Today it's exactly eight weeks since the Sungold Blanket CAL began and what a joyful, happy and creative two months it has been. I have absolutely LOVED being a part of the crochet-a-long this year, especially as I've not only been guiding you all through it but also taking part myself and hooking up my own stripes as the weeks have flowed by. It's been the most therapeutic way to start the year, and I know I say this every year, but I honestly can't imagine coming through these winter months without a new blanket to enjoy. I have heard this sentiment echoed by so many of you who have joined me, and I am truly delighted to know how much you value these gentle crochet projects that I create for you each year.
For me, the Sungold journey started way back last summer when I was photographing the flower gardens and obsessing over the colours, and I very much hope you've enjoyed me sharing my floral inspiration with you over the past eight weeks. I did say I would put together a post to share all my colour boards with you in one place and I still intend to do that - you can expect one last sunny Sungold colour-explosion to feast on before we move on.
So today is all about creating a beautiful border for your lacy Sungold stripes. Before you start on this final instalment, you will need to have all your ends darned in neatly......
.....and your yarn balls in order. I had a chat with you about this last week, so you know I like to cake up my messy balls once I've completed my stripes but this isn't necessary unless you enjoy doing it (which I do, I love it actually).
What you do need to do though is have an idea of your yarn quantities. I'd like you to confidently go forward and create your border rounds knowing that you have enough yarn to do it with ease.
I have these nifty little portable digital scales which I use a lot when designing and working out yarn quantities for my patterns. You can find them on Amazon ((here)), although ordinary digital kitchen scales will work just as well.
The Lacy shell pattern turned out to be very economical with yarn usage and I ended up with at least 42g left of each colour. That's plenty to make the border I've designed, although you will need to check on the Gold. I used Gold to work two border rounds and I'll give you more information about the grams in a moment.
I chose six shades to make my border and I am so excited to share it with you....eeeeek......it's been so hard not to give out sneak peeks on social media as I've been working on it and falling desperately in love!
The Sungold border is a bit more fancy than any border I've ever designed before.
I wanted something a little flamboyant, something that reflected the abundance of the huge flower borders that provided the colour inspiration.
Lets take a look.......
......Part 7 of the Sungold Blanket CAL......
.....ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Isn't it a beauty??????!!!!!!!!
I hope you like it as much as I do. It's rare that I have enough yarn to create such a wide border for my blankets, so it was a joy to work on something that flounced! The golden lacy round is actually the same pattern as the Sungold stripe so it will feel familiar to you already and you know it's not complicated.
I love the effect of it SO MUCH, and when I show you the blanket all laid out, you'll see what a wonderful finish it gives to the whole blanket. It's the perfect light, airy finale that these stripes deserved.
Lets talk some more about the colours and the yarn quantities, because I want to encourage you to think about your own colours and feel confident about creating a border that you'll love.
As per usual, I spent an aaaaaaage sampling for this border. I tried so many different versions of ideas that popped into my head, working and re-working my samples over and over and over.
SUNGOLD BORDER COLOURS
The Sungold border is made using 7 rounds (although you can crochet more or less if you wish).
I thought it would be useful to break down the border pattern so you can begin to visualise how the colours work.
Round 1 : Boysenberry : htr round, crocheting into the stripes.
Rounds 2 - 4 : (or more/less if you wish) : Lavender/Sage/Lime : these are htr rounds.
Round 5 : Gold : this is a narrow dc round.
Round 6 : Gold : this is a lacy shell round (use same colour as for round 5, see note below about quantities).
Round 7 : Tomato : the final edging round.
These colours were chosen to work well with both the mixed stripe and the colourwash versions of the Sungold blanket.
NOTE >> PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CHOOSE YOUR OWN COLOURS!!!!!!! I want you to feel at liberty to make changes if you wish and make this border your own ♥
YARN QUANTITIES
These quantities are based on a blanket measuring 120 x 175cm. I would strongly recommend weighing your yarn to check your quantities before you begin crocheting.
Rounds 1-4 (Boysenberry, Lavender, Sage and Lime) are htr rounds, and you will need approximately 24g of yarn for these rounds.
Round 5 (Gold) is a round of dc, and you will need approx. 16g of yarn for this round. You could use Dandelion for this round if you like (as shown in my sample above).
Round 6 (also Gold) is a lacy shell round, and you will need approx. 22g of yarn for this round.
Round 7 (Tomato) is a light edging round, and you will need approx. 16g of yarn for this round.
NOTE : As I used the same colour for rounds 5 and 6 (the Gold rounds) I needed 38g in total of this colour. If you don't think you'll have enough, crochet round 5 in a different shade - I'd suggest Dandelion. I hope this helps!
As mentioned before, you can of course make your border wider if you wish - go for it! I created the above colour order to inspire you if you want to add in a few more rounds - you can start with Boysenberry like I did, but then crochet additional htr rounds using Claret, Fuchsia, and Proper Purple before heading into the Lavender, Sage and Lime.
If you have any questions about border colours, or adding in additional rounds, do please leave a comment at the end of this post and I'll reply to you via email. I'm happy to help in any way I can.
Alternatively, you may love the border I've made and be happy to follow my colour lead - actually, I hope that's the case here :)
I've made a full photo tutorial for this border pattern, and I've named it "Lacy Shell Border".
You can find it in my alphabetical sidebar listing so it's always there for future reference. You can go straight there by clicking on the following link >>
I'll leave a link right at the end of this post too, so it's easy to find.
I absolutely love love love creating borders and adore getting lost in those long, even rows of crochet. There is such a soothing rhythm to it, and of course it's very exciting as you come close to the finishing line. Working the final edging round was kind of wonderful and sad all at the same time as I really didn't want this blanket to be over. I have loved making it very much.
Now I'm excited to show you more of the finished blanket, and how this glorious border works so well with the stripes.
As you can see, the golden hues are very dominant and that was a deliberate choice. I wanted the golden sunlight and flowers to be a big part of the finished blanket, for it to really take on a "Sungold" identity.
Shall we take a better look?
......................
.........here it is, the finished Sungold blanket..................
Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think the wide, lacy border works beautifully and I'm so, so delighted with it.
It's warm and sunny and joyful, just like the flower gardens that inspired it.
Sigh.....sooooooooooooooooooooooooo pretty. It's just so pretty! All the heart eyes.
I hope with all my heart that you're going to love finishing your blanket with this design, but please let me also reassure you that I am happy with whatever you decide to do on the edge of your own blanket. I've already seen some very cute narrow borders, and I've also heard talk of having no border at all. I have a good many border patterns in my list now, so do feel free to sample, experiment and go your own way.
I thought you might like to see a couple of finished Sungold blankets that have alternative borders to give you some ideas...
....many of you will know David from the Hooked on Attic24 Facebook group, and you will know he has a soft spot for wide, linen stitch borders! David used my Easy Eyelet Ripple pattern for his Sungold stripes, then added a really beautiful, wide rainbow linen stitch border to finish it off. I love it.
^^ Lynn finished her colourwash Sungold by using the colours I'd chosen for my border, but working them in last year's CAL border pattern. This is the Springfrost border and it looks soooo good in these bright sunny colours! You can find the pattern ((HERE)
So I think that's about all for now.....I do still have some housekeeping to do with the CAL, and I promise I will make time for it later today. By that I mean I will update the Sungold CAL page over in my sidebar so that all links, pattern info and PDF charts will be in one easy-to-find place for future reference.
J has spent time making some new worksheets for me which have all 99 stripes listed on one page, so I'll add those to the CAL page for those of you who are coming to this pattern outside of the crochet-along weeks. You know I keep all CAL patterns and posts free and accessible on my blog, so you can pick up this project in weeks, months or years into the future.
Do please also keep sharing your progress on socials - Instagram has a #sungoldblanketcal hashtag you can use so that I can find images, and the Facebook groups will still be busy and active as everyone comes across the finish line at different times. It's ok if your journey is a slow one, you certainly won't be alone! I get so excited seeing your ta-dah moments so please do share and lets celebrate together.
I mentioned earlier that there will be one more Sungold Celebration post coming soon, so we haven't finished quite yet. It really has been a wonderful crochet-along this year....thank you so much for making it so special.
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Here are the links all in one place.....
♥ SUNGOLD BLANKET INTRODUCTION
♥ CAL PART 3 (stripes 34 - 51)
♥ CAL PART 4 (stripes 52 - 69)
♥ CAL PART 5 (stripes 70 - 87)
♥ CAL PART 6 (stripes 88 - 99)
^^ PS I just HAD to share this photo with you as it is way too beautiful not to. Jenny lives in Tasmania and shared on Facebook a few days ago, telling us that these flowers came from a farm near the village where her brother lives. It's apparently a very dry and hot summer there which is the exact opposite of our cold, wet winter season here. I think you'll agree that the floral colours are perfectly matched to the Sungold stripes, it's just a stunning photo in every way.
Beautiful, colourful creativity, I love it!!!!!
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