A stripe a day, keeps the grannies away!

Hello Lovelies!! Hope your all having a colourful weekend?!
Look at what the post man delivered earlier in the week!

17 scrummy balls of Stylecraft DK!! I ordered it from Masons last week and was very surprised to have it delivered three days later!!! VERY SPEEDY INDEED!!!
I love to order these Stylecraft assorted packs. Not only are they full of great colours, but they are also amazing value! This bundle of 17 different colours cost me only £25.50 (plus postage), If that isn't a bargain I don't know what is?!

Now I don't want to sound like a 'Yarn Snob', but I don't usually go for acrylic yarns.
My favourite yarns include a nice Cashmere or Merino, so soft and snuggly. The problem with always using fancy yarn.... is the price. It's soooo damn expensive.
So when the budget is a little tight, I find myself looking for cheaper alternatives. Acrylic yarn tends to tick the boxes in terms of price.
The problem I have with SOME acrylic yarns is that quite often  I find them to be just a little too plasticy for my liking. I want my yarn to feel luxuriously soft and not scrunchy and cheap.
For me Stylecraft fits the medium perfectly. Its great value but it doesn't feel like I've dropped down in quality. Its feels lovely and soft. There is such large selection of colours that you can't help but be drawn to it.
This is why I've used Stylecraft for many projects, Its acrylic that doesn't feel like acrylic. Look how wonderfully colourful it is when worked up!:

I ordered my Stylecraft with the intention of making another Granny Stripe Blanket (using the Attic24 pattern). A colleague of mine (Dani) had seen my crochet work and was so smitten with the Granny Stripe, that she asked me to make her one. I'm not usually so keen on making items for people when they know about it. I feel under pressure to get the project finished fast. Instead I like to make a project secretly and give it as a surprise, that way I'm under no obligation to get the project finished by a certain time.
This was different, It was for Dani!
Dani works at the theatre and is part of the wigs and make-up department. She is such a lovely woman! Always has a smile on her face and is so fun and crazy.
Dani and I help each other with our language learning. She speaks to me in English and I'll correct her when she gets stuck. Then she does the same for me in German, it's a win win Situation!
So of course when Dani asked me for a bright (like her personality) blanket, I got straight to work.

Dennis and I have both made granny stripes before. I made mine with Merino the first time around:

Dennis made his with the Stylecraft pack:

As I've just bought the Stylecraft pack, I'm going for a Granny Stripe similar to Dennis'.
Dani told me that there is no rush for the blanket so I'm making this a sideline project. A project that I'm always working on, but that doesn't always have to be my main focus. I hope that this way I won't get bored of it and will have time to work on other projects. :-)

With that in mind I've decided to do just one stripe a day. A stripe is taking only about 20 minutes to complete, so I should be able to fit easily one per day.

With the amount of stripes I'm hoping this blanket will be finished around early September. I'm thinking that's perfect! It will be finished in time for Autumn. So Dani will have a bright and gorgeous blanket to snuggle in during the cold Autumn and Winter months. I cant wait to give it to her!!

There we have it!! Day seven and I'm mid row on my 7th stripe. I'm giving the random colour approach a try, let's see how that turns out!

Have a glorious Sunday!!
Matt xxx

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