Crochet: Sky Blanket 2016

I've been crocheting up a storm since the beginning of this year and it's fair to say that I have the bug! I also have a stash of yarn to rival Deramores or Wool Warehouse; it was just last week that my sister spotted my hidden stash in the boot of the car, and threatened to stage a 'yarn-tervention' if I didn't cool down! I can't help it, I like the soft squishyness of a new ball of yarn, the textures and colours, and it ends up as something even more pretty and useful: win-win as far as I'm concerned.

Earlier in the Spring, I shared a photograph on Instagram of a long-term big project that I'd started which involved me creating a sea-wave blanket in a variety of tones of blues, greens and general aqua. It was at this point that Aly from bug, bird and me mentioned it reminded her of a year-long sky blanket project. Another bloggers (Tiddly Om Pom Pom) enthused over the idea and together we settled on starting it in 2016.

Last week, we restarted the conversation and #SkyBlanket2016 was born!

The idea is that a row of a blanket is done in a shade to reflect the colour the sky was that day, every day for a year. By the end of the project, the blanket will be 366 rows long (leap year in 2016) and there will be a huge variety of greys and blues worked throughout.

I've decided that I will change the time of day in which I record the sky for two reasons; I work part-time so have different times of days to work on it, plus the Winter skies can be quite bleary and bleak during daylight hours. For that reason, my blanket will also include peaches, yellows, lilacs and pinks to reflect sunrises and sunsets. In addition to this, my fingers are itching to record the night sky with some beautiful variegated yarn in different dark shades of navy, purple and teal, they're almost black in tone, but also have silver woven throughout which will depict stars beautifully.

Other plans I have:

• using Attic 24's Cosy Stripe pattern which will be more interesting to do than a straightforward ripple, or triple stitch blanket. I may not stick to this religiously, but interweave her pattern with other stitch ideas that I spot;
• appliqué crocheted symbols that would appear in the sky like rainbows, clouds, raindrops, sun, stars, snowflakes, falling leaves, kites, etc. to add more of a story to the overall blanket. Hopefully this should make it easier to spot which section was from which season;
• embroider on names of my family to mark their birthdays.

During our discussions, we've discovered that quite a few other crafty folks would like to join in on the project as well, so we have created a Facebook page and group to discuss and celebrate each other's achievements. We'd love it if you'd join in!

So how does it work?

• Decide on a design (crochet, knitting, quilting?)
• Gather yarn
• Start on 1st January 2016
• Use social media or your blog to share your progress (we'll be blogging monthly with a linky so we can visit other people's progress) with the hashtag #skyblanket2016
• Follow our Facebook page and Instagram account for progress. You may also want to follow our three Instagram accounts to see our individual work: bugbirdbee, theboyandme and youlittlesewandsew.

Looking forward to seeing your blankets taking shape, here are some of my Pinterest inspirations to get me going!