The Story Behind My Wildflower Blanket

Hello, Subscriber First Name,

This past week, someone asked me what my wildflower blanket will look like. Before I knew it, we were talking about the inspiration behind it, too, which is actually a really fun story. Her question reminded me that it’s been a few years since I told that story here, and many of you have subscribed since then. I’m guessing you might want to hear it, too!

My wildflower blanket was inspired by the California super blooms of 2017 and 2019. While it’s tough to find a singular definition of a super bloom, the term is popularly used to describe large-scale blooms of annual wildflowers following years of above-average precipitation. Some super blooms have been so widespread that they could even be seen from space!

The wildflowers at Carrizo Plain National Monument west of Bakersfield were particularly awe-inspiring. I’ve never witnessed this wildflower display in person, but the photographs I’ve seen are breathtaking. In fact, the California Bureau of Land Management has an amazing collection of photographs capturing these super bloom events. Here are a few of my favorites. (Each was taken by Bob Wick, BLM Wilderness Specialist and Photographer.)

If you have a moment and want to take a virtual tour of Carrizo Plain National Monument, I encourage you to check out the full album on Flickr: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjwT65JM. It does a wonderful job of showcasing how the wildflowers transformed the landscape.

When I first saw the V-shaped valleys, seemingly painted in bright colors by the variety of wildflowers, my imagination was immediately sparked. I wondered: What if I used the colors of the wildflowers and the layout of the valley to create a color-blocked blanket?

And so, I designed this layout to resemble a mountain valley covered in wildflowers. Because this layout will also serve as the Assembly Guide for the blanket pattern, I’ve added a grid to show where each of the wildflower motifs will be placed.

You’ll notice that the boxes are numbered 1–30. The blanket will include motifs for 30 different wildflowers, with each design used to create anywhere from 4–8 motifs. I’ve decided to use two sizes of motifs (6 and 3 inches square), which I think will add a bit of variety. All of the wildflower motifs will be grouped by color to create the color-blocked design you see here.

I’m really happy with where this project is headed. The first few wildflower designs are now making their way through the editing process, and I’m looking forward to sharing more of them with you in the weeks ahead.

Have you ever heard of a sky pilot flower?

It’s one of the first flowers I tackled, and I had so much fun figuring out how to translate its unusual shape into crochet. I’ll share that process with you next week!

Until then, happy crocheting!

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