I see a blanket.....

 .....or two in my future 😉

Believe it or not, I downsized my stash of yarn considerably before we moved up here.  We've lived here for over 2 1/2 years now and I still haven't done anything much with the yarn I did bring with me, it's just been languishing in a corner of the guest bedroom!  I must confess that this photo does makes the stash look a tad smaller than it actually is.....way back in the right-hand corner is a pretty large bag full of yarn that's hidden by all the other bags piled in front of it 😮  We're hoping that work can start on the guest bedroom sometime in the early part of next year, so I thought I really ought to start sorting out everything in there.  I've found a few blankets that were already started but for some reason none of them have the crochet hooks I was using still with them, so I've decided to frog them all and start from scratch.  

I would like another lap-blanket for myself (I actually want a couple more in the living room), and I was thinking that I could also crochet two or three as gifts ~ there is more than enough yarn in that stash to make them with. 

So I had a rummage and started the stash-busting exercise by pulling out all this Stylecraft Special double-knit.  They are 100g balls and there is a lot of 'em as you can see ~ I have a very vague recollection that I had planned to use them to make a blanket for our bed.  I really like this acrylic yarn; considering how reasonably priced it is, it's surprisingly soft and hard-wearing.

I decided what order to place the colours and here's the start of my first stash-buster.  It's a pattern I've used several times before from Jane Brocket's book The Gentle Art of Knitting.  The original pattern uses lots of different colours and with the first blanket I made I followed the pattern closely, albeit using the Stylecraft Special double-knit yarn instead of the Cascade Aran-weight, matching the colours as closely as possible.  I really like the pattern, in particular the random nature of the stripes.  It's a very simple pattern and once the foundation rows have been made there is an easy, gentle rhythm to it.  The pattern calls for a 4.5mm hook as it's using an Aran-weight yarn but I like to use the same size even with the double-knit as I prefer the slightly looser feel it gives to the stitches.  I have also increased the starting chain (adding an extra couple of the pattern-making multiples) to make the blanket slightly wider.  I've found that the pattern works no matter how many ~ or few ~ colours are used.  The original pattern has twenty different colours, the one I have just started is using seven: mocha, duck egg, petrol, cream, sage, stone and storm blue.  I love the combination of colours, and to my eye they have a Scandinavian feel to them. 

Of course, I now have the dilemma of whether to make this blanket as a gift to myself or to give to someone else!  Hopefully there will be enough yarn there to make a couple of blankets, then I won't have to make a decision at all 😃