Hello and welcome to Patchwork House . . . . .
my little corner of the world in England, where you will find me addicted to colour and playing with yarn!


30 September 2015

The Stylecraft Blog Tour ~ The Paintbox Blanket

Welcome to day 6 of the Stylecraft Blog Tour!

Just in case you've missed what's going on . . . . .
a few months ago there was a competition
 to create a new shade of Stylecraft Special DK.

The lovely people at Stylecraft Yarns
 have produced a limited edition pack
 of the winning shade duck egg and 9  runners up!
 To launch the colour pack we are having a blog tour. 
If you missed yesterdays post you can visit
Phil at The Twisted Yarn

Behind the scenes here at Patchwork House
it's been oh so exciting as
 I've been working on a secret project
 with the new shades.


Imagine my delight when this gorgeous package arrived!
Wow its been so so hard
 not being able to share any photos of my work!


Enter the draw to win this pack! See details below!

As you all know I am a colour artist
 and have made sample squares
 of all my favourite Stylecraft Special DK shades.


I used a small solid granny squares for this,
 nice and plain and simple.
 You can find the pattern for this HERE


I have been enjoying ombre crochet recently
so my first thoughts were to find out where the new shades
 fitted into my existing colour palette.


These 10 new shades are available in a special pack
 of 50g balls and will be for sale from 13th October 
for a limited period only.
 The 10 shades (from the top clockwise) are

 mustard, grass green, boysenberry,
 duck egg, kelly green,
 empire, pistachio, lobelia,
  fuchsia purple and cypress.


I was like a child in a sweet shop and still am
 enjoying much time oooohhhhing and ahhhhhhing as I
 play with my new colour palette. 

As I know many of you hooky friends
 will also appreciate this information here are my findings.
 I have labelled the existing colours on the left
 and the 10 new shades on the right
so that you can see easily where they fit in.







I then made more colour palettes enough to suit my project




I have also taken this opportunity to introduce you to 
another new shade tomato
soon to be available in the shops in October.


So what to make . . . . .
well you can't beat a granny!


I decided to keep the crochet simple
 and let the colours do the talking.
So I made 9 large granny squares
 using the colour sequences shown above
 with silver as a neutral background.
(Please note all my patterns and tutorials use English crochet terms)
I used a 3.5mm hook as this suits my tension
 and each square measures approximately 29cm.


I am often asked how I make a granny square
 and how I get them so perfectly square.
There is a trick and you will find it all
 HERE 
in my granny square tutorial


This was so much fun just playing with colours
I was just like a child with a new paintbox!


For the joining I decided to use even more colour
and chose a different new shade for each of the joining rows.


I always crochet my squares together
 as it makes a really strong join which will never come undone.
You will find my tutorial on joining squares from the front


Finally I added a single round of double crochet in a colour
 to frame the blanket and another round of double crochet in the silver. 
Then a simple edging was all that was needed to complete it.


You will find the instructions for my Simple Edging


This blanket is guaranteed to make anyone smile
. . . it is happiness and colour therapy in a blanket!


The finished blanket measures approximately 90cm square
and would be ideal for a toddler's story time snuggle blanket
or a baby play mat.


Tadaa!

I hope this inspires you to have a go at playing with colour.
If you would like a chance to
 win a colour pack of these new shades
 you can enter a draw for the readers of my blog

this is open for today only Wednesday 30th September from 10am UK time 
and is open to anyone anywhere in the world!

To have another chance of winning why not continue on the blog tour tomorrow
 and see what my hooky friend Angie at Le Monde de Sucrette has been making
You can visit her blog 

Wishing you all lots of colour fun this week on the Stylecraft blog tour
come back tomorrow to find out who has won today's pack of yarn!

Heather

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16 comments:

aline said...

OOOOH I LOVE THIS!

aline said...

....and thank you for taking the trouble to post the colours and everything. You have some fab ideas.

Anba Crafts said...

Very lovely. And thank you for posting the color comparisons!!

Alchamillamolly said...

Heather the blanket is beautiful you are indeed a colour artist. I love the way the shades deepen and lighten through the square it is truly gorgeous and my favourite so far on the blog tour.

I am glad your secret is out! The competition is quite 'techy' to enter and I keep getting mixed up so I shall just place an order when the yarns are in stock. Your groups of colour pictures are very helpful and Stylecraft should pay you and use them in their marketing as they are a very useful tool. Hope you get your feet up after Aldi!!

Katherine said...

Such a gorgeous set of colours. I love your enthusiasm for them all and they look so delicious I can't blame you.

Thanks for all the links too, I have been struggling with joining squares together, so I shall enjoy having a go using your tutorial.

Jenny said...

BEAUTIFUL blanket! The colours are so inspiring and beautiful and I NEED this blanket in my life - might have to make it even if I don't win! Thanks for hosting the give away and your eye for colour is amazing! jenny xxx
www.thegeekyknitter.co.uk

Miss said...

I really love stylecraft wool since I knit something with.
And I just use that wool for every project now.
I am so happy with the new shades, I have to buy some.
I love the blanket you made, It is a different style and it is good to see something different!
I am thinking about a blanket to my son and think about the shades so you inspired me!!!
It is a great post!
Miss

Anonymous said...

Absolutely stunning! Such a meticulous method of colour searching and the results show. Thanks for posting.

josiekitten said...

I love your photos showing where the colours fit in with the existing Stylecraft yarns. Your blanket is beautiful. I clearly need to fill some of the gaps in my Stylecraft stash!!

Unknown said...

Heather, How very lovely to have you back. The nicest person sent me your way from Ravelry where my name is Bluebird Stitches. I am new to crochet and have found such inspiration in your beautifully made afghans. Your newest project does remind me of the coveted extra large size watercolor tins of childhood. Your afghan makes me smile! Elizabeth

Lesley said...

Really love this. Any chance of a colour pack with pattern? The joining colours are such a good idea. Hope you're feeling better too. Have missed your posts on your blog.

Anonymous said...

This is gorgeous Heather

Ruth said...

Thank you not just for the lovely blanket idea but all those great colour combinations.

Colourful Cottage said...

Oh gosh this is beautiful!!!!!

Cazzy said...

Ooooh, another gorgeous blog to add to my collection on my crochet blog. Love all the colour swatches, what a good idea. I love the giant granny squares you made into that lovely blanket too.

Carol x

Beth said...

Love this for its simplicity yet cheerfulness in the use of your color choices. Beautiful job. Thank you for your input of fun with yarn! Yours in Crochet, Beth

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