The Blanket (at long last)

Isn’t this just so beautiful?!

I don’t normally swim, but this beautifully clear water just looks so inviting and perfectly wonderful! So why am I randomly wittering on about a beautifully clear river when I should be showing you the blanket you’ve waited so long to see?

Well, I wanted you to have this image of different shades of blue interspersed with ripples of light. That’s what I think of when I see this blanket, and have christened it the Riverbed Blanket.

Can you see what I mean? (Or is it just me being a little OTT?!)

Whether you can see what I mean or not, I really like how this blanket turned out. It’s not huge (probably about 100 x 120cm, but as I forgot to measure it I don’t know for sure) but it’s just the right size for snuggling under on the sofa.

I made (what felt like) thousands of blue circles in five different shades, and grouped them in threes. I joined as I went along, and turned the circles into hexagons – it kind of felt like a magic trick! I toyed with the idea of a random ‘pattern’ but found it far too stressful – I like order and predictability. But as the hexagons don’t line up exactly (as squares would) the pattern sort of slants to one side. I actually rather liked this aspect of it and added to the riverish feeling of the blanket, kind of like all the water is flowing towards the bottom corner.

It almost feels like my feel will get wet at any moment!

Anyway, moving on from my slightly strange and fanciful ideas…

The only part I wasn’t entirely happy with was the border. I did a round of trebles in cream, then two round of half trebles in two different blues. I tried several different things, but whatever I tried the border always ended up a little bit wavy. I guess that’s appropriate for a watery, rivery blanket, but a little frustrating nonetheless.

Of course, when the blanket is in use the waviness of the border really is not an issue, so perhaps I just need to stop being picky. But if anyone has any advice on how to make a non-wavy border I’d be most grateful!

Before giving the blanket I added a care label…

…and wrapped it in plain brown paper tied up with yarn. Again, perhaps a slightly odd idea, but the friend I gave it to also loves to crochet, so I thought she could re-use the yarn to make flowers!

So, that’s the blanket! What did you think of it? Was it worth the agonising wait?! And now that it’s done, what big project should I get started on next?