'Shades of Kay' blanket

One of my first friends in Cardiff has just moved to a small flat in the Bay and we were discussing what kind of blanket would work well with her colour scheme.  Kay is colour blind so I couldn't just go with my instincts as colours that work well in my eyes really clash in hers!  Her living room is decorated with a wine red/lemon yellow/ cream colour scheme and she requested a blanket that kept in with those shades, maybe with a few pinks and oranges thrown in but a definite request for no greens, blues or purples...
I added some shades of brown to the palette just for a wider range of options for myself despite knowing that browns appear dark red to Kay.  I wanted to combine a pattern of square motifs along with random and unique granny squares (edged in cream) and drew up a few sketches.
I usually make a large blanket with 126 squares, 9 rows by 14 rows (six rounds each) but as I wanted a pattern around the outside, I chose instead to make 135 squares, 9 rows by 15 rows (five rounds each)  I then worked out how many square motifs I would need and figured out the colours and patterns to use (the red one and the yellow one are from the crochet square motifs book while the brown one is a 'squircle' from the amazing DebiY)  Lastly, I figured out how many granny squares to make and set to work!

I started it in mid April and have carried on along with the other ripple blankets I've been working on.  As I had most of the pattern in my head for how I wanted the squares, I actually crocheted the squares together as I went.  Today, I've been putting the last few rounds of the border on and it's done!  Would you like to see?

She should be up next week for dinner so we'll be giving it to her then :-)

EDIT-as requested, the square motif pattern information.  The Brown Square is a Squircle,  the Yellow Square is called 'Gothic Square' in Jan Eaton's 200 crochet blocks (number 94) and the Red Square is number 137 in the same book, called the 'Criss Cross'.

Yarndale will be back this year and the lovely Attic24 has requested for people to make mandalas to go into a large display.  Last year, she was inudated with crochet triangles for bunting so this year she has asked for just one apiece.  I meant to make one and send it last month but I got caught up in all the ripples :-)

I've made this one that I think is quite pretty and if I send it tomorrow, hopefully with luck, it'll be there just in time!

Summer Solstice

I've missed Myf terribly this weekend-it's the first time EVER she hasn't been with me the morning of her birthday and it was so hard yesterday.  I did go to Cardiff to pick her up for a few hours (her dad and grandmother were quite resistant and needed reminding that I've ALWAYS let her dad come up to spend time with Myf on her birthday, no matter who's day or weekend it is!) so I took her for a nice lunch with a couple of presents.  I spent the evening celebrating the Solstice with friends-lots of laughter, good food and great company!
She's just got home now and has had a great time opening presents (I have taken loads of photos of her happy face)

She asked me to make her a rainbow ripple blanket as she loved the last one I made so I managed to finish it the night before she went to her dad's (and I finally found my other camera!)  I used the amazing Attic24's ripple pattern and the first round of the border she describes here and then I used rainbow colours in alternating spike stitches for the rest of the border.

Happy Birthday darling girl.  I love you!

Weekend Whirlwind

This weekend has been a whirlwind of cleaning and tidying so far.  During my working week, I hardly have enough energy left to get Myf's lunches sorted out and catch up on the washing up and general straightening up-I'm quite a messy person though and it builds up quickly.  We've invited a couple of friends over for lunch tomorrow so I'm trying to make the downstairs lovely :-)

Another reason for the need to have a sort out is the increasing number of items going missing.  I can't understand how these things are getting lost and all my searching is to no avail.  One of Myf's inhalers has managed to go missing between last night and this morning and I can't find it anywhere!  My other camera, that I use for uploading photos, is still AWOL and it's driving me nuts :-(  I want to show you pretty photos!  I'm messy but always know where things are so this is throwing me.  I'll tidy it all away and then I won't be able to find anything!

Myf's rainbow ripple is coming on nicely-the rows are flying by and it looks so gorgeously bright and cheerful, perfect for summer.  Unfortunately, I ran out of the shade of dark blue I needed so I HAD to go and buy wool today...always such a hardship!  I'm on a very strict budget but managed to pick up a few more colours for her rainbow blanket and a couple for another ripple blanket-this one is actually for me (it will be large and the colours of the sea, oh yes!)
 We found a new wool shop in Pontypridd town.  It's called the Krafty Kabin and it has lots of beautiful shades for me to gasp over.  I got chatting to one of the ladies working there and she showed me a 'waffle stitch' that I'm definitely going to try out soon.

Myf was very patient with me today-I'm a grumpy so and so at the moment (my hormones strangely go all over the place in June, I think my body doesn't want me to ruin Myf's birthday) and inbetween cleaning and reorganising and nagging her about her homework, she's gently given me a hug and a kiss and told me she loves me.  She reduced me to absolute floods of tears the other day when she presented me with a list of '99 facts about Mum' with things like 'gives the best hugs' and 'always makes me laugh when I'm sad' as well as calling me a 'crazy crocheter'!  Can't believe she's nearly 11....

How is your weekend so far?

Reasons to be Cheerful

Time to do a little catch up before I go to work-I've neglected my reasons to be cheerful because of feeling a bit down but I think it really helps to remember the good things!

Myf is going to be 11 in 9 days!  This is scary but wonderful as well, she's growing up so fast and becoming such a lovely young lady.

I'm working on another rainbow ripple blanket (this time for Myf) and I'm planning to make a couple for sale.  I've gotten to grips with the ripples and it's so soothing :-)

We've had some impressive weather here of late-every kind of rain, massive thunderstorms and bright sunshine!

(No photos at the moment-I can't find the camera I use to upload the photos with so I'll save them up and post loads when I find it!)

Thank you for your lovely comments about the rainbow blanket I made for the little girl and for your kindness about my moody blues.  You're all very sweet xx