A few years ago, I stumbled across the most heavenly image on Pinterest. From the moment my eyes lay upon it, I was deeply in love. It was the most gorgeous blanket I think I had ever seen. It ticked every box for me. The colour, the texture, everything about it was simply gorgeous. I clicked on the link and it led me here.......to what I found to be one of the most gorgeous blogs. Completely new to me, I drank in every post and marveled at the use of colour, and just wanted to jump and shout to Haafner how utterly wonderful I thought her blog and her work was (without sounding too much like a nut job!). Haafner has become a lovely blogging friend over the past few years, and I always vowed to make the blanket I had fallen in love with. Haafner, had very kindly put up a post on how to make the very gorgeous blanket here. Isn't it really gorgeous? Maybe a lot of you know Haafner's blog, and indeed know this blanket. It has been on my 'T0 D0' list for quite a while. It's always the way though, that with the blankets I think I want to take my time with, I take the longest to work out what I want to make it in etc. I simply adored Haafner's colour scheme of pink and brown. Two of my favourite shades together, but I wanted to not stalk her blanket and her colours too, so I thought long and hard and settled on a natural for the main part. That was, until I saw some lovely brown yarn at my local craft shop, and I sort of knew there and then that it was destined to be for this blanket. So, with the main part being brown, I thought the edging should perhaps be a neutral/oatmeal shade. That was my plan. I wasn't sure at the beginning which room this blanket would end up in......my bedroom or in the living room. I decided that perhaps the bedroom would be nice if it was going to be large. The popcorn stitch makes for such a textural blanket and I thought it would look really nice on a bed.....and I love layers and texture on a bed. I had been searching for a particular type of bedding in a particular shade of pink, and came across it in Zara..... (Image copyright of Zara Home) I thought the brown would go so nicely with the pink linen, so my mind was made up. I had also bought a few balls of some gorgeous barely there pink. I had been itching to make a throw with it, but wasn't sure on a pattern. I'm still not, but I saw that the pink of the bedding was very similar to the pink of the yarn ball, so I changed my mind with the natural border and went for the pink instead. To make a bit of a contrast, I then edged with an oatmeal/ochre shade. I have LOVED making this blanket. From start to finish I have totally loved it. I made a big blanket. I don't know why I end up making big blankets. I think maybe, because they really do get used in my house, and quite a few tend to snuggle under them in one go. The pattern was so yummy, and such a joy to work on and I have to give Haafner the biggest squishiest hug for making such an awesome tutorial. It is gorgeous, and very touchy feely. It could probably do with a bit of blocking to make the squares blend together a bit more seamlessly, but I'm thinking maybe the heavy weight of it may well do that, and when it's being used and pulled about! I'm all about the lazy here!!!!!! Okay, so a few facts about it: I made 30 squares (each taking an hour and 15 mins to make). I used DK weight yarn and used a total of 16 and a little bit 100g balls, using a 4mm hook. The brown yarn was WI Premium Acrylic yarn bought from Hobbycraft (£2.20 a ball and currently 3 for 2). The pink edging was made using Sirdar's Cotton Rich Aran in shade 'Blush' (just over 100g). The final edging was made using Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in 'Amber' (about 30g). This blanket is heavy....and incredibly warm to snuggle under, so I'm guessing it will be fab for winter nights. It has occurred to me, that I made a scarf in shades just like this here which was inspiration from this image here Maybe these colour combinations are ones I am subconsciously drawn to. So there you have it, The Popcorn Blanket by Haafner. Haafner, it is everything I thought it would be. I have truly loved working on it these past few weeks. It feels amazing, we all cannot stop touching it, and the Bear's really love it too! Thank you so much for this tutorial and pattern, it really is awesome! Haafner makes the most beautiful blankets. Check out her most recent one on her blog here. It's gorgeous and swoon worthy. Right, I am off to go make a creamy coffee and snuggle under said blanket with Baby Bear. Cheerio xxx
