I'm not generally a fan of mystery yarn clubs. But I decided to treat myself to the Color Theory Club from Six and Seven Fiber in late 2020 because my husband was deploying to Lithuania. We expected him to be gone for about nine months and it just seemed like it would be a good idea to have something luxurious to look forward to every month! And boy did I.
THIS is the Inflections of Color Blanket! And it is SO scrumptious!
Just look at all those yummy leftovers, too! Perfect for a Specklewerk Cowl or two, I think! ;)
Blankets have a tendency to languish unfinished for years in this house. I actually only recently assembled the squares I started making when I first relearned how to crochet back in... 2006, maybe? Oh yes, that thing has been in progress for for 15 years! And it's still not actually finished because I want to add an edging to finish it off. But at least it's functional! Sure it's smaller than it was supposed to be, but that's better than collecting dust in pieces, right?
By the by, you can find written instructions and pictures for my braided join method as a publicly available post on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/posts/braided-join-59096369. I still need to film a video tutorial for it and share it here on my website, too!
THIS blanket, though, I kept up with. Not necessarily month-by-month on top of it, but pretty close! It would take about eight crocheting hours to do one section with one month's yarn shipment. That seemed totally reasonable to work into an entire 30 day period! And it was so much fun watching the colors, shift, too.
See, I got on board with this mystery yarn club because I knew that it was going to be shifting through rainbow colors. (And my kid loves rainbow colors.) The accompanying mini skeins were a surprise each month, but I knew enough about the color palette up front that nothing was ever like, "Ew," or "Hmm, I don't know how I feel about this," or anything like that. It was an absolute JOY to open those packages each month and add to this blanket!
Rachel of Six and Seven Fiber has an incredible gift for creating gorgeous palettes with her yarn so if you're ever looking for a yarn club, I highly recommend considering one of hers! Here's what she's currently offering: https://sixandsevenfiber.com/collections/yarn-club
This club included one full size skein and two mini skeins of complementary or contrasting colors that explored relationships between colors including analogous, triadic, split-complementary, and monochromatic. It was such an adventure!
If you're interested in reading a bit more about color, here are a couple links for you:
https://library.si.edu/exhibition/color-in-a-new-light/science (This is where Inflections came from for the pattern name!)
http://www.nicolejonessturk.com/blog/2018/2/6/beyond-basic-color-theoryfour-things-more-important-than-the-color-wheel (This one is a great tool for building your own color palette.)
Of course, you can use this idea to explore color theory through your OWN stash, but this blanket is wonderfully versatile - and yeah, definitely a great stashbuster! I'd love to see this worked up with black and white as the contrasting colors in each segment. You could stick to the rainbow theme or do a fade or even choose a bunch of different shades of the same color!
As for stashbusting, you could go about a million different ways with this. I like doing color fades when I'm mixing yarn weights because it gives it a more cohesive look, but you could also go for a grab bag system if you're super brave! You can simplify this down to just the two row pattern repeat without working in segments, too. Work with one color until you run out and then add in the next! You could even try marling!
Let's have a look at some of my pattern testers' projects for a little inspiration, shall we?
Aren't they fabulous!? Many, many thanks to all of my amazing pattern testers, including Kim Miller, DreasCrochet, Toni Dufficy, Louisa Saunders, and Keinaphels, as well as to my tech editor Catherine Whelan - they are absolutely invaluable, all of them!
And now that I've meandered all over the place (sorry about that, I get excited!), let's have a closer look at some of the pattern details.
The basketweave texture of the post stitches in this design is simple enough to be meditative while still being interesting enough to keep you engaged—especially with the color changes! Which are, by the way, much easier than they look because they are simply stripes worked with the 3-color change technique, carrying the colors up the sides of your work to minimize ends.
The pattern itself features a color-coded symbol chart, a link to a video tutorial, as well as a detailed size chart ranging from 24” (61 cm) x 30” (76 cm) to 120” (305 cm) x 78” (198 cm) with additional information on further modifications to include width up to 118” (300 cm).
STITCHES & TECHNIQUES:
Foundation double crochet (optional)
Half double crochet
Double crochet
Post stitches
Color changes
GAUGE:
Approximately 27 sts and 20 rows in pattern = 4” (10 cm). One full Segment (Rows 1–20) before blocking should measure approximately 4” (10 cm) deep.
Finished blanket before blocking measured 46” (117 cm) wide by 48” (122 cm) long.
After wet blocking it measured approximately 48" (122 cm) wide by 52" (132 cm) long.
SUGGESTED MATERIALS:
MC: Alfalfa by Six and Seven Fiber, heavy fingering weight (1: super fine) yarn, 80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon, 12 skeins
CC: Milo Minis by Six and Seven Fiber (20 g, 87 yds 80 m), fingering weight (1: super fine) yarn, 75% superwash merino and 25% nylon, 24 skeins
D/3 (3.25mm crochet hook; C/2 (2.75 mm) hook optional for Row 1
stitch marker(s)
scissors
darning needle
Have you already started imagining all of the possibilities!? I couldn't be more excited to see what you create with this pattern! I think you're going to fall in love just like I did! And some of my testers, too!! I think we all had fun working on this one.
So go grab your copy either in my Ravelry Shop or over on Etsy, tag me on socials @crochetcetera with #inflectionsofcolorblanket with a first look at your color palette, and dive in! If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to reach out. You can comment right here, contact me via email, or pop on into the Facebook Group to share and ask for input. We'd love to help you choose colors!!
Happy crocheting!
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