The Dune Blanket

The Attic24 Dune blanket is made up of a pretty pastel shell pattern.

The original Blue, grey and white baby blanket which I finished on the day we went into lockdown in March 2020. I used the Dune Shell pattern from Attic24,s website using wool I already had in my stash,

I treated myself to the Dune blanket pack when it was the lockdown in early 2021 but at the time I was working on other things! I thought I would be fine with the shell pattern as I had already made a blue, white and grey baby blanket using the pattern. I forgot that I had to frog eight stripes of it because the left edge wasn’t straight and I’d gained a shell each time! Fine if I’d wanted a triangular shawl!

With this in mind I started on the Dune blanket at the beginning of October 2021. I remember sat there working on it and Mr S was cooking the dinner that night. I was reluctant to put the crochet down to go and eat my dinner and was desperate to get back to it. New project enthusiasm!

The Dune colour palette on wooden pegs. I bought a set to match all the shades of Stylecraft Special from Etsy and they are so useful, especially if you are planning a blanket of your own colour scheme.

Last October (2021] I started work on the Attic24 Dune Blanket. I think out of all the Attic24 blankets I’ve made, my favourite colour palette has to be the Dune one. The shell pattern although pretty, is a bit awkward to work on. This is mainly due to miscounting at the ends and you end up with more shells than you started with.

New project enthusiasm!

Fast forward to the end of October and I found the Dune pattern was challenging me again with the counting. Several times I ended up frogging the pattern and it just seemed to go on forever. In the end I decided to put it down about halfway through the blanket and to take up another WIP started earlier on in the year, my Northern Lights Blanket.

When you realise your edges aren’t straight. I’d miscounted a couple of times and frogged a few stripes but I still couldn’t get it straight!

Back to work on the Dune after a few weeks doing other projects and hoping the renewed enthusiasm would see me through!

Working mornings only in my day job means that after my chores are done and the dog is walked, I can have some extra crochet time. That’s if I’m not baking, of course!

Fast forward to the end of December 2021/ New Year 2022 and I’m on a mission to get the Dune finished so I’m ready to be able to start the next project.

I hate sewing ends in! I know virtuous people out there sew them as they go along but I don’t! Especially as I might end up having to frog the blinking thing!

I was determined to finish the blanket though. I had a plan about working one week on the Northern Lights, then alternating with one week working on the Dune. Mainly to add a bit of variety and then stopping the boredom. This gave me a bit of a push to get them both finished.

I used Sage instead of Pale Rose in the border as there wasn’t enough Pale Rose yarn left! This really annoys me when all balls of wool in the pack weigh 100g but the yardage clearly wasn’t enough!

When I got to the border on New Year’s Day 2022, I had to substitute the Pale Rose colour for the Sage colour as I had nearly run out of it. I still think the colour works with the others in the border.

Finally, after Christmas and into the New Year I had two more finishes. The Northern Lights blanket was finished first, followed by the Dune on January 3rd!

Although the edges were still not perfect and straight, I was really happy with the blanket. My Mum was impressed with it and this prompted her to ask me to make her a special blanket for herself using some of the Dune colours which are her favourites. I wish I could have given her the Dune but I was ashamed to with the uneven edges! So the Dune is now on my spare bed as it tones in well with the grey and white colour scheme in the room.

This neutral pastel version of the Dune was made at the end of this summer for a baby boy over in the USA. I used James C Brett baby yarn for this blanket.

Love Sam xx