I have been waiting for this pattern to be released for some time and now that it is, I ordered it by post and it arrived next day.

I have raided the craft room and have come up with all of my most colourful yarn. Using Stylecraft Special D.K. Woolcraft New Fashion and Sirdar Bonus D.k.

Nice and easy to make, but I can’t manage to do the “random” thing, the pattern suggests that you get two opaque bags to put your yarn in and choose the colours blind. I just can’t bring myself do that, I am too much of a control freak. Up-date, I have crocheted a starter granny square in every colour I am using for this blanket and I am going to put them in a bag and try the random thing. I seem to always go for the same colour combinations, so this may give me some more unpredictable colour-ways and I can use the mini grannies to start my next granny blanket.

To keep track of the numerous lanterns, I have been pinning them to my blocking board, so I can try to keep colour distribution as even as possible.

After a shaky start and after my granddaughter Annabel helped me eliminate a couple of colours that didn’t play well together, I am quite enjoying making this blanket and each lantern is my new favourite:)

I have been pleasantly surprised with the random choosing of colours and have some very bright lanterns as a result, using colours together that I would not normally go for, although on some I have used the best of 3 rule, as some of my colours are very close in shade.

I am going to start to join the strips next, I think I will clear my large dining table and put them all on there to get an even distribution of colours.

I have joined all of the strips, boy that was a marathon. I tried not to put the same coloured centre and outer rounds together. It was a bit mind-bending at times, but I think I have managed it on the whole.

My wrist hurts after a weekend of sc. I have blocked the blanket before putting the borders on the top and bottom. It looked a little long and narrow, but now that I have stretched the lanterns out a bit, it looks fine, thank goodness. I didn’t want to make any more lanterns.

I am glad to have nearly finished and don’t think I will make another one anytime soon, but maybe in the future if I can adapt it to join as you go, I didn’t like joining the strips.

I joined my blanket with white sc and I think it gives a nice effect from the back, making it a reversible blanket, bonus:)

If I make this again I think I would join on the diagonal to eliminate the half motifs. See here for example. Rhianon has done a smashing job.