Rainbow Baby Blanket

For a long time now I have been chasing rainbows!

Always in search of that perfect blend of colours

and the perfect number of rows

 to fit my hot water bottle and baby blankets.

This week I think I have found that pot of gold!

I have been oh so happy

 with my 14 shades for a hot water bottle cover

and 15 shades for my baby blanket.

At last I have perfected (to my eye)

 that gentle flow of colours blending from

 red - orange - yellow - green - blue - indigo - violet.

Stylecraft Special DK

is available in over 80 shades.

It is a wonderful palette for us crochet artists and colour addicts

 and the recent new additions

 of tomato, sage, storm blue and mustard,

have made my rainbow making perfect!

To make a 60cm square baby blanket I have used 15 shades

claret

lipstick

tomato

spice

gold

mustard

lime

meadow

sage

storm blue

aster

bluebell

violet

grape 

and

raspberry

with parchment as the neutral in between.

This of course is personal choice

 and it would work equally well

 with silver, white or cream as the background colour.

I use a 3.5mm hook as this suits my tension, use whatever is best for you!

To make a perfect granny square,

 which is square and does not twist, follow the instructions in my

 granny square tutorial.

I chose to make 60cm square,

 as this is a good size baby blanket for use in a car seat or pram.

 However if you wish to make a larger blanket

 just keep repeating the colours, the recipe is designed to keep on flowing.

 So start with claret and work through to raspberry,

 than repeat from claret again till you reach your desired blanket size.

Every blanket needs an edging, just as a picture needs a frame.

This time I used a simple edging, you can read about how to do this

 HERE

For my 2L hot water bottle cover I needed 1 stripe less,

 so I made the same rainbow without the sage.

I'm sorry I do not have a pattern for the hot water bottle cover,

I make it up as I go!

 You will find a great tutorial for the granny stripe pattern on

 Attic 24 blog

To buy all 16 shades at once would be rather expensive,

 so if you are a beginner

 I would suggest a simple rainbow of 7 shades,

 to make a more affordable option.

For a vintage look try

claret tomato mustard meadow aster violet and raspberry on parchment.

For a brighter look try

lipstick spice saffron kelly green aster magenta and fondant on cream.

This morning as I write

 there is a distinct smell of autumn in the air which fills me with delight.

There is nothing better than to layer up with cosy scarves,

 socks and boots and snuggle by the fire

 with blankets and hot water bottles!

If you have been inspired by my colour recipes please feel free to use them.

Post photos of your work on Facebook or on Instagram and tag your work with #inspiredbythepatchworkheart

for a chance to be featured on my page in my Sunday spot.

So its back to my hook now for me.

 Watch out next week for my Batik Blanket and a

 competition

with chance to win some amazing

 Stylecraft goodies!

Happy Hookin friends

Heather

X X X

Making Rainbows

Today I am really excited

 to be able to tell you about a competition

 to win £500 worth of yarn!!!

I have joined together with 5 other bloggers

 to help launch the

 Deramores Blog Competition 2015

Here's how you can take part!

Everyone loves a rainbow

red  orange  yellow  green  blue  indigo  violet.

Lately I've been playing with colours

 a lot

as a Mathematician

 order is very important to me

and

as an artist 

colour fills me with passion

so

 to create a rainbow

 is perfection

 in my little world!

A few months ago

 I made myself a set of shade squares

 for all my favourite Stylecraft Special DK shades.

I used a small 3 round solid granny square

you can find a pattern 

HERE

Hours of fun and playing

 ended up with this combination

 for my bright traditional rainbow

I tried it out on a star shaped baby blanket

using a free pattern by 

Celeste Young on Ravelry

and the result was amazing!

but the artist in me wants to play

and my brain is continually making new rainbows

a pastel rainbow was next on my hook

oh so pretty

then again more playing with my squares

resulted in 

bright versus vintage

rainbows

using my creative license

I next hooked a

vintage look rainbow baby blanket

and I really love these soft muted tones

So where did this rainbow trend begin?

I have to give thanks

 to my hooky friends over on

 Instagram

This winter there has been a craze inspired by

 a beautiful Cath Kidston blanket.

So many of my clever hooky friends

 have been making their own versions, 

beautiful granny striped blankets

 with a parchment background.

totally inspired by the lovely makes of

 @wooly_creations

@pandagourgh

@yarnandwhatnot

@thelittlegreencupboard

and many others

I finally gave in and tried it myself

adding the neutral background

 to my vintage rainbow

 resulted in this amazing 

Cath Kidston inspired

 granny square baby blanket

Rainbows have spread into my cotton creations too

I always begin with a traditional colour order

Mandala making

 is such a perfect way

 of trying out colour combinations

but I soon find myself thinking

 that rainbows don't have to include all 7 shades!

Before I know it I'm shading pinks and purples

and blending blues and greens

Working with colour is therapy to me

it excites me

and makes me come alive!

So what better rainbow celebration

than my latest creation of a dream catcher!

This pattern by ATERGcrochet is available to buy on Etsy

HERE

So are you inspired?

 Do you want to play with colour too?

Oh I do hope I've got you rushing for your hooks

 and diving into your stash!

Ladies I'm really excited to tell you

 about the fabulous new

 competition 

I'm helping launch

would you like to win

 £500 worth of yarn

? ? ?

All you have to do

 is play with colour and crochet something wonderful!

Blog about your makes and enter the competition.

You will find all you need to know here

HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION

Go on you know you are itching to create

and who doesn't need more yarn!

You can enter many times

 and there are 5 other trends you can follow too!

This week I will be playing with a bright rainbow

 and a cream background! 

Come back next week to see what I made!

Do leave a comment to let me know what you are making

 and entering into the competition, 

I'd love to pop over and visit your blogs

 to see what you are making

Happy hookin

Heather

X X X