plate spinning mama: The invite said bring your own blanket....

It really did....

It said it quite clearly....

What self respecting hooker could receive a wedding invitation with that in and not be tempted?
Seriously tempted??
I knew EXACTLY what I was going to make...(Here's the original inspiration)

I did pause briefly to think about a colour scheme, as frankly, with internet yarn shopping there is simply too much choice...

It looked pretty good when it arrived in the post...

And of course it needed to be set free from its plastic bag, played with, stroked, arranged and rearranged to be 100% sure the colours were right...

For the record. This is a rainbow of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino...

... and it is deliciously warm and soft and squidgy, but there was a deadline for this project so I didn't play with the balls for long... It was time to get straight on with the foundation chain...

Not my favourite part of crochet and no matter which way I photograph it, 280 stitches doesn't look like much. Even photographed against a retractable measuring tape... so I'd better get started on the proper rippling rows...

That's better...
Thin rippling rainbows giving way to bolder broader ones...

It was great fun hooking away and it came in very useful for keeping my toes warm on those days when 'im indoors thinks we should turn the thermostat down, and I'd rather turn it up...

Then switching back to thin ones again, I paused at one point to check how it might look on a bed, which was a mistake because now I want one for me too!

But with a deadline to meet there was no time for day dreaming I had to use every available opportunity to do a little hooky, so the blanket came to Fulham, Granny's house, the swing in the garden, and an "I really should be quilting day" in Sutton...

It got to sit next to a very close relative in Sutton all day... shall we spread them both out for a proper compare and contrast?

I've got some catching up to do.....

Better keep going....look hooking soooooo fast 'im indoors can't get a shot in focus...

And pretty soon it grew too big for my basket....

So big in fact, that the handle fell off the basket!!

Thank heavens for grannies....a new old basket was substituted and portability resumed...

Until it outgrew that one as well....

In fact, only a few weeks later I was staring the last of the balls of wool in the bottom of the basket and celebrating only 14 rows to go!!!

And then it was done!

Well apart from sewing in all those pesky ends...

And there are rather a lot of them.....

There...that's better nothing like a bit of an incentive to get a job done...

For those who like these key stat kind of things..here's a few.

Blanket is made of Debbie bliss Baby Cashmerino, just like one I've admired for a long time, in the following colours:

Ruby : Sienna : Sunshine : Butter

Apple: Emerald : Mallard : Royal

Denim : Ultra Marine : Lilac :Purple

Hot pink : Plum

It is 280 stitches wide by 166 rows long.....

That's 46,480 stitches in case you were counting....(I didn't)

I used slightly less than 3 balls of each colour....

Which means it cost....£never mind . it will become a family heirloom pence.

I started it in the first week of February and set myself a target of 5 rows a week to have it finished in time for the Big day..I got on with it at almost Olympic pace (what are the chances of crochet becoming an Olympic sport?) as it was the perfect "pick up when you can, put down when you must" portable project so it was finished in early May...so actually only took about 4 months....

I think it looks spectacular on a bed, so will actually find it quite hard to hand it over...