This post documents my progress during the Winter Wonderland Mosaic CAL. While the CAL has long since ended, I have kept these posts as a record of the project. For an overview of the blanket, yarn information, colour placement guides and related resources, please visit my main Winter Wonderland article.
This post documents my progress during the Winter Wonderland Mosaic CAL. While the CAL has long since ended, I have kept these posts as a record of the project. For an overview of the blanket, yarn information, colour placement guides and related resources, please visit my main Winter Wonderland article.
Part 6 is the final part of the Winter Wonderland CAL and includes the instructions for the border.
As usual, the border will be a double border to hide all the yarn ends.
I know that a lot of people don’t like the double border. If you’re one of them, you can of course choose a different option. Personally, I love double borders. In my opinion, they’re the most beautiful finish for a mosaic blanket. They might be a bit more time-consuming, perhaps, but they give the blanket a neat look and a lovely drape.
Unfortunately, I had a bit of trouble with my round of slip stitches this time. My border was meant to be two-tone: the back layer in Lipstick and the front layer in Graphite with a strip of Lipstick. So I thought a round of slip stitches in red would look nice. I started the round, but I just couldn’t manage to get it to look neat.
I suspect my Lipstick yarn was just a little thicker. After the third attempt, I gave up and changed to Silver.
From then on, everything went smoothly. Until I’d finished the first round of the front layer. Ana’s method of crocheting a double border leaves a narrow line of slip stitches visible right next to the border. The silver thread looked good in combination with the grey sections at the top and bottom of the blanket, but I didn’t like the look of it at all in the darker areas at the sides. So I started again from the beginning and simply crocheted through both loops along the long sides.
If you’re following my colour scheme, I’d recommend using Lipstick, Grey or Graphite for the slip stitches. Silver and White are particularly hard to see on both sides.
My colour placement Part 6
Have fun with this last section of this beautiful pattern 💕
This post documents my progress during the Winter Wonderland Mosaic CAL. While the CAL has long since ended, I have kept these posts as a record of the project. For an overview of the blanket, yarn information, colour placement guides and related resources, please visit my main Winter Wonderland article.
We’ve now reached week 5 of the Winter Wonderland CAL. This is the final section before the border.
As I mentioned in my post on Part 2 of the CAL, I had a few time-related issues with this test. Sometimes there’s just so much going on in everyday life. We had some urgent work to do on the house that couldn’t be put off.
To ensure I could still finish the test on time, I decided, in consultation with Ana, to put my blanket on hold for the time being. Starting with Pattern 11 in Part 4 of the CAL, I tested the instructions on a separate piece. A small swatch covering just 2 repeats. That was much quicker, but served the same purpose.
I just used a few bits of leftover yarn that I still had lying around in my basket. I hadn’t really paid much attention to the colours at the time. Still, when I’d finished, I actually really liked the combination.
It’s completely different from my blanket – a bit of a rustic look – but it’s lovely too. What do you think?
Stylecraft Special DK in Parchment and Mocha combined with King Cole Comfort DK in the colour Stonewash.
After that, I was finally able to finish my blanket in peace. And this is what Part 5 looks like in my ‘usual’ colours.
This post documents my progress during the Winter Wonderland Mosaic CAL. While the CAL has long since ended, I have kept these posts as a record of the project. For an overview of the blanket, yarn information, colour placement guides and related resources, please visit my main Winter Wonderland article.
Week 4 of the Winter Wonderland CAL is here. Time for snowmen!
But first, I’d like to list
My final yarn amounts
I listed the approximate amounts of yarn last week, whilst I was still working on the border. Here now a few more details, including the left overs.
I needed a total of 13 balls of Stylecraft Special DK and used 1.044 g / 3.080 m of it. That’s almost exactly the same amount as Ana used for her blanket.
My colour choices Part 4
To be honest, I found it a bit tricky choosing the colours for this part.
As Graphite and Lipstick, which I used in Pattern 8, are relatively dark colours, I thought the blanket could do with something a bit lighter again. That’s why I chose a combination of the colours White and Silver for the section with the snowmen.
But once I’d finished their bodies and started on their heads, I wasn’t so sure anymore whether that had really been such a good choice. They looked a bit plump and pale.
Do you get what I mean?
Unfortunately, time is usually a major factor when testing a pattern. You have to think carefully about whether or not to rip back 15 rows. And as long as there isn’t a mistake that inevitably catches your eye, you usually leave it as it is. And that’s what I did this time too, even though I wasn’t entirely happy with it.
So I was all the more pleased when I noticed that Ana had created this little ‘fun touch’! Little ‘shawls’ to dress the snowmen. They really do work wonders, don‘t they?
I made eight little shawls in Graphite and one in Lipstick. The red shawl is being worn by Snowman No. 3 (the third from the right). Each scarf is crocheted from 40 chain stitches and I think they’re just the right length.
This post documents my progress during the Winter Wonderland Mosaic CAL. While the CAL has long since ended, I have kept these posts as a record of the project. For an overview of the blanket, yarn information, colour placement guides and related resources, please visit my main Winter Wonderland article.
Oh wow, it is already week 3 of the Winter Wonderland CAL
Fortunately, my blanket is almost finished now – I’m currently working on the border. Next week I’ll be able to tell you exactly how much yarn I’ve used in total, how much is left, and so on.
I was actually a bit sad when – after all these weeks – I’d crocheted the last stitch of the blanket section and cut the last thread! Such a beautiful pattern – I had so much fun testing it. OK, I know I say that a lot! But this time, for the first time ever, I’m 100 per cent happy with my choice of colours. That makes it something really special for me!
This post documents my progress during the Winter Wonderland Mosaic CAL. While the CAL has long since ended, I have kept these posts as a record of the project. For an overview of the blanket, yarn information, colour placement guides and related resources, please visit my main Winter Wonderland article.
I’d really been hoping the weather here would improve, but this year it’s a typical November. Cold, grey, rainy and foggy. Actually, after finishing Part 2 of the Winter Wonderland CAL, I’d completely forgotten to take some nice photos. I wanted to make up for it now, but unfortunately. the weather and lighting aren’t on my side – what a shame! Now, unfortunately, the photos I already have have to suffice.
I’m currently working on the last twenty rows of the blanket body. Phew! I don’t think this has ever happened to me before – that a pattern has already been published, but I haven’t finished my test project yet. But sometimes, unfortunately, life gets in the way! I’m really glad that I was at least able to finish the test in advance by crocheting a small sample – just over two repeats – of the final section. For this, I simply used some yarn from my stash. I really must take a photo to show you – it’s a completely different look, but the colours look great too
Yarn Update
As I’m now almost finished with the blanket, I have a better idea of how much yarn I’ll need in total.
For the blanket it will be
4 balls White
2 balls Silver
2 balls Grey
2 balls Graphite
1 ball Lipstick
For the border I will need an extra ball Lipstick and probably one more Graphite.
This post documents my progress during the Winter Wonderland Mosaic CAL. While the CAL has long since ended, I have kept these posts as a record of the project. For an overview of the blanket, yarn information, colour placement guides and related resources, please visit my main Winter Wonderland article.
Winter Wonderland, the new CAL by Ana Morais Soares / One Skein of Love has started today. Are you ready?
As promised, I’ll be listing my row-by-row colour placement here on the blog. You’ll find my notes at the end of this post.
My yarn and colours
For my blanket, I used Stylecraft Special DK in the colours White, Silver, Grey, Graphite and Lipstick.
Although the pattern has now been fully tested, I’m unfortunately still working on my own version. So I can’t give any details on the total amount of yarn required just yet. I’ll keep you updated as soon as possible.
This is how my blanket looked like after finishing Part 1. Aren‘t these reindeer cute?
My colour placement Part 1
I hope you will enjoy this pattern as much as I did.
I originally published this post at the beginning of November 2021, shortly before the Winter Wonderland Mosaic CAL started.
Besides initial information about the CAL, I also shared an early look at my own blanket and the colour palette I had chosen for it. Unfortunately, my blanket was not completed at this time, so I could only give rough estimates of the amount of yarn I needed.
Meanwhile, the CAL has long been over and this post has become somewhat outdated over the years. So I updated the article to give it a new structure and to summarise all the information that is still relevant today.
Winter Wonderland Mosaic
Winter Wonderland is still one of my favourite blanket projects and has remained one of the most popular colour combinations I’ve shared on the blog.
The blanket was designed by Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love and hosted as a crochet-along in her Facebook group in November and December 2021.
The design features fourteen winter- and Christmas-inspired overlay mosaic patterns.
Winter Wonderland – sneak peek
Back in 2021 I was part of Ana’s testing team and I’m still happy that I was able to be part of the creative process.
Yarn and colours
Ana’s original design uses Hobbii Winter Glow in different shades of green combined with a plain cream yarn. Winter Glow is a wool / acrylic blend and classified as a #4 yarn weight (Aran / worsted weight). It is a variegated yarn that has a loosely spun structure with small irregularities in thickness. This gives her blanket not only beautiful colour variations but also an interesting texture.
I decided to crochet my version in Stylecraft Special DK using a completely different colour scheme.
I received a lot of lovely comments about this colour palette and I am still grateful for all the love and enthusiasm you have shown to my colour choice!
I found the inspiration for it in a beautiful mood board created by Pippin Poppycock.
Yarn amounts
Unlike when I first published this post in November 2021, I can now provide precise yarn amounts I needed. You will find all the details in this post
Furthermore, after I posted my blanket – which was still a work in progress – in several Facebook groups in 2021, I was often asked how much yarn one would need to crochet the blanket in a different yarn weight. These questions were the reason I decided to write this post
In this article I am talking about my personal journey when it comes to yarn substitution. And it also might help you to calculate the amount of yarn you’ll need when substituting one yarn for another.
Colour placement guide
If you’d like to recreate my version of the Winter Wonderland blanket you can easily use my complete row-by-row colour placement guide. You can download a pdf-file at the end of this post.
You’ll also find a colour placement list for each individual CAL part in the follow-up posts. Or feel free to use my colour placement guide as inspiration for your own colour palette.
Get the colour placement guide
Download my row-by-row colour placement guide for the Winter Wonderland blanket.
