Hello again.
It’s been a week of pattern writing, proof reading, deciding to add more photos, writing more, proof reading again…and again, but at last this afternoon I think the pattern is ready to be launched into the world.
So, with a big sigh of satisfaction (and relief) I’ve just added the Green Shoots Blanket pattern to my Etsy shop!
It’s the third in the series of seasonal themed blankets which started with the Autumn Gold, followed by the May Blossom and now here is the winter version. Or Late Winter version to be exact. It covers the months of February/March where the earth is still cold and grey, the skies are leaden and winter seems to be dragging on. In February, in this part of the world we experienced a prolonged frosty cold spell, with ice on the puddles and sparkly frost on the grasses. Then we had a week of quite heavy snowfall which gave us a winter wonderland for a short time.
However, what led me to design this blanket was that in the midst of these grey and white monochrome landscapes, there were the unmistakable signs of Nature beginning to wake up, in the form of little green shoots appearing all over the place. When the snow cleared, it uncovered clumps of snowdrops already flowering. The field outside my studio window turned green as little blades of new grass pushed through the hard ground.
All this was very encouraging after the year we had endured and it seemed appropriate to call my new design the Green Shoots Blanket, not just for the awakening season but also for the optimism for the future that was beginning to spread with the vaccine rollout.
So I’m delighted to have published the pattern today. I love the way the colours have worked out and I know already from feedback on social media, that it’s a colour palette which is going to suit so many people’s contemporary homes.
The blanket is the same as, but different to the May Blossom design, if you know what I mean. Although the pattern is basically the same, I’ve altered and hopefully improved some of the processes and updated the step by step tutorials. The colours don’t correspond to the other blankets either, so you really have to follow this new pattern.
It’s rectangular in shape, measuring 143 x 110 cms approx, making it a perfect size to lie over the back of a three seat sofa or generously drape over a comfy chair. It can also be easily made bigger or smaller by adding or removing squares or stripes.
I’ve used simple granny squares and granny stripes throughout, in my now signature crazy amount of colours and the making process, while following the step by step instructions, is a bit like paint by numbers.
The Yarn List is below, if you want to get ahead of the game, and it’s also included in the pattern.
You may or may not be aware that Deramores have now made their popular Studio range available in 50g balls as well as 100g, so I’ve listed the colours which were used more as accents rather than large areas, in the 50g size.
There can be problems with yarn supplies, particularly this past year due to the pandemic, where yarn manufacturers have been short staffed and at the same time trying to cope with a surge in demand as more people take up knitting and crochet during lockdown. Deramores usually do their best to restock as fast as they can, (update – the Deramores website is now showing good stocks in a lot of the colours and the remainder will be in stock in the next week or so). But I have listed an alternative option using Stylecraft Special colours which may be easier to obtain, especially if you are overseas. However my preference is for the Deramores colours, which I think are more subtle. You can mix and match both of these yarns successfully.
http://www.deramores.com for Deramores Studio and all the other yarns
http://www.wool warehouse.co.uk for Stylecraft and Scheepjes.
Both websites will ship worldwide.
All that’s left is for me to add a direct link to the pattern on Etsy which is here –
I hope you like it and let me know what you think!
Have a great weekend coming up and I hope you see the sun (and some more green shoots!)
Marion xx
Sorry to be a pain but it is driving me mad. Did I see Blue Velvet on yarn list before or am I just senile? Perhaps you decided on Storm Cloud instead.
You’re absolutely right Kathleen – sharp eyed, not senile! I published the original yarn list I’d written before I started the blanket, then remembered I had decided against the Blue Velvet as I thought it was too blue. So it was removed from the list on this blog post.
Hi again – I’m just giving you the heads up that I’ve added Deramores Studio DK in Green Tea to the list as well. For some reason I missed it out before. x
Thank you. Love that colour!
Hello Marion,
In the original list you also listed Deramores Studio DK in Slate, but it is not listed up above. Is this color still needed?
Thank you for your time and for such lovely blankets!
Sincerely,
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer, no it’s not. I decided to add an extra ball of Mist instead, as the two colours are very similar, so I thought that keeping just the one pale grey would make it simpler.
Ciao, non riesco a trovare l’equivalente dei colori pollare e verviers.. mi aiuti con qualcosa di simile ? Grazie
Hi, would you be able to put the details of this blanket of Ravelry, so we can link to it in there? Thank you 🙂
Hi Jenny, I’m not sure what you mean as I don’t use Ravelry much myself.
Hi, sorry, just saw this. You have a Ravelry designer page (https://www.ravelry.com/designers/marion-mitchell), where some of your designs are listed. These have pages, usually with information about where to purchase the pattern i.e. not on Ravelry but on Etsy. Once a design is listed, those Ravelers who make (or want to make!) the item can link to it, and then anyone and everyone can see any photos or comments/tips they want to make public within the Ravelry community. It looks as though some Ravelers have the ability to add designs on behalf of designers, and either they or you have done so for some (but not all) of your works. I was just hoping that this lovely blanket could also appear there!
To be honest, Ravelry is a bit like a foreign country to me. I just don’t know where to start since I don’t use it myself. It is on my To Do list though, to get to grips with the site and maybe figure out how to list my patterns on there for sale as well. One day soon, I promise!
Hi Jenny, sorry but I don’t sell my patterns on Ravelry, just Etsy.
I absolutely love this but don’t love acrylic yarn. I much prefer cotton. ? Any suggestions
Sorry no, I can’t help because I don’t work with cotton myself.
I seem to have run out of the graphite batik yarn but reading ahead still need quite a bit of it still. I must have gone amiss somewhere !