Mollie Makes inspiration

 After subscribing to Mollie Makes based on reviews made by other bloggers, I have enjoyed flicking through the magazines and revelled in all the colourful photos and inspiration for future projects. It's so nice to finally find a craft magazine that is up to date and most of the projects are something that I would consider making. Having said this, the only thing I have made so far is a little felt dog for my youngest daughter (when she was last ill) which was very much appreciated. Sorry, forgot to take a photo of it - it's so tiny and cute! I haven't even made any of the free projects stuck to the front of the magazines, but they will get made eventually, probably when autumn arrives.

However, there was one image in the third issue that I kept going back to for another peek. It is such an incredible blanket, obviously made a long time ago using up odds and ends of yarn from a multitude of previous projects. I think the charm of it is that it does look old, well loved and the imperfections add to that charm. So I pondered over whether I could make a blanket just like it from new yarn, without having odd colours here, there and everywhere and for it to somehow come close to matching the charm of the original. I decided to take the plunge and have a go, no harm in giving it a try is there, especially as I had a bag of yarn sitting in the wardrobe, waiting for a project that I have not yet worked out a pattern for. I think that project may not get made for another year or two. Nothing like planning ahead!


Having looked closely at the image in the magazine, I worked the pattern out (roughly the same) and started making.  Another reason for wanting to make this blanket was that the squares are one colour only - the thought of making a blanket with several colours in each square fills me with dread at the moment. Sewing in ends is not fun, as all crocheters know.

This photo was taken last week, I have made a few more since then. These squares are approx. 3x3in and take about 10 minutes to make. Easy and because I am only making little squares, perfect for this hot weather we've been having.

 I'm very happy with the colours I  have chosen, although looking at the original blanket, I have decided I need to make more of the paler colours. What do you think?

Of course, the yarn I am using is Stylecraft, partly because it is so cheap and partly because of the wide range of colours available. As a crocheter, I find it really frustrating when I find a yarn at a reasonable price that also has the perfect texture, but the range of colours is poor.

The inspiration for the colours came from this:

Not a great photo, only one I could find. I love this picture and as you may have guessed already, I bought it from the charity shop! I managed to get most of the yarn colours as close as possible and added a few more, which tends to be my way. I'm really enjoying making this blanket, it's quick and easy to make the odd square in a spare moment and also very mobile - I was crocheting squares whilst waiting for a doctor's appointment yesterday. I think the joining of the squares may be where the difficulties start.

My husband has the next two weeks off from work so we have lots planned. We are going to Somerset next week for a couple of days and we also plan to have some day trips out. Looking forward to relaxing and having fun as a family. We've also got some friends coming over at the weekend for a BBQ. Let's hope the rain holds off. Hope you all have some fun things planned for this weekend too. x