Thursday 2 August 2012

Serendipity

ser-en-dip-i-ty

Noun: The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy way



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Do you ever realise that, something rather lovely happens because of a lot of happy little events all coming together?

I have had that happen a couple of times this year. I don't realise it until after the said 'thing' has happened and I realise all the events that took place to achieve it.

Am I making sense?

Probably not.

Okay, let me explain a bit more......

I made something I ADORE. It was totally by accident. It was something I had seen and admired but hadn't felt that 'need' to make......at all.

But..........

.......lots of happy little things happened along the way to all come together to get me to make it. Serendipitous.

Please forgive the long blurb in reaching my conclusion, but it is somewhat necessary in explaining how it all came to fruition.

 I remember, a long way back, doing a post about colour. Colour is a personal thing. We all have colours and shades that we are naturally drawn to.......and shades we just cannot cope with. I have several 'sets' of shades I like. If I was to be asked what my favourite colour was, I would have to say Blue. I said this to a couple of people recently and they were actually quite shocked! They would have sworn it would have been pink!

Well, I do like pink. But only certain shades. Palest pink, ballet pink, dirty pink, salmon pink, apricot pink. That's about it.

But Blue? I like so many shades of blue. Pale blues, chalky blues, grey/blues I adore. Yet, stick a bit of green in the mix to give sea blues, aqua blues, minty blues both bright and subdued, I LOVE them all. So yes, it has to be blue. I love far more shades over pink.


I love blues, pinks and naturals all mixed up, brights all jumbled together, and aqua. These are my favourites if anyone were to have put me on the colour spot.

When the summer comes (and we actually get decent weather!), I live mainly in white. Usually teamed with an blue/aqua cardi or a pink cardi. 

There are a couple of colours I have always found hard to take. Lilac and Orange. Bright Lilac is definitely a no go for me, always has been and still is. Orange......well......something has happened about that one. I COULD NOT STAND pumpkin orange. I dreaded Halloween. Seeing that ghastly colour EVERYWHERE for a month or so. I never had pumpkins in the house as I just couldn't look at them. I found them totally awful on the eye. I did realise, that although I had no grievance with yellow, it's close on the scale to orange so I never really had it in my house. I introduced yellow shortly after this little revelation, and having done it, I started to be able to tolerate pale shades of orange. I started off with very peachy pinks and slowly they turned more orangy! I'm still not overly keen on pumpkin orange. I don't think i'll ever change on that score but I am starting to tolerate it more, and even feel that it has a place in projects. Oranges HAVE to be teamed with pink though, to be restful enough on the eye. That's my one stipulation!




So, happy little occurances........

1. Although I wear a lot of aqua and a lot of peachy pink, it dawned on me how much I like wearing peachy pinks and aquas together. I never watch daytime television. I was at a friends one morning and a daytime television show was on. It happened to be on a fashion feature at the time. I saw the prettiest necklace in a peachy pink adorned on a models neck. Upon discovering it was a) cheap, and b) was from a store that was local to me, the next time I was there, it was popped in the basket. I realised just how much I loved wearing it with a turquoise cardi. I was thankful that day that I got to see this brief snippet of television as it provided me with lots of happy little necklace wearing smiles. Happy little me.






2.  It also dawned on me, just how much peachy pink and aqua I have around the house together. I would have said I had more pale blue with pink, but looking around my house with a more watchful eye, it seems shades of aqua and peachy pink are more or less everywhere. Funny how you do something without actually really giving it any thought. A happy thought I concluded.












3. I was walking around my local yarn store and I saw a cubby hole of yarn that had me salivating. It took me by surprise because it was........orange! Admittedly, it was a peachy orange, but none the less, it had me all a fluster. I hastily snapped up a fair few balls. I didn't have any plans in my head for it, but I just knew I had to get it. Also, next to it, lay a cubby hole full of a gorgeous aqua coloured yarn. It was WOW, and I ended up taking a few balls of that home with me too. Happy little me.





4. I was making a blanket. One that I decided to do sort of on a whim. The kind I start as soon as the thought pops into my head, without planning. Lack of planning meant that I ran out of yarn in the major outlining colourway which was discontinued. This meant a lot of searching to find more and a wait to get it delivered. 

So, whilst twiddling my thumbs and looking around my living room, I had a little thought. Baby Bear has made great use of my foot stools. Last year I purchased one from a car boot with the view to sprucing it up. It was bought for £3.50, and a week later my lovely sister-in-law found another one for £2.00 and bought it for me. I very quickly added a stripey little cover to both to make them pretty and cheery. It was hastily done, once again with little thought,  and in a yarn that was not going to wear well. Baby Bear liked to use them a lot and run his cars along them, creating a few 'snags' here and there. It was time for a stool re-vamp. They would be quick and easy to do whilst waiting for my yarn to arrive. A perfect little easy peasy project to keep those idle hands out of mischief. I was actually a little thankful to have run out of yarn as without it, I think the shabby little foot stools may have stayed shabby for a fair bit longer.

I had thought about doing the same type of cover, just with better yarn and fresher colours, but when it came to do it, I thought I was bored of the stripes and fancied a change. What though, I was not sure. So the search was on to try and find some sort of pattern and inspiration to make my little foot stools all nice and fresh again. Pinterest was a good place to start. I immediately came across Dottie Angel's rather lovely foot stoolI follow her blog. I had seen it before and admired it greatly, but not ever felt the need to make any of her 'How To's'. 


Right, now before I go any further with this little story, let me digress a little. I do love to read Dottie Angel's Blog. I ADORE her style, her 'How To's', her crochet and her stitching. She is truly inspirational. I have seen lots of her style replicated here in blog land and it's amazing. Yet, I have not made a thing remotely Dottie-esque. 


Why? 


Imagine you go into a beautiful homeware store. Immediately in front of you is a glass shelf, filled to the brim with an array of different coloured glass vases. All different shapes and sizes and colours. The stores spotlights beam down on the vases through the glass shelving and they illuminate like a treasure chest full of sparkling jewels. You are totally mesmerised by it all and think you cannot leave the store without taking home your favourite one. So, you gaze and gaze at the dazzling beauties and choose your favourite. You get it wrapped, the excitement is overwhelming. All the way home you have this spring in your step. You cannot wait to open it. You run in to your home, unwrap it and place it on your shelf. 


You stare at it. 


You keep staring at it.


Your heart sinks a little. 


It looks rather dull and ordinary. 


There are no glass shelves, spotlights and other bright colours to make your purchase truly stand out. In your little abode, it looks....well....a bit pants.


I think I had felt this about Dottie Angels 'How To's'. However fab I thought they were, I felt that if I decided to have a little 'Dottie style' in my house, the joy of the make would be flattened by having said make in my pants old house looking totally out of place. Dottie Angel's vintage style is truly one of a kind. I just didn't think I could take the inspiration and pull it off in my humble abode. It was as if it was only magical if it stayed in her world!


However, Dottie Angel's foot stool was very similar in style to mine and there was a 'How To' for it. So, with a pattern that would fit and make things 'easier' and 'quicker' for me, I decided to have a go. The 'How To' was straight forward, with a link to Mille Makes for the actual flower puff and a granny square pattern. I made two foot stool covers and was very happy indeed.


It should have ended there. The foot stool covers were quick and simple and my yarn for my blanket was due to arrive any day. So job done, end of.


Not quite though.


You see, I REALLY enjoyed making the flower puffs. Very relaxing, satisfying and therapeutic. 






I was very taken with this foot stool pattern of Tiff's. It was delicious made in chunky yarn. It was incredibly touchy feely, and I do like a touchy feely crafty project. It was fun to make. Mille Makes had showed the pattern to make granny squares, which she had turned into cushions. I loved the flowers so much that I thought a cushion would be rather nice too. Tiff had a blanket made with the squares. I had seen this blanket on many an occasion. Little Olive loves this blanket. Suddenly, it all came together. The necklace, the colour love realisation, the orange and aqua yarn buy, the lack of blanket yarn leading to the puffed flower, the foot stool........it all seemed to come to this point. Yeap.......I wanted to make a blanket, inspired by millie makes granny square tutorial and Tiff's blanket. I wanted one of my own. I actually wanted to attempt something that I thought was beautiful and actually wouldn't look completely out of place in my home.


So I began. I wanted to use the the orangey yarn I had purchased, add some darker tones in the mix and some pinky tones too. I had purchased a pumpkin-y coloured yarn a while back to put into Baby Bears Circus Patchwork Blanket. The blanket needed it however much it pained me to put it in. I still had some left over and realised that it needed to be used in this. However, used in a small enough quantity and with pale pink I thought I could pull it off and be able to 'live' with it! 



So I got to work making my orangey and pinky flower motifs. 



It soon became apparant though, that however much I loved Tiff's blanket, I wanted to make it slightly different. So I decided to add shades of yellow into the mix.



I bundled all my shades in a bag and was quite happy at how they all went together. So square by square they grew......




I laid them all out when the numbers were done and I was pretty pleased with the results. Raised little coloured flowers all in a row.






Then, when it came to putting all the squares together, I used the lovely aqua shade I bought the same day I bought the orange yarn. 



So, there we go. A very spontanious blanket, made purely by some serendipitous occurrances happening in a short space of time. It took me totally by surprise.....but what a happy little surprise. I do ADORE it, and it doesn't look out of place in my home. 



So....there we go.







Sorry for the long windedness of this post. I suppose I could have really summed it up in one paragraph. Thank you for sticking with it, if you didn't skim read! I think it will be a happy little garden blanket. I have been able to incorporate shades of orange and be really happy with the result. Maybe there is hope for bright lilac then?.............................erm no!

So, this is what I have been doing in the weeks in which I have been quiet. I have had 3 blankets on the go, a couple of foot stools, a cushion cover and a shawl. That's a fair bit of crocheting. My little fingers have been really working hard. Trouble is, working on quite a few projects all at the same time means it takes a while for a ta-dah post to come along.

I hadn't planned on making this blanket. I hadn't planned on making a blanket that was so similar in colours to Dottie Angel's either. It just seemed all the little things happening recently suddenly led to it. It really was a serendipitous happening. I do love it, and have tried to make it a little different with the yellow in the mix, but, I really loved making the squares and would love to make another that was completely different in colour. I'm thinking garden meadow! Sounds rather yummy doesn't it?!

But, I think it might be a while though before I attempt another blanket. Making 3 on the go nearly killed me! Never again! I don't seem to have been able to have fought the creative flow, and my usual 'gun ho, jolly hockey sticks' kind of attitude made a lot of work for myself! Still, three blankets to come off the back of my Evening Sun Blanket this year is an achievement for me!

Well, this means now that I am freed up to continue with my original blanket. I have almost finished putting the squares together and then just the sewing in of the ends (and flippin' 'eck, there are a lot!), and that too will be ready for use too!

Phew! Thank you for reading, if you did!






xxx


P.S.  Please may I ask that if you 'Pin' any of these images, please do credit Dottie Angel and Mille Makes for the inspiration. This is not my design. I have provided links to Dottie Angel's stool 'How To' and to Mille Makes 'Something Pretty' Pattern . Although the time, effort and photography of this particular blanket was mine, the original ideas and inspiration were the work of others and they need to be credited as such. Many thanks!




92 comments:

  1. A dottie-angel, vanessa creation- oh' dreamy and oh'so dreammmmyyy ;0) - love the colours used on your blanket ;0)x I think Vanessa you inspire so many people out there too with your beautiful styly and amazingly stunning creations. You know i've been so gooody i have not brought one thrift or treasures for 3 weeks!!!! instead i've dedicated all my pennies to my girly this summer and she's been to the Funfair twice and pays for a lot of icecream and candy floss!. To help me through the treasure ache of not looking for that little something that cheers my inner magpie i've been looking through old box's of keep sakes and reading pen-pal letters and looking through treasured books to inspire and fill my inner eye candy ;0)

    And blogs like yours help me be inspired without the need for over priced magazines! ;0)xx

    Thank you for the colour and light in my life xxxx

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  2. Amazing! I love your colors. Thanks for sharing and the inspiration.
    Eileen:)

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  3. LOVE your colours and your beautiful, inspiring post, and love the fabulous way you style your images too - they are truly a joy to behold! Have fun finishing all your other makes and I look forward to the next ta-dah post :-)
    xx

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  4. Beautiful post. Love it that you take the time to explain your way of "choosing" "colours, how everything comes together. And I do love the result!

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  5. A long but beautiful post and we were well rewarded with your equally beautiful crochet blanket. It. is. gorgeous!!

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  6. Oh my goodness Vanessa! You are super amazing!

    Your blanket is beautiful !!!

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  7. Wow...I love your post, the blanket it beyond words amazing...beautiful..

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  8. Oh my goodness that is beautiful! I grabbed a cup of tea and read it all ( I promise!) from beginning to end. Such a beautiful post, please keep them coming!

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  9. Oh my word! Beautiful! Totally, wonderfully beautiful. I love it. I really wish I had your staying power gorgeous! I can make about 40 or so squares (hexies etc) before I can't face another one. I have got some beautiful African Flower hexies waiting for me. I've made 60 (a record for me) and I will leave them until I feel like making some more and see if that way I can finally end up finishing a blanket. I love your bracelet sooooo much. So pretty. I have still got something to post to you but I'm such a crap friend that I keep forgetting. I will post it today or tomorrow. So watch out for it! xxxxxxxx

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  10. Beautiful colours...perfect together!

    I wonder if you will ever swallow your words about the lilac?!

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  11. Beautiful ! The colors are pefection !

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  12. I love it! I do love the tactile feel of this blanket as well as the colours. I have to admit I am fairly open minded when it comes to colour although I do tend to gravitate to reds,light blue, pinks and sagey greens. But that said most colours appeal to me in some way apart from beige! Bleurgh such a non colour that one.

    I think you have created a wonderful blanket a brilliant mix of blogland inspiration and individual taste. Well done to you!


    P x

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  13. Vanessa, it is stunning! The colours, the texture...there is something almost three-dimensional about it, and the fact it has made you so happy.

    Joyful summer blanket. I love your work.

    Stephanie

    ps Oh please come and see my hares, she wheedled!

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  14. You did it again Momma......beautiful!

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  15. what a beautiful blanket, can just emagine snuggling up in that! know what you mean about things looking different when you bring them home from the store, even colours look different in an average indoor lighting. Pam

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  16. Oh. my. goodness. It's a total dream of a blanket. It's got a vaguely vintage look to it yet is fresh, pretty and modern.

    Completely and utterly beautiful my friend.

    How have you not got the hands of 90 year old with all the crochet you do???

    Hxxx

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  17. Realmente preciosa, me encantan los colores tan bien combinados y muy suaves. He copiado el patrón porque me ha gustado mucho, gracias por compartirlo, me encantan todos tus trabajos, un abrazo

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  18. This literally took my breath away, it is gorgeous! I thought about making a blanket from this pattern but settled on a bag and now I'm back to wanting a blanket!

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  19. This is by far the prettiest blanket I have ever seen. I am in "shock and Awwww" of how this blanket came together...Absolutely gorgeous!!

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  20. I loved this long post, and I read every word. Are you kidding me? I will read anything about crochet, yarn, and all the fun stuff that goes along with it. We often don't hear too much from you so this was a treat. L-O-V-E the blanket! I hope we get to see your stools and pillow too. All of your things are lovely.

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  21. Oh my goodness, this is so stunningly awesome! I too have been loving the peachy peachy and aqua combos lately and no doubt the wonderful Tiff has played a role in that with me too. That picture with the yarns all together in the bag is like my colour heaven at the moment so I have to confess to being mighty jealous of your fabulous new creation. It was lovely to read the inspiration and story behind this blanket, you've certainly been busy. :)

    Sandra x

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  22. LOVE this peachy pink-and-blue post on your peachy pink-and-blue blog. :) And the blanket inspires me so much!! It looks so cuddly, I've a mind to start one of my own when I'm doing making blankets for all the rest of the world. *squish*

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  23. Oh wow!! That is just gorgeous! I've been comtemplating what I want to do for My Blanket and those are much the same colors I came up with. Though a bit brighter (stylecraft special dk probably) and green rather than aqua. I thought of doing some african flowers but this...this is just genius.

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  24. Beautiful :) and I knew there was an orange lover in there somewhere...so very lovely, I need to go back and look some more x x x x x x

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  25. Oh Wow i haven't been in blogland for a couple of weeks and thought i would just pop in for half hour tonight while i had a spare one. And im so glad i did or i would have missed this beautiful work of art. Your blanket is truely stunning i adore the design of the raised flowers and have never seen this design or crochet before the colours are so lovely, warm and inviting no wonder you love it ;-)) dee x

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  26. Oh Vanessa, your work is so pretty and so is this blanket. You did it again! Super inspirational, even though you were inspired by others to get to this. I absolutely love love love it and can only dream of how pretty such a blanket would be on our couch....

    hugs
    Maaike

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  27. Absolutely beautiful!! Great job!! Dottie Angel and Mollie Makes are such great inspiration!! xo Heather

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  28. It's beautiful, perfect, something to be proud of. I would love one in autumn browns and oranges.

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  29. I have to say I am pea green with envy of your amazingly just gorgeous blanket colours are so wonderful

    Take care
    Denise

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  30. Beautiful, you are so very clever Vanessa. An inspiration! x

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  31. Wow I just really, really am in awe of this blanket, its stunning, beautiful colours, you've got such an eye for colours :)
    Karen x

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  32. Lovely! And your photos are stunning! Your blog is one of the reasons blogland is such a wonderful place to be!!

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  33. Just soooo ice-creamy! Beautiful! Ada :)

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  34. It is so beautiful!! I love the blanket so so much! I would have never put orange and pink together myself but you always seem to just make it look amazing. And those shades really do look nice together!

    I do find that some of the best things in life happen because of an accident or if you didnt mean it to happen!

    Wonderful :)

    Abi
    Www.notwhatyournanamade.blogspot.co.uk

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  35. What a lovely blanket you made! I love the colours and I love the pattern of the squares. Gorgeous!
    Now that I'm here I would love to invite you to the link party that's on my blog every Saturday and Sunday. I hope to see you there!
    Best wishes, Annemarie

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  36. So beautiful. Thank you for sharing...K...

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  37. I think it's beautiful, but then I do have a soft spot for orange and yellow. They look best combined with pink, so your blanket just couldn't go wrong in my opinion! Your hands must ache with 3 blankets on the go.
    Hope you are enjoying the school holidays - my 2 are bickering constantly... oh well, 2 weeks down only 4 to go!
    Victoria xxx

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  38. Your Blanket is soo calm and delicious, very immpressive to leave your colour 'comfort zone' too...simply inspiring... Thank you!

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  39. I just LOVE this colour combo!! Thanx for sharing! Sometimes when you pick your colours to crochet you realise something is missing, right? And then BAM it hits you. LOVE this afghan a lot. Just curious: do you keep all the blankets that you make? (My husband is just wondering how much blankets our house actually needs, hahaha).
    Esther.

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  40. Love your colours in this pretty blanket!
    And thanks for the links to the pattern- am off for a mooch around Millie Makes!
    Xx

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  41. thanks for the inspiration
    i was in a bad mood today but ur words gave me a nice smile so thanks again

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  42. Oh my goooooodness! What a bit of gorgeousness, it looks like a box of candies, and I am madly in love with it. I read every word, and I might go back and read it all again. Beautiful, beautiful blanket. :)

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  43. Can't speak, you've taken my breath away...with that awesome cleveage shot! Wah hahahahaha!!!!

    xxxx

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  44. I love the texture and the colour combinations well done, gorgeous blanket.

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  45. Acabo de conhecer seu blog e fiquei apaixonada, estou seguindo é claro!
    Aproveito para te convidar para conhecer o meu e se gostar seguir também, beijos do Brasil, Cá.

    www.rosaacessorios.blogspot.com.br

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  46. that blue does wonders to the afghan. great job

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  47. So very pretty...you do inspire. xoxo

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  48. Truly gorgeous, the colours work so well. I would love to know what wool you used, it looks so soft and snugglesome.

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  49. Oh hon, your blanket is amazing!!! You are a crochet marvel are you! I absolutely loved reading every word about how it came to be too. I am a huge fan of orange and pink together - it's my favourite colour combo, so I was beside myself oooohing and aaaahing over your gorgeous photos. Just gorgeous.

    Hope you're having a fabulous week.
    Leah
    xx

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  50. Wunderschön ist diese Decke geworden, ein Traum!
    Man sieht, wie viel Arbeit darin steckt und wie viel Liebe.

    Liebe Grüße aus Wiesloch (bei Heidelberg) von
    Jacky-Kater und Petra

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  51. All your pictures make me feel so good! Pastels always soothe my soul. Thanks!

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  52. Wow, I love that blanket :) funny how somethings just happen. I seem to be having a few of those just happened moments and I'm loving them. Even my control freak brain is loving them hehe.
    As always gorgeous pictures
    x

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  53. Will you put the project with wool info on Ravelry? Xx

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  54. I totally agree with Leah's words (9th August). Your photos are gorgeous and entice me to read on and yes, I did read every word! Your blanket is adorable, such a beeeeautiful colour combination. I thought the colours blended perfectly and then you wowed me by adding the blue! I'd forgotten about that colour because I was completely entranced by your crochet journey. Superb blanket, I love it. x

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  55. Wow....stunning blanket....so pretty! Would you mind telling me what make and colours of yarn you used? I've just had a go at making a square.....the pattern is great :-)
    Many thanks
    Carole

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  56. What a beautiful visual feast to come to! It's so so beautiful, a very serendiptous blanket indeed. xxx

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  57. Stunning, you have been so busy p, your creative angel must be a-flapping her wings every single day.
    Carol xx

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  58. I love this! But am curious ... how did you get that squared off petal top? I like that much better than the slightly pointy petal top of the original pattern. Did you follow that pattern exactly? That is, did you do 5 dc, let the loop off the hook, put it through the 1st dc and then the loop? Besides being squared, your petal tops look like there is only one thread instead of 5 from the dc's. Thanks for sharing!

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  59. If you have a copy of Crochet Today! magazine, March/April 2012, you'll see that my pattern, the Dahlia Throw, is almost exactly like this one. The square is a little bigger - I have one more round at the end. And they are joined a little differently. So if you're looking for a pattern, you can order the magazine. Check out this web site for info:
    http://www.crochettoday.com/crochet-patterns/dahlia-throw
    I guess designing minds think alike! :-)

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    1. Thank you so much for your message and for the link! That's brilliant! I love the extra round on your blanket, and the colours that you used make the flowers stand out beautifully. I would love to try this pattern out as I definitely want to make more of the motifs! : )

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  60. Love your "blankie", the design, the colors, all go together perfectly. The story was great too, thank you SO much for sharing with us. hugs

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  61. I absolutely adore it! I love your blog. Very inspiring!

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  62. how did you get that squared off petal top?

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    1. Hello there! I've been asked this question before and I simply don't quite know why mine looks more squared off than in the tutorial! I follow the same pattern and make the puffs up in the same way. Whether it's the yarn or size of hook i'm not sure! Sorry I cannot be of more help! : )

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  63. I made one of these blankets last April for my sister-in-law's baby. They are so fun to make! In fact, I made another one except with grey squares that's in my etsy shop. I have yet to make a big one!! Now I feel encouraged to try it! PS. Beautiful color choice :)

    mkphipps.blogspot.com

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  64. It's such beautiful blanket (and my other half likes it which is rare for crochet in general!) Can you let me know what yarns/shades you used?

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  65. Really love the finished piece and look forward to trying it out -- thank you for sharing..x

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  66. I keep coming back to look at this beautiful blanket.. I am drooling over it every time I look at it!! I have told the hubby we are now redoing the bedroom and as soon as I have completed my works in progress I am making this baby and can only pray that I turns out as lovely as yours!!! Bowing to the crochet goddess....
    Mary...

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  67. Hi
    What brand of yarn is this.??

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  68. Hello.

    I am a newbie to crocheting and I would love to try and make this Something Pretty Blanket. I hope you can help me with some suggestions.

    (1) what kind of yarn did you use?? I would like to be able to wash it if needed.

    (2) How much yarn would you buy to make a throw for over the sofa?? I would like to use shades of Pink, lavender, blues and greens with a Very light Tan border.

    (3) Some where I read that a person always uses a size bigger crochet hook than what the yarn suggested. What size hook did you use to make your Something Pretty blanket??
    (4) Is there a photo tutorial for creating this Something Pretty Blanket??
    Thanks for your suggestions, Much appreciated. Hugs Judy

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  69. Your blanket is beautiful!TFS!

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  70. I love this pattern, but I am finding it hard to find the actual pattern for the square. I have gone to the site that you listed, but only find a general outline of the piece. If you know the stitches necessary for the square, then I could make the blanket. Do you know if it is sold on Etsy? Would love to hear from you! My e-mail is: rptilley@gmail.com
    Thanks,
    Ruth

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  71. This is a beautiful blanket! I came across the Millie Makes and Dottie Angel blog posts on this flower square a few days ago as I was trying to find a blanket to crochet for my friend's baby girl due in the fall. But I wasn't sure what colours to go with and I didn't want to ask my friend b/c I wanted it to be a surprise. Then today I saw that my friend had pinned your blanket and so today I bought the yarn and am going to begin this weekend (if my 4 littles give me some down time). So thank you so much for this inspiration. I love the colours and the touch of aqua is wonderful :)

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  72. Hi, Can you give me better insight in Millies blanket. I can not understand on how to make the petals. 5dc, removal of hook, front to back? I can't seem to get any answer from her website. I have tried to find and video tutorial on this, but there is none. Can you please help? I would love to make this blanket. Thank you

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    1. Hi there, sorry for my delay in replying. After the 5th dc, take the hook out of the loop. insert the hook in the top of the 1st dc that you did in that set (or if its the first dc in the round and its a chain 3, then put it in the 3rd chain). with that on your hook, insert your hook back onto the loop of the 5th dc that you took it out of. You should then have two loops on your hook. yarn top of the 5th dc and when you pull them together with a sc stitch the petal appears. just keep doing that and the flower will form. I hope this helps a little. i haven't done the pattern in a while but that's how i remember it to be!

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    2. ooops, a bit didn't make sense at the end. with the two loops on your hook yarn over hook and pull trough both loops on your hook and the petal shape appears. i think it was chain 3 then do another one. again just take out the hook after your 5th dc and leave the loop there. insert your hook into the top of the 1st dc you did in the set of 5. then insert your hook back into the loop you originally took it out of. again 2 loops on your hook. yarn over and pull through the 2 loops on your hook and voila, another petal is formed!

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    3. Which yarn did you use for this blanket? The colors are gorgeous

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    4. I'm afraid I couldn't tell you the exact colours or brands I used for this blanket. It was a mish mash of assorted yarns, some of which were in my stash without labels on. They were all dk and I think there were pattens and sirdar. I used assorted yarns just to get the shades that I wanted that were the important thing. I used a light, medium and dark in pink, yellow and orange, so 9 different colours in all. The border was white and I used a pale turquoise so crochet it all together. Sorry I cannot be of more specific help. I'm a bit fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to crochet and am too impatient to ever record bits properly. : )

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  73. I LOVE the pattern and I LOVE the colors.
    So much fun to see the vintage within the new!

    Thanks for sharing a delightful blog about the journey!
    Peace & Light,
    Keefer

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  74. Hi

    Can I ask what yarn you used to make this blanket?

    Thanks

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    1. I'm afraid I couldn't tell you the exact colours or brands I used for this blanket. It was a mish mash of assorted yarns, some of which were in my stash without labels on. They were all dk and I think there were pattens and sirdar. I used assorted yarns just to get the shades that I wanted that were the important thing. I used a light, medium and dark in pink, yellow and orange, so 9 different colours in all. The border was white and I used a pale turquoise so crochet it all together. Sorry I cannot be of more specific help. I'm a bit fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to crochet and am too impatient to ever record bits properly. : )

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  75. 200% gorgeous; I love it. Saw someone's interpretation of this pattern on The Crochet Crowd and spent an hour searching for this on the web, so you know you have something very special. Your color taste is sumptuous and sensual.

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  76. Do you know what material the yarn is?

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    1. Hi Sheila, To be completely honest I cannot remember. I'm not very good with writing all that info down. I know that it was a mix of yarn brands to get the colours that I wanted. All in dk weight, and I think mainly acrylic/wool mixes. Sorry I cannot be of better help on that front.

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