If you've been visiting with me over the years then you will be very familiar with my love for home grown summer flowers, and you will know that I love love love having a small posy in a little jug on my table. It's such a joyful, cherished part of my summertime and I never get over the happiness that home grown flowers bring.

I don't always manage to have sweet peas every year as I'm ridiculously disorganized and very rarely manage to plant seeds at the right time. This year I predictably missed the seed sowing, so I splashed out and bought ready grown sweet pea seedlings which were delivered through the post. Honestly, you wouldn't think it possible to send a parcel containing baby plants through the post would you? But it is miraculous and the plants arrive beautifully wrapped in tissue paper so that both the precious roots and the delicate shoots are perfectly protected, super healthy and ready to grow, grow, grow.

Due to the very, very hot summer weather, my allotment sweet peas didn't really grow in glorious abundance. However, there were enough flowers to give me a small posy every week through the summer months. In fact, I picked the very last bunch on 22nd October, so they lasted really well and oh, I did enjoy them! So so much.

I decided early on in the year that I'd like to make a blanket inspired by the colours of sweet peas. So In the middle of July, I persuaded the family to accompany me to the Royal Horticultural gardens at Harlow Carr (near Harrogate) in search of some floral inspiration. The gardens are an absolute delight, and I loved seeing the abundance of sweet peas growing in the flower beds. However, there was an extra special reason for me to visit on that hot, sunny Saturday in mid July - I was there to view the National Sweet Pea Show. Yes, these showy floral events do exist, and they are very, very strange!! By strange, I mean they are super-formal and highly competitive and totally not what I expected.........let me show you.......................

See what I mean? Formality, with a capital F. Hugely competitive too, crikey, you could fair feel the tension in the air as so may top sweet pea growers from all over the UK fought to win with their blooms.

I somehow expected the flower colours to be mixed and I found the rigid segregation very uneasy on the eye. It was all rather prim and proper, and I found myself feeling rather sorry for the sweet peas, forced to stand to attention in their competition-grade green vases. I wanted to hug them all together and put them into some roomy jugs so that they could mingle with their different coloured neighbours, breathe out and relax!

Despite the formality, the flowers themselves were really spectacular. I spent a long time admiring them, sticking my nose into the blooms and inhaling (I was the only person there who did this - nobody else seemed to be bothered), and gazing at the huge variety of colour.

I love that even the soft pastel colours of sweet peas seem to look bold somehow, like they are shouting their gladness for the summer season.

I came out of the show feeling very inspired, and although it wasn't quite my style (give me a mixed posy in a jug any day) I certainly felt uplifted by all the glorious floral colour.

The very, very, very best thing about the sweet pea show was the fact that you could buy mixed bunches to take home. They were displayed in big buckets outside, and the ladies who were selling them for £2 a bunch were extremely lovely. They chatted to me about all the names of each different variety, and were obviously so passionate about their flowers, it made my heart swell.

I bought three big bunches to bring home, and oh my giddy aunt, they were utterly, utterly beautiful. I just couldn't stop looking at them, playing with them, sniffing them and photographing them. It was a sensory summer overload!

I love sweet peas for their scent most of all, but this year I began to pay special attention to the huge variety of colour found in those fragrant petals. I'm not especially a lover of pale pastels, but the vibrancy of these sweet peas totally amazed me. Yes there were creamy white flowers and the palest of soft pinks, but there were also stunningly bright magenta and hot pink shades, and the most beautiful deep bluey-violet colours too.

When the pastels are mixed with the brights, something magical happens - the resulting medley of colour is like a pure hit of nostalgic summertime. It's warm sunny days and happy childhood memories, lazy afternoons in the garden and bare toes in cool grass. It's sweet and slow, warm and delightful. Total summer feel-good in those colours!

My ideas for a sweet pea blanket began to spin and twirl once I started playing with the flowers. I am endlessly inspired by the seasons and sweet peas are the epitome of Summer. They also hold many layers of childhood memories for me as my Mum adored sweet peas and grew them every year.

It was hugely satisfying having real living flowers to guide me in my colour choices - there are thousands of sweet pea photos on the internet and I already had seeds packets and plant catalogues to refer to. But in my experience, nothing beats getting up close and personal with the essence of ones inspiration!

In the end, the floral colours came together very easily as the range of Stylecraft Special DK contains lots of really beautiful pinks and purples to choose from. My biggest deliberation was over the greens and I faffed with them for ages. I ended up going up to the allotment and cutting some stems and leaves to bring home so that I could see the variation of greens in real life. I also tried very hard to get the overall balance of the colour palette right - by that I mean the balance between the greenery and the petals, and also the balance between the very pale colours and the deeper tones.

I think I've managed to create a very harmonious colour palette which will work really well when translated into a striped blanket design. And it's so impossibly pretty to look at, don't you think?

This palette of colours is certainly very easy on the eye and very uplifting (like a bright, warm summers day) and I'm certain that as these yarn colours begin to transition into crochet stripes, those summer vibes will be flowing. I can't wait!!

As is usual for my blankets, I've chose fifteen shades of Stylecraft Special DK for my Sweet Pea blanket

Top row, left to right...

🌸 violet 🌸 cypress 🌸 candyfloss 🌸 magenta 🌸 plum 🌸

Middle row, left to right...

🌸 lavender 🌸 meadow 🌸 soft peach 🌸 blush 🌸 fuchsia purple 🌸

Bottom row, left to right...

🌸 wisteria 🌸 pistachio 🌸 cream 🌸 clematis 🌸 pomegranate 🌸

You can find the Sweet Pea yarn pack in my shop at Wool Warehouse...

❧🌸SWEET PEA YARN PACK🌸❧

When it came to designing the pattern for my Sweet Pea blanket, I knew that I wanted stripes. I love love love making stripy blankets, they are so rhythmic and soothing to work on, and the way that you can play with colours in a stripe order is irresistible for the likes of me. I sampled all sorts of different types of shell patterns (I was thinking about the shape of the flower petals) before settling on something remarkably simple......

....this is my new pattern called the Trellis Stripe, and is a very simple combination of small stacked shells (representing the climbing sweet pea flowers) and neat lines of trebles (representing the trellis). The pattern was inspired by my allotment sweet peas (in the photo below), which I grew up a rather rustic, cobbled together trellis made out of bamboo canes and string.

My home made trellis looked a bit messy and rather flimsy, but it worked a treat and managed to last through the whole of the summer until a storm swept through in October and blew the whole lot to the ground.

This stitch pattern is a doddle to work, and I've designed it especially with beginner crocheters in mind. Once you've worked the first two set-up rows, every row is the same and uses only one stitch (a UK treble crochet / US double crochet), making the pattern easy to memorise and hook. These breezy treble rows are relaxing, fast and highly addictive, and the resulting crochet fabric is soft and lightly textured. It also has the advantage of looking the same on both sides (so there isn't really a right and wrong side) and having straight edges (no lumps or bumps to try and hide). I'm so happy with it!

I'll be sharing the pattern here on my blog at the start of the CAL on Friday 4th January. I'll also be making my usual photo-heavy tutorial to give you step by step guidance for working the Trellis Stripe. I hope you like it as much as I do.

During the past few months I've spent a long time working with the sweet pea colours and playing with different stripe variations. I've made sooooooooo many samples (including a third of a whole blanket which I had to abandon when it just didn't feel right), and after much deliberation I've come up with two different stripe options. I'll be telling you more about this when the CAL begins in January - they are both extremely lovely, and I can't wait to show you more.

Sadly, sweet pea season is over now in the Northern hemisphere, and I admit to being rather jealous when I hear about those of you on the other side of the world just beginning to look forward to your flowers blooming. I've got oodles of photos to refer to though, and of course my bag of yarn which is like sweet pea summer heaven.

I'm so excited to begin on the Sweet Pea blanket journey - it'll be like having a soft wave of summer to carry us through the cold grey months of winter, oh I can't wait!!!!

❧🌸SWEET PEA YARN PACK🌸❧

Those of you who've joined in with my Crochet-A-Longs in previous years will know that alongside my yarn colours, there is often something sticky to share with you too.......................

............I'm talking about planner stickers!!!!!!!! Yippeeeee for pretty sticky things!!!! My lovely friend Rachel of EllieBethDesignsUK has designed the most beautiful sticker sheet to help you plan and celebrate the Sweet Pea CAL. There are countdown stickers and stickers for the weekly installments as well as lots of crochet and floral pretties.

Even the stripes down the left hand side are a big long sticker too (like beautiful washi tape), and oh the colours are just perfect and totally sweet-pea-ish. If you don't have a planner, you can use these stickers on a calendar or in a diary.

You can find this lovely sheet of Sweet Pea stickers online {here}

Rachel is also a crocheter herself, and is part of a fabulous online community who are known as #plannerswhohook !! To celebrate this, Rachel has created a special edition "Big Book of Stickerating" dedicated to crochet and yarn - trust me when I say it is FABuLouS!!!! The book contains six sheets of colourful stickers - you can see lots more pictures online {here}

If you fancy treating yourself or buying as gifts for hooky sticker-loving friends, you can use the code SWEETPEA at the checkout and receive 15% discount off all planner stickers. All planner stickers can be found at ElliebethDeisgnsUK.

*discount code is one use per person.



❧🌸SWEET PEA YARN PACK🌸❧

I am absolutely smitten with these yarn colours and the way they look all together, and I'm so so excited for the blanket to begin. Just a reminder that there is no need to sign up for this CAL - it's all very relaxed here in the Attic so all you need to do is gather your yarn together and join in when the pattern is released in the New Year.

I'll be writing more about the CAL a little closer to the time (just over five weeks until the CAL starts), but here is a quick round-up of information for you :

♥ The Attic24 SWEET PEA CAL will will run for 8 weeks in total, beginning on Friday 4th January - that'll be the day when the pattern will be published here on my blog and I'll give you all the information you need to get started. I'll then give weekly updates every Friday throughout January and February 2019 so that we can make the most of weekend hooky time.

♥ There will be a full picture tutorial here on my blog for the new Trellis Stripe pattern. Each week I'll share the colour stripe order for the two different versions of the Sweet Pea blanket I'm making.

♥ The SWEET PEA YARN PACK contains 15 x 100g balls of Stylecraft Special DK and is enough to make one blanket/throw. There is no printed pattern included in this pack, all pattern info will be here on my blog, with updates every Friday throughout January and February 2019.

♥ The Sweet Pea blanket will measure approx. 120cm x 175cm. You will need two packs if you wish to make a larger/double bed size blanket. I'll give starting chain/pattern guidance for those of you wishing to make larger (or smaller) blankets.

I really hope these colours inspire you to create a beautiful blanket for your home or to give to someone special.

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ps a note about my yarn packs - I am thrilled to be working with Wool Warehouse who do an absolutely amazing job of enabling crocheters all over the world to join me in my ongoing colourful blanket making. I earn a commission on all the Attic24 yarn packs sold through Wool Warehouse, and I am truly grateful to everyone who supports me in this way. Thank you so much. xxx

EDIT TO ADD >> Wednesday >> Thank you so so much to everyone who bought a Sweet Pea yarn pack yesterday, I am so happy to have you join me on this colourful blanket journey in January.

Yarn packs all sold out within 6 hours yesterday which was a total surprise and unprecedented. More yarn is on its way and will be in the shop again by Friday. You can sign up on the Wool Warehouse website (on the sweet pea yarn page) for an email notification and as soon as the new packs are available you'll know. Thank you so much xxx