Daydreaming

After much deliberation, I’ve decided my baby blanket is going to be square, just like the Attic 24 pattern I’m basing it on. Attic 24 Summer Garden Throw After all, it’s designed to be a play mat rather than a bed cover so square seems more sensible, and given the wildness of the colours, I like that idea of balance in the construction. It looks like 10 x 10 squares will do it, with room for some edging, too.

I’ve had fun this week in taking my inspiration for colour choices from around me: colours in flowers and the landscape, clothes, food . . . even Roger’s favourite coffee mug!

 

I’ve also had a lot of fun arranging and rearranging the squares in different ways and it’s becoming clear that ‘random’ is anything but. I can see how important the third round of colour is because that’s what creates an impact when joined to another square – so I need to make sure that blue doesn’t join blue, red doesn’t join red and so on. That’s trickier than it sounds across 100 of them!

On the strength of this, I decided to organise the squares I’ve made so far into six piles of edging colours: blues, greens, purples, reds, pinks and yellows (including orange).

This revealed a huge discrepancy in my edging choices with far more blues, greens and purples – no real surprise, I suppose, as those are my favourite colours. Whoops!

Also, I have to admit that I did maybe get a teeny bit carried away with the whole blue thing after our visit to the beach on Friday which is why that pile is so big . . .

Well, how is a person supposed to resist such gorgeous colours? Anyway, I am now applying myself to lots of red, yellow and pink edging to try and redress the balance. I’ve also decided to keep those same piles of squares in my basket so I can keep an easy eye on numbers; it also makes it easier to take them out and play with different combinations. Oh, and it makes me look like a tidy, organised person, too. Ha ha!

Projects like this give me so much pleasure; like knitting socks for other people, it’s really not about the finished article or about me but rather the person I’m making it for. I love the time spent mulling over things and working each stitch with them in mind, and this one is no exception: bring on the daydreams!

What will this new little baby be? Girl or boy? Dark or fair? Quiet deep thinker or bubbly chatterbox? What will we call each other? What will we do together? Curl up with stories and pull silly faces, splash in puddles and paint rainbows, blow bubbles and hide in dens, have tickle fights and piggyback races, pick strawberries and plant sunflowers, build sandcastles and snowmen, gaze at stars and chase butterflies, make eggy bread for breakfast and pancakes for tea? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain. The most important ingredient of this blanket is one I can’t photograph, no matter how hard I try: it’s love, oodles of it! 🙂