The Fruit Garden Crocheted Blanket by Janie Crow

This gorgeous blanket was inspired by May Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement, and is a wonderful challenge project for intermediate and advanced crocheters. Janie has a real knack for writing complicated patterns like this in such a straightforward, easy to understand way- which accompanied with the detailed photography in the book makes this project way more achievable than it may look.

This book began as a crochet along, and really benefits from that formatting. The book takes you through 10 stages, starting with the simplest flower so you learn as you go, while reading Janie's notes on her creative process, The Arts and Crafts Movement, and the flowers themselves. 

The blanket is shown in four colourways by four fantastic crocheters all over the world. Every blanket is made from different yarns and fibres, so going with your heart is the important thing with this project. As blankets aren't frequently washed you can even mix fibres more than you usually might do to get your perfect colourway.

We don't stock any of the yarns in the originals, but to get you started on your own unique blanket we recommend:

King Cole Pricewise DK - our basic acrylic with the largest range of colours in the shop. 

King Cole Majestic DK - A great wool/acrylic blend made with colourwork in mind.

King Cole Luxury Merino DK and King Cole Merino Blend DK - Going with 100% wool yarn will be pricy for a full blanket, but it will leave a warm, long lasting heritage piece.

King Cole Cottonsoft DK - Cotton gives great stitch definition, so all your work will really be on display.

All of these large ranges can be supplemented with our smaller ranges of solid colour yarns. We'd avoid self stripers and flecks as the colours are worked in such small individual sections that it wouldn't scan as well. 

As there are different colourways in different yarns in the book, there are a couple of hook size recommendations. For all the yarns we've suggested, we'd go with 3mm and 4mm. There is the option of 3.5mm and 4.5mm`, which will make the work slightly looser, making it easier to work with but a floppier final piece.