Happy sunset ripple blanket

[Foreword: I already wrote a whole happy post about this latest crochet project and blogger has myseteriously decided to disappear it. GRRRRRRR! Rather than be defeated and angry about the way that technology just keeps completely failing me this week, I've decided to rewrite it the whole thing again at once. Apologies for the fact that it is slightly less joyful and detailed than the original post!]

So since moving to Bordeaux I've been more or less failing to blog anything other than my weekly haikus with any sort of regularity. But that's because I've been busy enjoying life and working hard on my thesis so I won't feel bad about it! I have been keeping up my crochet however and that's what I'm here to share today.

I decided before moving here that I wanted to make a giant ripply blanket for the bed, in all my favourite sunrise/sunset colours. I had made a smaller version for a gift last December (see here) and had really enjoyed the rippling process so I couldn't wait to get started! Within days of arriving I located a wool shop (Berger de France) and bought some supplies. 

As the days and weeks went by and we started filling up our home with furniture and happy memories, and exploring this lovely old town, I rippled away...

Happy ripply beginnings

I joined a knitting/crochet group for the first time and discovered the joy of crocheting in company. I'm now rather tempted to take up my knitting needles again, having seen the wonderous lacy delights that these inspiring ladies create! It's been a lovely source of inspiration attending these weekly sessions of wool and French chatter :)

A sneak peek!

I had to go back to the wool shop several times for more supplies as I somewhat underestimated just how much wool is needed for a blanket of this size.That made it a little bit pricier than I intended but the wool is all good quality and so soft and warm (its mostly a blend of acrylic and different types of wool) so I don't mind the extra centimes (haha or rather euros) that I had to part with and the pattern is easy hooking. 

 An in-progress shot back when all we had in our bedroom was a bed!

The patter was easy, fun, joyful hooking (it sort of hooks itself up once you get going, leaving your brain free to concentrate on other things. In my case this meant watching the whole of Twin Peaks! haha! this blanket will forever remind me of that series). Finally after about five weeks it was complete (although it's taken me a lot longer to photograph it in all its glory). 

Without further ado I present..... my giant ripple blanket........

It's really rather big! Getting a photo of the entire thing was really rather tricky and involved balancing precariously on a chair!

The pattern for the ripples comes from lovely Lucy of Attic 24. See here.

I edged it with a few rows of double crochets and my favourite bobbles (also seen on another blanket I made here)...

 

Close ups of the bobbly edging

I love the way the colours sing together in their random ripply lines of colour! Some of the combinations almost glow! It makes my heart happy :)

The nights are a bit too balmy to appreciate this lovely warm blanket right now, but I love how bright and colourful it is on our bed in the morning sunshine... 

Here's to happy crocheting and home-making! 

I hope this post manages to survive on the internet!
What have you been hooking up lately?

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Ce qui m'inspire en ce moment... PRETTY PATCHES OF COLOUR

Having just finished my latest crochet project I've been thinking lots about what to hook up next. I thought I wanted to go out and buy lots of new wool in co-ordinated purple and bluish tones and make a giant blanket for my bed with a proper pattern. But then I had a think about what has really been inspiring me lately and I've started something quite different...

Bright summer colours might have faded from the streets (people are wearing less bright colours, choosing instead to revert to drab greys and browns) and the flowers in gardens are starting to wilt and die but the colour pallette of months gone by lingers on the edge of my consciousness. Meanwhile, as autumn gets going, berries start appearing and the leaves are becoming a little bit more multicoloured then usual. Before it's all gone for winter the world has a last blast of colourful energy and I want to capture that. Here are some of the things that have inspired me - all of them colourful and patchy in some way...

This bright corner of my mum's garden at the end of August. I love how all the colours zing together, not quite clashing or co-ordinating but co-existing in a bright happy way...

and smaller but still colourful... my own window ledge, having one last flourish :)

Bright graffiti tags appear and disappear in layers of paint on the walls of the nearby nature walk...

Even the leaves get transformed in this painted patchwork...

Patchwork people - a sculpture at Glastonbury. What drew me to this was all the tiny patches of colour juxtaposed together...

Flicking through old photos I was drawn to the glowing kaleidoscope of colours in this light installation I saw at the Fete des Lumieres in Lyon a few years ago...

and the bright happy colours of this flowery tree installation which 'grew' on the banks of the Rhone...

and photos of mosaic tiles from the walls in Park Guell in Barcelona...

Clothogancho is one of my favourite sources of crochet inspiration. Her blankets are huge landscapes of patchy colour, immense woolly works of art. Like this one...

Image via clothogancho this post

I urge you to go and see all her beautful creations! Even her blog heading is a feast for the eyes!

One of MeMeRose's latest posts got me thinking about the possibility of something patchworky with her link to the amazing Beekeeper's quilt by Tiny Owl Knits...

Image from Tiny Owl Knits where the pattern can be bought via MeMeRose

This image makes me want to always use every possible colour of wool...

Image by hippyhappygirl via Love Elycia

That's when I fished out my big bag of leftover wool accumulated over the last few years from all my knitting and crochet projects. Just peeking inside the bag made me realise that I have so many odds and ends of different colours to use up (and a huge volume of wool that needs to turned into something useful, instead of just sitting at the bottom of my wardrobe taking up space)...

So I've started something patchy, something colourful, something to snuggle under for warmth as the colours burst and fade in the coming months. I will show you soon once it has grown a little larger :)

What's been inspiring you lately?
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