A tad annoying.....

...but absolutely typical for me 😒  We had some dry and sunny days last week when I could have got out into the garden.  Unfortunately for yours truly, though, I somehow managed to hurt my neck.....just by sleeping, it seems 😏  I woke up last Monday with a bit of an ache in my right collarbone, which by the next day had transformed into a very painful neck!  A regime of Nurofen, paracetamol, Deep Heat, heating pads, plus trying not to move my neck and shoulders too much (easier said than done, as I'm sure you can imagine 😳) over the next few days meant that the pain gradually subsided.  It does feel very much better than before, thankfully, albeit still a little bit "twingy".  I've therefore erred on the side of caution for a change, and not ventured out to do any work in the garden just yet. 

I wasn't totally idle, though, as I managed to get the scrap blanket finished that I mentioned previously.  Granted, it's not the prettiest blanket in the world but by 'eck it's warm and cosy 😊  I used two strands of yarn, and it's mostly Stylecraft Special double knit.  There were also some odds and ends of other yarns, such as Scheepjes double knit and some Aran-weight which I think was Cascade.  I tried using the latter by itself but it didn't seem quite thick enough, so I added a strand of a very lightweight yarn that I had in the stash ~ possibly a laceweight ~ which seemed to create a similar thickness to the two strands of double knit.  I also had some boucle-type yarn, which I was able to use by itself.  I can't say that I enjoy crocheting with this type of yarn as it's not always easy to see where the hook needs to go!

I finished off with three rounds of half-trebles (US half double-crochet) to make a border ~ and to use up a little more of the yarn, of course 😄  

I ended up going from this.....

to this, so I'm pretty pleased to have whittled down the oddments so well.  I shall just keep these to one side and add other odds and ends as they come along until I've got enough to make another scrap blanket 😄

I also finally got round to putting all the bits and pieces into the bathroom basin cabinet.  I told you that I had bought a couple of narrow wooden crates from Etsy, and they now have all the cleaning materials neatly stored in them on the left-hand side of the cabinet.  That's more or less what was stored in our old cabinet, apart from what was in the very small drawer, along with a few things that were kept in the cupboard in our little utility area. 

 Everything else is now neatly stored in the right-hand side of the cabinet, along with the remaining "bathroom" stuff from the cupboard in the utility area.  The bits and pieces on the top shelf are easily accessible, but I've put the things on the lower shelf in a basket to make them easier to access.  The only bathroom things left in the utility cupboard are the towels, as there just isn't enough space in the cabinet for them.  It means, though, that I now have more space for all the spare laundry liquids, etc, that were being stored in the cupboard in the kitchen lobby area.  All in all, I'm pretty pleased with all the rearranging that I've managed to get done 😊

I'm now busy working on Special Project One which I will be able to share with you at a later date.....if you get my drift 😜  I was going to get cracking on the dolls house but have decided to leave it now until the New Year.  I do have some other little projects that I'd like to do, though, which I'll be able to share as I work on them.

The next job, now that my neck is feeling less painful, is not craft-related at all so watch this space for this year's Larkin Christmas Pudding 😍

Use it up!

There comes a point in a yarn-hoarder's life, though, where she does have to actually use up some of the stash.....if only to allow the bed in the guest bedroom to be recognised as a place for sleeping rather than a convenient surface to "store" said stash 😱  I felt I shouldn't shock you too much, my lovelies, by showing you a photo of the yarn hoard.....not least because I also have plenty of the woolly stuff stored in the base of the guest bed, too 😁

So I've decided that the time has definitely arrived when I should make some lovely things with my precious yarn and show you the end results rather than the stash instead ~ and, of course, during the autumn and winter is the ideal time to get cracking on these projects, plus it's a tad less embarrassing 😉  And let's face it, with the weather as it is at the moment I'm certainly not getting out into the garden anytime soon 😏  The teensy wee pile in the photo above is just a smidgeon of the hoard, simply odds 'n' sods that are leftovers from other projects.  I thought I'd start with these whilst I mull over what to make with the other yarns that I have more balls of.

I decided to start with a simple storage basket, which I thought would be handy for the bits and pieces I have gathered for some hand-sewing projects that I'd like to have a go at.

I used three strands of yarn held together: one Aran-weight and the other two double-knit.  I can't remember what size hook I used ~ possibly a 7mm 😕  I must admit that it was a bit hard-going on my hands and if I'd been making a blanket, say, then I would probably have used a larger hook.  As it was a basket, though, I wanted it a bit firmer.

I think I should have made it a tad smaller, to be honest, as it is a bit floppy!  I also managed to add in an extra stitch or two on some of the rounds.  As it's just something simple that I made for myself to use up some yarn oddments, I decided not to bother to frog it and start over ~ not least because of the soreness of my hands LOL

The basket didn't use up very much of the oddments, so I'm currently making another version of the "ordinarily extraordinary blanket".  I'm using a 5mm hook, with the yarn doubled-up, so it's growing quite quickly.  I'm not sure if I will have enough of these oddments to finish the blanket, as it's a fairly large one for the sofa.  However, a few months back I made a start (not that I've progressed very far!) on one of the Special Projects that I mentioned at the beginning of the year, so I'm sure there will be yarn leftover once I've completed it to add to the oddments pile 😄 

Tentative plans for 2026...

I've got a few ideas of things I'd like to make during this coming year but as you all know, my lovelies, I can be very easily knocked off-course into an entirely different direction!  So let's say that these are extremely tentative plans, just to be on the safe side 😉

I would definitely like to make more gifts during 2026 and, as I mentioned earlier in the week, I do have a few ideas percolating around in my little butterfly brain.  I've been meaning to make at least some of the gifts for Beverly's annual Christmas Every Day shenanigans virtually every year since I started the tradition ~ alas, I haven't managed to get myself organised to actually do so yet 😄 I would like to remedy that situation this year so will be hunting through my books for suitable things to make.  I'm certainly not aiming to make all 24 of the gifts, but nevertheless it would be nice to sprinkle in a handful of handmade items throughout December.  I do already have a few ideas of things I could make, and I'm sure looking through my craft books will throw up even more 😊

I've got four "big" projects planned for the year, two of which are blankets, and I've spent some time trying to decide how I want to make said blankets.  I have a specific "theme" and colour scheme for one of them (Special Project One) and the other is to be yet another stash-busting exercise!   I thought that I might as well use the same pattern for both, though, as they will end up looking totally different to each other because of the different colours I'll be using.

You have no idea, my lovelies, just how many motifs I pondered over until finally trying out these three 😳  I quite liked all three, especially the cute little hexagon at the bottom, but they all seemed just a tad too small ~ I really don't want to have to spend weeks and weeks making these blankets!  I used double knit yarn to make the samples but I really don't think they would have been large enough even if I'd used Aran-weight to be honest.

 The top hexagon is by Annie Design Crochet, whilst the square and tiny hexagon are both by Bunny Mummy.  They are all perfectly nice motifs but none of them really "called" to me.  Then I remembered that amongst the patterns in Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Knitting (where my favourite crochet chevron blanket pattern comes from), she has one called The Starburst Flower.  It's basically a granny square with a pretty flower centre comprising of puff and cluster stitches, with each round in a different colour.

Again, it's a lovely pattern but I found it just a little too fiddly for something that I really want to grow fairly quickly 😉 

In the end I mashed together aspects of some of the different motifs I had come across to make the one I've decided to go with.  Now, I'm definitely not claiming that this design is original as I've no doubt that someone, somewhere, will have had the same idea ~ it's just that, unfortunately for me, I didn't come across it when I was doing my humungous trawl of motifs!  I want both blankets to look like non-specific-flower flower gardens ~ if you see what I mean 😄  I used some Aran yarn from my stash with a 5.5mm crochet hook to make the sample, and it ended up about 5" square.  I used one colour to represent the centre of the flower, another for the two rounds of petals, and a third to turn it into a square.  The "petals" could be made in two different colours, which might look very pretty if they were two shades of the same colour ~ pale and deeper shades of pink, for example.

Anyhoo if you'd like to make these flower squares, here's the very simple instructions:

Round 1: chain five and join to make a circle.  Chain four, then make 15 double-trebles (US triple crochet) into the ring: 16 stitches in total.  Join in the top of the starting chain four and fasten off.

Round 2: join the "petal" colour between any of the double-trebles and chain three; make one treble (US double crochet) in the same space; chain one.  Make two-treble clusters, separated by chain one, between each of the remaining double-trebles.  Slip stitch across to the first chain one space.  16 two-treble clusters in total.  

Round 3:  chain three in the chain one space, and make a two-treble cluster in the same space; chain two.  Make three-treble clusters in all the remaining chain one spaces, separating these clusters with chain two between each.  Slip stitch into the first cluster and fasten off.  16 three-treble clusters in total.

Round 4: join a new colour in any chain two space.  Chain three and make two trebles (US double crochet) in the same space.  Make three trebles into the next space.  Make three double-trebles (US triple crochet), chain two, three double-trebles in the next space ~ this creates the first corner of the square.  Make three trebles into each of the next three chain one spaces, then make the second corner.  Continue the pattern round to create the square, and fasten off.

As you can see, I am definitely not a crochet designer ~ it took me a fair bit of trial-and-error to come up with a simple motif that I liked, and I don't think I'll be going "off piste" again anytime soon 😄    

It's hard to believe that we are halfway through January already, so I will have to get myself organised (😏) as I've got a lot to do this year!

Changing my mind.....yet again!

No further updates on Beverly's jumper, I'm afraid, but I will have to stop procrastinating soon and get it finished.  I haven't really progressed with the leftover Aran yarn blanket, either, as my butterfly brain has been rather preoccupied with yet more things to make 😏  At least the shawl is coming along, though!  

What I didn't tell you in my previous post was that I had actually started to make this shawl a few weeks back, using more yarn from the stash.  I can't even remember when I actually bought this yarn but I'd never got round to using any of it.  It's King Cole Authentic cotton mix double knit (50/50 cotton and acrylic) and I bought three 100g balls of a few different colours.  I had a look on the Wool Warehouse website and couldn't actually find a yarn called "Authentic", although they do have a King Cole yarn called "Simply Denim" which looks very similar.

Anyhoo, I decided to use up the Black Denim shade to make this shawl.....

and really wasn't keen on how it was looking, most likely because black is definitely not one of my favourite colours 😳  The photo above probably doesn't show the colour properly ~ the lighting in the dining room wasn't what you'd call brilliant, as we've now gone from heavy snow to gales and heavy rain instead!

Another of the colours in this King Cole batch was Red Denim, with red once again not being a colour that I am particularly fond of and one that I very rarely wear.  So what's a girl to do???

Well this particular girl decided to combine the two shades together to see how that looked 😄  Of course I then had to use a larger hook (7mm) and decided to use a different pattern too!  I remembered the corner-to-corner shawl I made for my Mum a few years ago and decided that was the way to go with this one.  I really like corner-to-corner as the work seems to progress at a very satisfying rate of knots.  Once it's reached an appropriate size I'll work across the top to make a straight edge.  I probably won't bother to give the other two sides of the triangle any kind of border, as it's just meant as an extra layer to keep the draught off my poor aged neck and shoulders 😉

I mentioned at the start of this post that I've been thinking about other things to make.....I've got three big projects in mind (and no doubt I'll get side-tracked by smaller ones, too, over the course of the year!) and will share the "big" plans in an upcoming post 😊  

Resistance is futile...

...the force is too strong 😏  I find it really, really, really hard to just have one project on the go at any one time ~ a new pattern appears or a fresh idea pops into my poor little butterfly brain with alarming regularity 😄

I have managed to finish the "patchworky" stash-busting blanket, though, so I think I deserve a gold star for that ⭐ I've had another shuffle-round of our blanket collection and this latest addition is now residing on the sofa in the living room 😊 

Nope, it's not a giant antimacassar 😄  You may recall me chopping and changing my mind over the blanket I was making for our niece for Christmas? Well, I had a fair few of those humungous 400g balls of Aran yarn left and rather than just adding them to the ever-increasing stash, I decided to plunge straight in and make a blanket with them.

 The yarn (from Wool Warehouse, naturally 😉) is Sirdar Hayfield Bonus Aran Tweed in Honeycomb (which is what I ended up using to make Michaela's blanket) and Haze, along with Sirdar Hayfield Bonus Aran with Wool in Mill Blue, Light Natural, Green Heather, and Purple Heather.  I hadn't been keen on the colours placed together once I could see them in "real life" as it were, but I thought I might like it better if I alternated the colours with the Honeycomb shade to keep them separated.  I did order a little more of the Sirdar Hayfield Bonus Aran Tweed in the shade Plum to even out the balance of lighter and darker colours.

Once again I'm following my favourite chevron pattern from Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Knitting.  The original pattern uses a lot of different colours, as you can see in the version I made for my friend Olive which used twenty!  This time, though, I'm just using six "colours", each alternated with Honeycomb as a "neutral".  I'm using the colours in the same order throughout, and following the number of rows for each shade that is specified in the pattern ~ I really like the randomness of the number of rows and think it works well whatever colours are chosen.  I'm hoping to use it on our bed when it's finished but will probably need to frame it with a wide border to make it large enough to be a coverlet. 

This is going to be a pretty big blanket once it's finished, so needless to say I am alternating it with other projects ~ no, I still haven't finished poor Beverly's jumper.....but now that I've restocked my dishcloth stash, I have started making a shawl for your's truly 😄  

Snow days and dishcloths

We've had a fair bit of snow recently, with yellow weather warnings (which are still in place 😒) and one day with an amber warning 😳  Both of us tend to avoid going out when the weather is like this ~ as we get older, we are much more conscious that a fall could result in broken bones!  I haven't been totally idle, though, as I decided to restock my dishcloth pile using up some of the cotton yarn in my stash.  I like to have a good stock of dishcloths as they are chucked into the washing pile daily, waiting to be washed with the next lot of towels.   As some of the older ones have now gone in the bucket under the sink to be used as cleaning cloths, the dishcloth stock was starting to look a little depleted!

In case you were wondering, no I haven't sewn Beverly's jumper together yet 😏  I keep putting it off but will definitely have to stop procrastinating and just get the bloody job done!

Anyhoo, back to the stash-busting dishcloths, all made with oddments of cotton yarn from my stash...

The first one is just a simple square of treble stitches (US double crochet).  Normally I would start a row using three chains to equal a treble stitch, but recently I've discovered that using just two chains tends to make a straighter edge.  I think it's a particularly good idea if you don't want to add a border, as the edges look nice and neat.

I used two double knit yarns held together for this cloth, with a 5mm hook.  The blue is Sirdar Cotton DK and I think the beige is as well as it looks to be the same.  I had a look on my go-to yarn store, Wool Warehouse, and they do still carry this yarn.  The shades on the website are named, though, whereas the blue yarn I've used just has a number so I don't know if it is the same.  The beige I used has long since lost it's label so I have no idea if it was named or just numbered 😄    

Next I thought I'd try my hand at a knitted cloth, and this is the result.  The pattern is called Grandmother's Favourite Dishcloth Pattern but I'm afraid I can't remember where I found it 🤷  As you can see, knitting doesn't come very easily to me 😉  It is a simple pattern, though, just garter stitch worked from corner-to-corner with yarn overs to create the lacy edging.  This batch of dishcloths have mostly been made with leftover oddments, and this was another that had lost it's label.  It's a thicker-feeling yarn than the blue and beige used above, although all my cotton stash is double knit.  I used 4mm knitting needles but think it might have made a "stiffer" fabric if I'd used slightly smaller ones.  The pattern called for increasing on each row until 44 stitches were on the needle, then to start decreasing.  I wanted a larger cloth, though, so continued until I had 64 stitches.  It would probably look a tad better if I'd blocked it but as I've told you before, my lovelies, I never bother blocking dishcloths ~ although I expect I would if I were making some as a gift.

I may well have another go at this pattern using finer yarn and smaller needles, as I think it would make a lovely little dolls' house blanket.  I also think it would make a rather nice shawl using bulky yarn and much larger needles.  Whatever yarn was used to make a shawl there wouldn't have to be any decreasing to turn it into a square, of course, as I could just keep going until I had a triangle the size I wanted 😊  I suppose if I really wanted to torture myself, I could attempt to make a dolls' house-size shawl 😏

This rather jolly dishcloth was made using Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK in the shade Poppy.  I don't know if this yarn is made anymore, it certainly doesn't seem to be available on the Wool Warehouse website.  I made this in half trebles (US half double crochet), working into the back loops of the stitches.  It's a nice "scrubby" texture for a dishcloth but I think on reflection I should have made it a little bigger!

And finally, dishcloth number four is made with all the little bits of leftover oddments that I had.  It's just a square of trebles (US double crochet), made using a 3.5mm hook to create a slightly thicker cloth than 4mm would have done. 

The closest I've got to the great outdoors for a good few days now ~ standing in the safety of the porch doorway to take a photo 😄

Not a lot going on...

...mostly just crochet, to be honest 😏

I came down with a cold a couple of weeks back, and didn't start to really feel better until this last weekend.  It seems to have been just one "health" thing after another this year, although I shouldn't really complain about getting a cold I suppose.  I haven't had much energy so have kept myself occupied with crochet and reading!  

I've made good progress with Beverly's sweater, though, despite feeling sorry for myself 😉  I confess that I've been putting off sewing all the pieces together, but I really must get on with it.  Because of her shift patterns and no public transport on Christmas/Boxing Day, we won't be spending Christmas Day with her.  Instead we are having Christmas dinner early, on the 20th, which will be a combination of both Christmas and Adrian's birthday which is on the 18th December.  I'd really like to have the sweater finished by the 20th, so I really must stop procrastinating!

I also managed to surprise myself by getting Beverly's annual "Christmas-Every-Day" packages wrapped and numbered in very good time!  I didn't feel well enough to take the little packages over to hang them up this year, so instead I put them all in a very large Christmassy bag for her to take one out each day which Adrian delivered when he went over to Kirkwall last week.

 

I know it's a tad naughty but I've started another project, which has sidetracked me from the sweater 😄 I'm still trying to use up more of the leftovers stash, so pulled out an assortment of the colours that I have the most of to make a patchwork blanket.  It's a Dottie Angel pattern, her "ordinarily extraordinary blanket", which I have made before.  It's a simple pattern and grows satisfyingly quickly.  My squares are 23 stitches wide by 14 rows high which isn't as large as those in the original pattern, but I like the way these smaller squares look so "patchworky" ~ very satisfying 😊

In other news we've had our first proper snow of the season, which gave me the ideal excuse to continue hibernating 😏  Thankfully it didn't hang around too long but I expect we shall see more before next spring.

We've also been lighting our log-burner in the evenings.  It's so lovely, very cosy, and nice not to have to sit bundled up in thick cardigans/sweaters!  We were very thankful for having this extra source of heat last week when we had a power cut one evening.  It didn't last more than a couple of hours but it's amazing just how quickly the house cools down once the heating goes off 😳

 

One project finished...

and another one begun ~ after a few false starts 😏

You may remember my post last month, my lovelies, bringing you up-to-date with my crochet projects.  Well, I've finally finished the gift blanket I seem to have been working on for ever 😉  

The yarn is Hayfield Bonus Aran Tweed in the shade Honeycomb; it's a 6% viscose, 20% wool, 74% acrylic mix.  Corner-to-corner works up pretty quickly and I felt it only needed a very simple edging, so just added two rows of half trebles to finish it off.  I'm very pleased with it 😊   

My new project is using up some more of my yarn stash ~ I'm making a sweater for Beverly 😳  As you can see from the photo, this is King Cole Drifter double knit, in the shade Ohio (a 69% acrylic, 25% cotton, 6% wool mix).  I bought the yarn from Wool Warehouse a long time ago and it seems to have been discontinued.  It is, as the label boldly declares, a very soft yarn indeed and is lovely to work with.

However this is the first time I've ever attempted an actual garment ~ apart from some very simple dolls' clothes ~ so I'm not too sure how long this will take to finish 😄

It's a simple pattern (Yarnsmiths Cedar Sweater), though, comprising of rectangles with very little shaping so fingers crossed it won't be too traumatising!  Having said that, I still managed to get myself into a bit of a muddle with the gauge swatch 😏  The pattern calls for a 4mm hook but when I made my swatch I had too many stitches across the row.  So for reasons that I cannot for the life of me fathom, I tried again.....using a 3.5mm hook!  Naturally, I ended up with even more stitches and I'm a tad embarrassed to admit that it took me a few minutes to realise that I actually needed a larger hook 😳  I tried again with a 4.5mm hook and thankfully it was third time lucky.  I still hadn't finished being daft, though, because instead of making my starting chain with a 5.5mm hook, I used a 5mm one instead ~ then found myself wondering why the bottom edge was resembling a banana!  I also managed to mis-count the starting chain, and ended up one stitch short. I managed to add an extra stitch, though, by somehow fudging an additional chain ~ don't ask me how I managed it as I've no idea to be honest!  Oh well, I got there in the end 😉

Do you like my stitch markers, by the way?  They are cute little teapots in lots of different colours 🫖 I'm adding one at each tenth row so that I don't have to keep counting from the beginning.

The pattern uses Yarnsmiths Merino DK Superwash yarn in four different shades but I wanted to use up some more of my stash, hence the King Cole that I'm working with.  I got Beverly to choose which yarn she liked the look of, and this is what she selected ~ green is her favourite colour.  

And finally, I thought you might like to see the lovely carnations that Adrian bought me last week.  I ordered some pink ones from Tesco with the weekly delivery a few weeks ago, but they were quite disappointing in that they didn't seem to last very long.  These came from the Co-Op, though, and their flowers generally last quite well.  Pretty as Miss Schlumbergera's blooms currently are, it's still nice to have some cut flowers in the house 😊

A new stitch

This has certainly been very much the case these past few months but I am starting to feel the call of working on other stuff, like the garden for instance.  Methinks crochet is on the cards to be relegated to the evening for a while 😉

During my "where's my mojo gone" hiatus, though, I fell in love with a new-to-me-stitch: the interlocking block stitch.  Marion, of Wool Thread Paint fame, made the most beautiful blanket: The Blair Atholl Blanket.  I fell in love with it straight away and as soon as the pattern was available, I snapped it up!  The trouble was, of course, that I had a) promised myself to use up as much of the leftover yarn odd 'n' sods as possible (hence the two new sofa blankets) and b) I had that gift blanket to get done.    

So a compromise was needed....and I tried out the stitch on a couple of dishcloths 😄  I was able to use up a bit more of my cotton yarn stash, so that was a plus!  It's such a simple stitch and creates a lovely "fabric" effect, which I really like.  

I've still got a fair amount of cotton yarn in my stash, so there's plenty for dishcloths for a good while yet!

And in my defence, I feel I should point out that some members of the current dishcloth collective are starting to look a little tatty, so they will soon be joining the cleaning cloth group who hang out in a bucket in the cupboard-under-the-sink😉

Still stash-busting!

As I mentioned on Monday, despite my lack of posts I have actually been working through the infamous yarn stash 😉 Before I made a start on the new gift blanket, I thought I'd use up the oddments of yarn that there wasn't enough of to follow a specific pattern.  In the end, I had just enough to make a couple of blankets, which I didn't feel were suitable for gifting as they are such a mish-mash of odds 'n' sods.  We now have two new blankets for our sofa, though, so I am still a very happy bunny 👏

I started this one last October (!) but got a bit bored making the solid colour granny squares, so decided to complete it with sections of granny stripes top and bottom.  I finished it with a simple border of three rounds of half-trebles (US half double crochet).  Personally I don't think it's a particularly attractive blanket but at least it helped to use up those oddments LOL  

When the not-so-pretty blanket was done, I decided to plough on with the oddments before starting the new project, this time making a granny rectangle.  As with the previous blanket, it was finished with three rounds of half trebles.  If I'd had a little more yarn I would have done an extra round or two but I used it all up, even using most of my scrap yarn ball!  I actually rather like this blanket 😊

The little bit of leftover yarn is now the beginning of a new scrap yarn ball ~ I simply join my scraps together with a Russian knot.  I can't remember where I first came across the technique but here's a link to a tutorial on Dora Does if you don't know how to do it.

I finished the new gift project, so photos to come in another post 😊 I'm also on the home straight now with a second "new project" so will be sharing that with you soon too 😄

Who needs a Plan B.....

.....not me, after all 😏 I had managed to persuade myself that I really wouldn't finish the "Orkney seascape" blanket in time for Christmas, so I went ahead and bought something for the recipient.  Of course, no sooner had I done so than I actually completed said blanket 😒  Oh well, the purchase has gone into my gift stash ~ yup, I have one of those too LOL    

The problem was that I was convinced I wouldn't have enough of the Cascade 220 yarn and would have to come up with a creative solution to make it the length in the pattern.  As it turned out, though, I did have enough to finish the body of the blanket but not to add a border ~ I always like to add a border to my blankets as I feel it adds the finishing touch.  I thought about ordering some more of the Cascade 220 but decided to have a rootle about in my stash first to see if I had anything suitable in there.  As luck would have it, I had some Stylecraft Special Aran in a shade called Denim which went very nicely with the other blues, so that's what I used for the border and why I managed to finish the blanket in good time before Christmas!

I'm very pleased with how it's turned out and hope that the recipient will like it, too.  I've made a start on the next chevron blanket project but I can take my time with this one.  I'm really enjoying using all those gorgeous art deco-ish colours and will share photos of my progress in due course 😊