Sunday, May 15, 2016

Loving the lavender...

First up, week 8 of my Mandala Madness:

I admit - I love the light lavender!

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And yippee skippee -- I finally finished the Diamond Stitch Baby Blanket, which ended up being too large for a baby blanket.   I'm thinking it's perfect for a young child, though.  Or maybe a large lap blanket for someone older?  This first picture shows just a little over half of the finished blanket - made with Deborah Norville's Everyday, yarn in the color, orchid (which, in my mind, translates to lavender :^).


While I love the diamond pattern for its simple elegance, I'm wondering if it needs something - like maybe some crocheted flower appliques - like in the bottom right-hand corner.   But if I do that, how many and what size?  Truthfully, I'm not sure I even want to do anything more, but I'm open to at least hearing ideas.  Please weigh in below if you have an opinion.


Finishing up the Diamond Stitch blanket I immediately began on the Spring Into Summer Blanket using Red Heart Boutique yarn in the the colorway Candied:

I've always thought the original of this blanket is pretty, so I decided while I'm in a small blanket kind of mood, now's a good time to make one.

To see what other Yoppers are up to visit our thread this week on Ravelry.  And consider joining us come the first Sunday in July for a new Year of Projects year.  Come check out the group and see if this sounds like fun.  We'd all love to see new folks join us!




14 comments:

  1. Beautiful blankets, both of them. As for the diamond stitch blanket, I don't think I would add anything to it. It would detract from the beauty of the stitches. Your mandala is just gorgeous. How big is it now and how large will it be when completed? I have the Spring into Summer blanket in my library to do also. Someday, I will get to everything in my library.

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    1. Thank you, Marsha. I knew I'd be asked how large the Mandala blanket is and I should measure and put that in the post, but still...I didn't do it. So I spread it out again just for you and measured 43 inches across! Soon it will be too big to get the whole thing in a picture, I suspect.

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  2. The mandala is brilliant - how much more is there? I too would leave the blanket how it is, it is beautiful.

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    1. Thanks, Lucy. It needs to be large enough for a young child, so I'm going for somewhere between 50 and 60 inches - somewhere in there when it looks like something I can live with I plan to stop. It's anybody's guess how many more rounds that is. At least three, I'd say.

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  3. All three are beautiful. I agree about leaving the diamonds to sparkle for themselves. I would only add something if the recipients were especially fond of flowers or bows etc.

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    1. Thank you, Una. What a pretty way to put that. I have to remind myself that it was the simple pattern of the diamonds that drew me to the pattern.

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  4. Your mandala is growing huge!!! I love the simplicity of the diamond blanket! I am voting to leaving it as it is! And how great your gradient yarn is working out with this beautiful textured stitch - stunning!

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    1. Thanks, Alina. I'm really happy that the consensus is to leave the blanket as is. I can't say I wanted to keep fiddling with it.

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  5. Again, the mandala is looking just great!
    I love the blanket, and like others would leave it just as is. I would still like to try this pattern, I just know that I need to give the pattern all my attention and that is unlikely at the moment! We are soon to have a long car trip so that might be a good time to try it out.
    The last blanket is so pretty: I have that yarn in my stash for a scarf and gloves, but now I'm thinking blanket!
    Happy Days,
    Jenn

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    1. A car trip could be a great time to work on it. While it is a simple enough pattern, and it becomes intuitive after a short while, it requires continued focus to get the holes in the right places (so the diamonds are in the right places). I can't tell you how many rows I ripped out. Glad I did it. Glad I'm done. ;^)

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  6. All the projects are just lovely. I like the simplicity of the diamond blanket. What does the back side of the mandala look like? Is it as intriguing as the front? I'm curious. I know it's an odd question.

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    1. That's a great question, Lisa. The backside is flat (as in no raised surfaces). it's not unattractive, but it's not got all the texture the front side has.

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  7. I like the simplicity of the diamond blanket too, I think it is beautiful!

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