Mum's blanket

I have been making this in secret for the past 3 months.  Mum has made me and my girls so many beautiful sewn items over the years that I wanted to re-pay the 'favour', so to speak.  Also, I love my Mum to bits and I was very excited at the thought of making something just for her.  (Sorry Dad ;-D).

The pattern is one I have used before, Starburst, by Jane Brocket.  You can find it in the 'Gentle Art of Knitting' or in one of the earlier editions of Mollie Makes.  I believe it has also been in Woman's Weekly at some point. If you can't get hold of that, Sunburst by Priscilla Hewitt is pretty similar.

I was very organised this time and made it in batches and also I sewed in the ends as I went.  I learned my lesson from K's blanket.  Pictures of which are still to be taken!

Don't the middles look scrummy?  All piled up, I was obsessed with counting them and the girls were too.  

Photo frenzy:

Yarn: Jarol Heritage DK. I totally recommend checking out the Wool4Less website to get your hands on this.  Fab, super speedy service and delivery.  Excellent.

Patons Diploma Gold. You can get this in John Lewis if you want a couple of more muted shades.

Joined with Flat Braid Join.Very pretty.  I'm making another blanket with this join and this time am crocheting it a lot tighter, so it looks really neat.

I ended up with a ruffly border, even though I did that decreasey thing with my first round of treble clusters. I still love it.  But it was annoying! Mum absolutely loves it though, so who cares about wonky borders?! ;-D

Sampler Blanket

A randomly stitched blanket. Made so I can learn some new stitches.  It's a long WIP.

Yarn: Jarol Heritage DK.  

Inspired by the rather wonderful blanket that Little Woollie made.

Stripy Blanket

This was the first blanket I made that I liked.  There were a couple before this, but they remain abandoned or unfinished.  The wrong colours, the wrong yarn/wool, lack of experience and skills.

This is B's stripy blanket.  She came to the wool shop with me and picked out the colours herself.  There were a few I kept trying to put back, but she insisted.  As such, it is very BRIGHT and not the colours I would probably choose for myself, but she loved it and still does.

She used to line up the colours she wanted me to use next.  She counted the stripes every day.  She was so excited when I finished it.

It's had a wider border added since I finished it.  I ripped out the old one and re-did it about a year later.

Wool: Stylecraft Special DK. Acrylic

Pattern: Granny Stripe, Attic 24

This was also before I got my super shiny Tulip Etimo Hook which I absolutely LOVE.  I was getting a lot of wrist pain before I bought this.  I do still get pain, but that's because I crochet too much!