan]

Always cheers me up when I read your posts. So relaxing too. Beautiful work by all.

[Jane]

As always, luv your blog posts.
I must ask....where oh where did you get the beautiful tote bag from....it's a must have for sure.

[kathryn]

Love these - where do we find the entire pattern?

[Kristine S]

As always, love your posts, & especially the images of your surrounds...
Although I'm (still) only just finishing up Tomato, row 33 for wk #1, it's my co.fort zone, when I finally get to it in my fraught & frantic day 😶‍🌫️
hugs & have a gloriously fantabulous week xxx🤗🌻🫂

[Louise]

Ah! I've been away from glorious Attic24 catch ups for too long so having a little lie in this morning has given me the chance to peek in. What colourful awesomeness! Yet another blanket-y triumph! Year after year you never cease to amaze me. Once I finish the current obligations keeping me away from my hook, I do want to create a canal boat blanket to be a daily reminder of my dream to spend a week or 2 cruising the beautiful UK waterways in a long, cosy, colourful craft! Xox

[Sandy]

I’m in love with your basket! It’s so perfect for travelling 🥰 and that chevron blanket is really fabulous and is calling me to recreate a similar one 😊

[Taffy]

Grandeur and Glorious as always...

Society grows greatest when old men plant 🌳🌲🍀🌿🍁 trees knowing they won't sit in their shade - Greek Proverb,❤️‍🔥🎁

To all at home, a beautiful weekend and days ahead 🌞🫶

[Wendy]

It's amazing how different the colours look in the chevron blanket. I cannot believe it's the same palette. It's such a happy blanket. Thank-you for your time and effort that you put into these CALs.

[Lynn Walsh]

I adore your flowery bag, please say where you got it?