Over the years, I popped into Lucy's Attic regularly to read about her adventures and see what she was working on. I even made use of one of her afghan patterns to make the blue/purple/white cozy afghan seen in this post for a friend of mine to give to her daughter.
Lucy's blog has continued to be a delightful respite over the last 11 years, full of color and creative crochet ideas. A while ago, she started working with a yarn manufacturer putting together her yarn choices for her different blankets so that her fans from all over the world could take advantage of her creativity and make their own blankets using the same yarns and colors. I resisted for as long as I could, even though each blanket seemed to be more appealing than the last. Then Lucy introduced her Dune blanket and I could resist no longer! As soon as it was available for purchase, I put in my order and look what showed up on my doorstep...
...the Dune blanket yarn pack complete with full-color printed pattern, with all the yarn needed to complete the blanket, all wrapped up in the sweetest organza drawstring bag. Wool Warehouse does a great job packaging and shipping these little bundles of joy! While I was at it, and since I was already paying shipping, I went ahead and splurged even more by ordering an earlier yarn pack and pattern for Lucy's Cupcake blanket. The colors are just about delicious enough to eat!
I had never used Stylecraft Special DK yarn before, and I am pretty sure it was love at first sight! The colors are luscious and the yarn feels so nice in my hands. I started working on my Dune blanket and loved the pattern right away.
It was easy to get into the 4-row-repeat groove of this pattern, and before long I was well on my way.
This picture shows the front, or what I call the front, of the afghan. It is the side which shows the right side of the shell stitches. Some people in the Hooked on Attic24 Facebook page, where many of the fans of all things Lucy and Attic24 gather to discuss their colorful projects, like the other side better as the front because it looks more like actual shells than this side does.
In this picture you can see both sides of the blanket, my front on the top and my back on the bottom of the picture.
There was some discussion of starting each color stripe from the opposite end of where the previous stripe was started. Would that change the overall look of the afghan? Would it resolve the problem some people were having with their woven-in ends causing one side to feel more bulky than the other side? I decided to do a little short-row experiment to find out for myself. In the picture above, you can see that the tails for each short color stripe alternate sides. But can you really notice the difference in the actual stitches of each stripe?
This picture shows the same short rows of my experiment, only from the other side. What do you think? I can tell the difference, but then I've been crocheting for over 45 years. I don't really think the average person would notice.
I also didn't seem to have a problem with the side where the ends are woven in feeling or looking any more bulky or stiff than the other side. This picture shows the front of the afghan along the edge where the ends were woven in. Oops, I just noticed I took the picture of the afghan upside down!
And this is the back side of the afghan along the edge where the ends are woven in.
Once the color stripes are finished, 100 in all according to Lucy's pattern for a full size afghan, there is a lovely four-round border that encircles the whole thing, so even if your edges aren't perfectly straight and neat, the border should help to even out the finished project.
Next time, I will share pictures of the completed afghan and my thoughts on using this Stylecraft yarn for the first time.
Happy Stitching!
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Oh I love the pattern and the yarns are gorgeous. I look forward to seeing the finish and reading your thoughts on Stylecraft.
ReplyDeleteYour dune blanket looks so pretty already. I love all the blankets Lucy designs. I still need to start one, but I don't know which to chose.
ReplyDeleteSweet greetings,
Emily
(casacreaemilia.blogspot.nl)
Wow this is going to be beautiful. I have followed Lucy for as long as you have - love all her projects and she has such an eye for color! I have been so tempted to order one of her kits but worried about ordering from overseas. I am glad you had no problems. Hope you have been enjoying your summer!
ReplyDelete