Rainbow Ripple Ta~Daaaaah!!!!

 

I have to warn you - this post is very much a festival of Ta~Daaahing over my newly completed Rainbow Ripple Blanket.  If you are not in the mood for gratuitous shots of bright coloured yarn, and artfully draped blankets then I suggest you skip this post and come back another time :D  If you are, then sit back and prepare your eyes for a burst of rippling lovely~ness!

You may remember me starting this blanket way back in February 2010.  It has taken a long time to finish it - 18 months to be exact but it finally is finished and I have to confess to being absoloooooodely and completely in love with it.

 

Just look at those gorgeous rippling colours...it sends me into a slight trance looking at it.  In fact, this will be the perfect Dreaming Blanket...imagine one of those days where the need to snuggle up and spontaneously nap occurs...  It fits the bill perfectly.

I used a lovely bunch of colours from the Sirdar Sublime Cashmere Merino DK range.  Needless to say, it was not a cheap blanket to make; and that is also one of the reasons why it took me so long to complete (I had to keep saving up for new yarn supplies).  However, it is beautifully soft, and naturally warm and I know it will become a well loved, well used blanket over the years (which kind of justifies the expense).

 

The measurements of the blanket are approximately 130cm x 130cm square.  I would tell you how many balls of wool I used, but as it's taken me so long I've kind of lost count.

There were heaps of ends to weave in, which I finished off last night.  There is something very pretty about all the little inchy bits of wool collected together in a bowl.

 

The pattern, which is fantastically simple to follow, can be found at Attic 24 Blog here.

 

My sofa is becoming one of my favourite, and most comfortable places to be in the whole house.  It is a feast of colour and soft yarn...I love it.

So what next, you may be asking - of course I'm still working on my Japanese Flower scarf which I started in June and it's coming on nicely in fits and starts.  But it seems I cannot be without a Big Project.  No, there has to be something on the sidelines that I can go back to over time, that may take a while to do but is satisfying in that it's there and can be picked up and put down as the feeling takes me.

A Blanket then.  Another one.

And this time a request from my daughter; 'please can I have a blanket for when I get my new Big Girl's Bed?'

How could I possibly say no to that?  So I dug out the only pattern that I'd been itching to do, from a rather lovely book I treated myself to some time ago:

You can find this quite cheaply on both Amazon, and The Book Depository websites.  There are some gorgeous things to crochet in it, but this is what caught my eye:

See that blanket?  Oh my - heart stoppingly glorious!! I am already With Wool for this...

...these are some of the colours my wee one helped me choose, much lighter than my normal bright palette, but she likes the wool that looks like sweeties.  I'm waiting on three slightly more vibrant shades to be delivered that weren't in stock in my local wool shop and I think that these will stop it looking too wishy washy.

The wool I'm using for this project is a rather cheap acrylic one.  The stuff in the picture is King Cole Big Value DK (a couple of pounds for a 100g ball).  I've worked up a few squares already and whilst it's a pretty soft yarn and will make a perfect blanket for general everyday use (read den making, snuggling, spilling drinks on etc) I'm finding it a teeny tiny bit greasy to work with after a time.  I'm guessing it's because acrylic yarns are oil based, but I'm going to bear with it as it ought to be cheap as anything to make; which in these cash strapped times is a bit of a Good Thing isn't it?

Right - well that's about it!  If you're still reading along after all those hooky yarny pictures, thank you!  I'm so glad that you stopped by today and would like to thank you for taking the time to visit and read.  Also, apologies too because my little trips around Blogland haven't been so frequent just lately due to me having a rather Busy Time of it both work and family wise, but I will endeavour to catch up with you soon and just wanted you to know, I haven't forgotten you.

Sending you love

J x

A Ta~Dah Moment and a 100th Post Giveaway!!!

Hello!

And "Hello" to some lovely new followers too!! While I think about it, I'd like to thank you all for the gorgeous comments you left me on my last post - it makes my day to hear from you!

So, on my last post you may remember me teasing you with a shot of some scrumptious circles that I'd joined together (the original pattern can be discovered at Attic24 for those wondering). I wasn't giving much away was I, but today I can reveal what I've been up to...and Oh My, it's a bit of a scrummy reveal if I do say so myself!

I had the idea to do this Project some time ago, and eventually I weaned myself away from my Rainbow Ripple long enough to do it. This is another In Progress shot...hee hee!!

I wonder if you can guess what it is yet...?

Perhaps this next picture might give you a few clues...

Look at those swoonsome buttons would you? Aren't they just the best buttons for a lovely piece of rainbow infested crochet like that???

Alright, alright...I won't tease you any longer - here is my Ta~Dah moment, imaginary drum rolls please!!

For those of you who haven't guessed already, here is my Rainbow Flower Bolster Cushion!!! Woot Woot!!! Hurrah!!

Brace yourselves for some seriously gratuitous Bolster posing shots:

What do you think? Isn't it the most happy, Rest-Upon-Me-Right-Now looking thing you ever saw?

I was surprised how quickly I managed to do this actually. There are 70 little flowers (circles) that are joined as you go (which speeds things up enormously), and then the two main edges were finished off with white, green, turquoise and blue.

Let me tell you that it was very much a Fumble Your Way Along kind of pattern, in as much as there was no pattern - I made it up as I went along. The end circles are both made up with different colours and finished with some little picot stitches around the edges. You see the main point of this project was to use up oodles of bits of wool I had left over from my Big Blanket, and to be honest I only had to invest in a couple of new balls to supplement what ran out midway, and of course I had to buy the bolster cushion too.

So it didn't cost that much :D

And I love the colourful roly poly~ness of it, sitting on my sofa like a big rainbow sausage roll!

Ahhhh...I do like a good Ta~Dah moment to share with you lovely people!!

In the midst of all this evening crocheting, I found time to make the Little One some Proper Bunting at the weekend. She has been asking for flags in the garden for weeks now, and on Sunday morning I had a flick through Homemade (a gorgeous book by Ros Badger & Elspeth Thompson) and followed their very easy pattern and came up with this, which is now draped about the garden making it look very summery and festive!

Needless to say, there hasn't been much time for any painting this week. The other reason for that is because we are off to Northumberland to spend a few days by the sea and I have been busy washing, ironing and packing like a mad woman. I cannot wait for this little break, it is a much needed tonic for us all!

But before I go, there is one more important thing to share! Yes, today this is my 100th post. I know I am not the most frequent of bloggers and it has taken me quite a while to get to 100 as I generally only post once a week at the moment. But I love it, I enjoy writing my blog, I really enjoy getting to know fellow bloggers out there and the whole experience of reaching 100 posts has been wonderful.

So as a little Thank You to you all, for coming by and reading, following and commenting I would like to offer a Giveaway:

I have a very pretty Cath Kidston address book for you and two seasidey art cards of mine for you!

Isn't that a pretty address book? It's full of pretty designs like the Strawberry one above, and I thought I would treat one lucky reader to their very own as I love mine (the one Im showing you above) so very much indeed.

If you would like to be included in the giveaway, just drop me a comment here and your name will be added to the draw which will be taking place next Thursday the 27th May.

Im off now to treat myself to some new summer footwear, the weather forcast has promised sunshine and warm weather (fingers crossed) so Im away to the shops!!

I will try and catch up with your blogs when I come home, I wish you all a lovely weekend and send you lots of sunshine and happy times!

Love Julia x x x