I'm very happy to introduce the newly finished Granny in the Attic (link will take you to its Ravelry project page). Isn't it gorge?!
It feels so long since I stumbled upon this beauty on Lucy's Attic24 blog; so long since I was showing my mum every granny stripe photo I came across and repeating I just can't wait to make my own!! (Sorry mum! ;))
...it feels like a very long time ago indeed since the first batch of yarn arrived; so long since I set up this very blog just to chat about it. I love that picture of each ball waiting patiently for its transformation :D
I sort of wish I'd taken more pictures of Granny's stripe-by-stripe progression. Imagine how brilliant a time lapse video of her construction would be! (Something to keep in mind for the inevitable Granny 2.0 I think)
Granny grew quickly. Very quickly! Many people have said the same thing about their own Granny projects - that there's something about them that becomes extremely addictive.
This, I think, is quite peculiar. When you consider the criteria that many people (myself included) use to distinguish a good pattern from bad, there'll often be a nod to "not too repetitive" or "complicated enough to sustain interest". By the time I finished my first blanket - an extended granny square - all I felt was relief. I hated not just the double crochet, but crochet itself. I despised it. In fact, I didn't crochet anything else at all for almost a year.
But this time, I could quite happily start another Stripe tomorrow. Most peculiar! Perhaps it's watching the colours unfold?
...my colour philosophy for this was simply "balance". There was no hard and fast rule, just a general idea of not having two colours in the same order twice, whilst keeping the stronger reds and yellows distant enough from themselves that they didn't overwhelm the other shades. This didn't always work, but I just went off instinct - if a colour choice broke a rule, but still looked good, then what the heck?
There are a few ideas up my northern sleeve which were inspired by a recent trip back to Manchester. All I need to do now is sit down with a hot drink and an episode of Heartbeat, and work out how to bring them to life...
...luckily I know just the blanket to keep me company while I do so ;)
