The Tale of the Dainty Dots Blanket #2 - The Big Reveal

Dear readers of this blog, dear accidental passersby, I hereby proudly present to you…
The Dainty Dots Blanket!

Did you know…

- It took me one and a half year to complete? (Although to be fair I didn’t touch it for most part of last year.)
- It weighs almost four kilograms/8.8 lbs?
- Its measurements are appr. 2 x 2.1 m (appr. 6.6 x 6.9 feet)
- I’m really happy with my trick for turning a circle into a solid square?
- That I’m going to share this trick with you in my next post?
- The blues and greys are from a brandless cotton I bought at a Thai market?
- I sticked to only two rules while arranging the colours? (Namely: don’t join two squares which have the same colour and don’t join two dark colours.)
- I love big borders?

Regarding the latter: As you can see I decided on a big border for this blanket. It consist of three parts: the solid one and then two parts lacy fans. It was a last minute choice, but I couldn't be happier with it. Though the border does somewhat outshine the rest of the blanket. ;-) I based the lacy part loosely on a pattern from a Japanese crochet book. Sorry I do not have more information about it. But basically you could adapt any pattern for a multiple row of fans, and use it as a border.

The basis for this blanket were the big blue and grey cotton yarn cakes. This yarn wasn't available in white at the time, so for that I used Rico Creative Cotton. Which is quite a bit heavier than the Thai cotton, but it worked.



At the start I took a fair amount of time to work out a pattern for circle-turned-into-a-solid-square. I wanted the circle stay round, but in most patterns the circle becomes fairly square-ish when turned into a solid square. I'm quite pleased with my solution. Although the effect is a bit lessened here because the white is heavier than the coloured yarn. Ah well, can't have it all.

The funny (or stupid) thing is, when I unearthed it from its huge basket I was surpised how near-to-finishing it was. I was already halfway joining the motifs. With a big project like this I like to work for some hours in a row. I can't just steal thirty minutes here or there, like with a less substantial project. So, in the end it did all boil down to lack of time. But I enjoyed the finishing process thoroughly.



Anyway, I hope you like it! Don't forget, next up on this blog is the pattern for the Dainty Dots Squares. (The squares, not the border, sorry!)

Thank you so much for visiting & have a lovely day.

The Tale of the Dainty Dots Blanket #1 - The Making Of

Number one? Yes, that’s right, this is going to be a mini-series about my recently finished blanket. Starting here and now with the making of…

At the basis for this blanket were these big blue and grey cotton yarn cakes I got in Thailand last year. I knew right away I wanted to use them for a blanket. (At first I also used the powder pink - pictured above, but I decided to throw it out.)

Funnily enough, in the end I’ve only used a small part of it (the white yarn is cotton I bought here at home), so I've still got a HUGE basket filled to the brim with this lovely yarn (in other colours as well).

Next up: the Dainty Dots Blanket Reveal (#2) and the Dainty Dots Pattern (#3), where I will also give suggestions for an alternative yarn. I’m rather pleased with something I’ve worked out for the pattern, my personal Eureka-moment crochet-wise, so stay tuned. :-)

For now I'd like to thank you for your lovely visit. Wishing you a happy day.

Three Reasons to Love Loops

One

The wonderful texture they create....

Two

They make you want to hug your work...

Three

Their promise of many more loops to come...

Because for sure... Loops are addictive. So expect more to see of them here in the future. ;-)

Thanks for your kind visit. Have a lovely day!

Granny Flower Square - The Pattern!

If you read this blog since the first year (thanks for putting up with me all that time!) you might remember this blanket, It's one of my first crocheted blankets. I finished it almost three years ago. As you can see my palette has changed a bit since then, nevertheless I still like the blanket. It has exactly that seventies vibe I was after.

Recently my eyes fell upon it and I thought it might be a good idea to write the pattern down. Mind you, only for the squares. The border is not my pattern so not mine to share and unfortunately I can't find the source anymore, I believe it was a Portuguese magazine.

The pattern

Remarks beforehand
- You can either start a new round by chaining 2 (as a substitute dc) or – and that’s definitely my recommendation! – by making a standing double crochet. With the latter you can't tell afterwards where you started the round.
- The pattern calls for a join at the end of each round. My preferred method is to make a seamless join using a blunt needle. Alternatively you can slipstitch in the first stitch of the round.
- I used a 4 mm hook and I made 285 squares in total. Each square measures 10x10 cm (appr. 4x4 inch).

To start
Magic circle or chain 5 and join with a slipstitch to create a ring

Round 1
*1 dc in ring, ch 1*, repeat between * * 11 x, join

Round 2
*2 dc in ch1-sp, ch 1*, repeat between * * 11 x, join

Round 3
*3 dc in ch1-sp, ch 1*, repeat between * * 11 x, join

Round 4
Please note: The corners are worked in trebles.
*3 dc in ch1-sp, ch 1, 3 dc in ch1-sp, 3 tr in ch1-sp, ch 2, 3 tr in same space, ch 1*, repeat between * * 11 x, join. Weave in ends.

Joining the motifs
I used the join-as-you-go method for joining the motifs.

Please don't copy or share the chart elsewhere, but link to this page instead - thank you for linking with love! 

That's it!

I hope you've had a lovely week so far. Wishing you a great weekend!