In the Clouds Blanket and YARN Bookazine, Issue 16: Shimmerland

Scheepjes Yarns has recently released their latest issue of YARN bookazine, Issue 16: Shimmerland, and I am so excited to finally share that this issue includes a contribution from me, the “In the Clouds Blanket”!

“A soft blanket is essential for whisking babies off to dreamland, with texture and colour fascinating little fingers and minds. Motifs in several shades display a multitude of gradual colour changes, joined with elegant, neutral columns in pure Organic Cotton yarn.” – From the Scheepjes Website

Project Details

• Measurements: 127 X 165CM (50 X 65in) after blocking
• Gauge/Tension Motif 1 measures 21x9cm using a 3.5mm hook
• Skill Level: Medium

Related Links

• Visit the Scheepjes Website
• Visit the Ravelry page for this piece and add it to your queue.
• The Ravelry page for the issue – to see all the wonderful projects!

The Shimmerland YARN Bookazine is available from Jimmy Beans Wool* as well as other Scheepjes retailers.

* Shopping through these affiliate links will gain me a small commission to support my design work at no additional cost to you. Thank You!

---

---

The Yarn

The “In The Clouds Blanket” Blanket uses four Scheepjes Whirl from the ombre Ombré Collection and Scheepjes Organicon for the joining. Each Whirl gradually and softly changes from the deepest to lightest shade.   

Scheepjes Whirl (60% Cotton, 40% Acrylic; 215g/1000m)

• Yarn A: 559 Turquoise Turntable – Ombré Collection x 1 yarn cake
• Yarn B: 553 Indigo Plane – Ombré Collection x 1 yarn cake
• Yarn C: 555 Forbidden Fushsia  – Ombré Collection x 1 yarn cake
• Yarn D: 557 Coral Catastrophe – Ombré Collection x 1 yarn cake

Scheepjes Organicon (100% Organic Soft Cotton; 50g/170m)

• 202 Soft Cloud x 10 balls

I don’t have any affiliate links set up, so I am going to encourage you to visit another designer you enjoy and click on their link before purchasing your yarn. This doesn’t change the cost of your yarn and it supports the designer, a few of my favorite designers are Cypress Textiles, Lilla Bjorn Crochet, and Look What I Made. These links all lead to pages with links to shops that sell Scheejpes Whirl.

Inspiration: Surreal Flamingos in the Clouds

Before I started designing this blanket, I was given a mood board that had several beautiful dreamy and surreal images. The image that caught my eye the most was “Flamingo Cloud” by Ted Chen.  The colors of the blanket were taken from the sea and the sky and the flamingo and the sunset. 

I think flamingos are such unique looking birds. I took a lot of inspiration from the curves and shapes they form.

(Below: a photograph by my husband of flamingos we saw at a zoo)

Work in Progress

I wanted to create a very flowing design, so I started by drawing up the shape of the motifs and how I wanted to join to work. To create a dreamy impressionistic effect the gradients from each Whirl would be overlapping and blending into each other. 

The focus of the blanket is the flow of the shapes and the colors, so I kept the Motifs relatively simple with a little bit of texture. 

Watching the colors of the Whirl change when making the motifs was very satisfying and I found myself constantly wanting to make “just one more” to get to that next color change. 

I kept my motifs organized on giant safety pins and later by tying ribbons though the chain space on either end of the motif.   

To achieve the overlapping gradients, I labeled each motif, made a grid with yarn on my rug and started tossing the motifs into to the general area that I wanted them to be.  Then I straightened them all out into the grid, rearranged a few more and wrote it all down. The pattern comes with a schematic of this layout with each motif by number and yarn letter.

The blanket is joined together in columns, I used my oversized safety pins again to keep the columns organized while I was joining.

When joining was completed I felt like the pointed ended needed just a little bit more weight to them and tassels just felt right. 

Here is a not particularly glamorous photograph of the completed blanket on my rug.

And a couple more photos of the blanket thrown over my couch and rocker with my children’s flamingo toy for fun.  

I am very pleased with how this pattern turned out and hope you enjoy it too. 

In The Clouds Blanket

“A soft blanket is essential for whisking babies off to dreamland, with texture and colour fascinating little fingers and minds. Motifs in several shades display a multitude of gradual colour changes, joined with elegant, neutral columns in pure Organic Cotton yarn.” – From the Scheepjes Website

Project Details

• Measurements: 127 X 165CM (50 X 65in) after blocking
• Gauge/Tension Motif 1 measures 21x9cm using a 3.5mm hook
• Skill Level: Medium

Related Links

• Visit the Scheepjes Website
• Visit the Ravelry page for this piece and add it to your queue.
• The Ravelry page for the issue – to see all the wonderful projects!

… and a few more photos from Scheepjes because they are just so pretty.