Seascape crochet ripple blanket inspired by Attic24

I have gone down with multiple blanket disorder. And Christmas project overload syndrome. But I am having a lot of fun and really appreciating the inspiration that Lucy at Attic24 delivers on a very regular basis through her blog.

This year Lucy has showcased a coastal ripple blanket and a new vintage style one in cottage sweet pea colours. I love both but then there is the CAL – the Attic24 cosy crochet-along that started last week. The cosy colours are fabulous and so here I am with two blankets on the go and contemplating a third.

With so many projects, I don’t want to break the bank and I want my blankets to be washable, wear well and have the colours that I need. So I am using Stylecraft Special DK, which Lucy uses and which my mum often bought for her knitting. It is acrylic yarn but it is so beautiful and feels great to work with and to snuggle under.

I’m using Lucy’s pattern but I have a gentler ripple going on with 6 stitches instead of four between each peak and trough.

I am furthest along with my seascape crochet ripple blanket, which now has 16 and a bit stripes and the bottom border completed. I am loving the rich sandy hues and the gentle ripply pattern and the fact that I am crocheting a blanket inspired by Attic24 but not exactly the same. I like to learn through the experience and develop my own creativity a little bit. When I went to the bower bird workshop with Lucy at her studio in Skipton, she was very encouraging about playing with colour and getting us to develop  our own colour preferences and ideas.

The seascape vision

My vision with this blanket is to re-create a more literal reminder of my lovely recent holiday to Northumberland. I downloaded some inspirational pictures to a Pinterest board a while ago and I’ve just copied them onto a public board:

Follow Ann’s Box’s board Sea inspiration on Pinterest.

My idea is to be a bit more literal with my interpretation and make the blanket have more textured ripples. It also has to look like I am sitting on a beach with lots of sandy ripples and looking into a calm sea, out to a far horizon with a blue sky above. What I have in mind is a combination of several of these pictures, together what is in my memories from Northumberland.

The total of 84 rows are therefore going to be broken up into around 21-23 in sandy tones, the next 45-50 or so stripes as the different colours of the sea with blues, greens, some cream for the waves and spray, going into dark blues and violets and purple at the horizon. Evolution will happen as I go along – I am not planning anything in detail.

Texturing the crochet ripple blanket

One feature that I am definitely building in from the start is more texture. Simply Crochet  magazine had some fingerless gloves in an issue or two ago and I made a pair in gold and cream. The ribbed cuffs gave me the idea for the textures to use in the ripple blanket. By crocheting each treble stitch into the back loop of each stitch below, I am raising the surface into ripply ribs that look very much like the ripples you see in sand after the tide has just gone out.

Loving the beach colours

I am still on the beach, so to speak, and have just worked in the first row of silver. From the bottom I have a single row border in camel, then stripes in parchment, gold, stone, cream, mocha, gold, stone, parchment, cream, gold, stone, mocha, silver, gold, parchment and camel. My current row is cream again and then I am planning stone, camel, parchment and silver before working in some pale blues. I will then be paddling in the sea – can’t wait!