Golden Crochet Time

There's been a lot of embroidery and a fair bit of quilting on the blog recently, but what about crochet I hear you ask? Do you have some crochet on the go Jo? Of course I do, dear readers, I always have crochet on the go.
But this time I thought I'd be a bit more ambitious and follow a proper, complicated, lacy pattern.

I hope you are impressed with this amazing lacyness, I know I am!
It was my birthday a few motnhs back and I decided to treat myself to some of this exquisite Sublime Tussah Silk yarn from my very own shop :)
You can't really see how lovely it is in these photos, it is gold and silky soft mixed with slightly crinkly shimmeriness (made that word up).

I've wanted to use this gorgeous silk since we first got it in and have been studying the knitting patterns in the accompanying pattern book wondering if there is anything I had a chance of actually finishing. But I am just not very good at knitting! And then I remembered the pattern for this sample 'jacket' in Melody Griffiths 'crochet in no time' book (above on the front cover) and realised she had used silk for this too. It looked hard but she said it was easy. And do you know what, it really was!!

I have been getting on really well making this wide piece of shimmering golden crochet (this is the bottom, it is all made in one piece up to the armholes), but now I have started shaping the front and I have got a bit stuck. After an evening of nearly constant sighing and pulling out stitches I have decided to 'rest' this project for a bit and instead have picked up some 'mindless' crochet to keep my fingers busy.

I have always wanted to tackle a proper granny afghan where you just go round and round until it is big enough. Sometimes my crochet students end up making one of these as after the class finishes they can't remember how to start another square so they just keep going!
I wanted something suitably retro with garish rainbow colours like the blanket featured here which was crocheted for me by an elderly relative when I was a teenager (and which I now cherish).

One day soon, hubby plans to build a small cabin up by our 'lake' (big pond) and I just know it's going to need one of these blankets to complete it! I am also going to use 'cheaper' brands of (still 100%) wool to make this one. I have discovered Cygnet Superwash DK which is 100% merino wool but which I will be selling for only £2.60 a 50g ball! (that's nearly half the price of the Sublime and Rooster I have been using recently! Though, I have to admit, it is not so utterly luxurious). A big delivery arrives on Monday so expect to hear more about this once I get it loaded on to the website. In the meantime I have started with Patons Fairytale Dreamtime, still 100% pure new wool and at £3.45 a ball, not bad at all.
So this is going to be my Budget Granny Blanket!