Birthday in Malmö: The Story of One Crochet Blanket

I made my first crochet granny square blanket 5 years ago, before my son was born. A nice lady brought me a huge box of colorful yarn and I decided to take this crochet adventure. To be honest I am not a blanket kind of person at all. It takes so long time (and yarn!) to make one. And I am usually not patient enough. So it took me 5 years before I made another one.

When I saw the picture of Summer in Swanage blanket by Dedri Uys (Look At What I Made) for the first time (late at night), I felt that my hair were standing up. I felt a kind of electrical impulse all over the body, I could hardly breath. This blanket was so beautiful, and it was about the sea. I could almost hear the music of the waves when I was looking at it… I fell in love. And I just needed to make the one for myself.

Summer in Swanage blanket by Dedri Uys

If you know me a little bit already, you may also know that I am totally addicted to the sea. I was born in Belarus with no access to the sea. I live in the Czech Republic now with lots of gorgeous mountains but no sea. For the first time I saw it when I was 14 years old and we went with the schoolmates for a summer trip to Bulgaria. That time I was not impressed at all. My skin was totally burnt and it was not really easy to enjoy the sea.

My love hit me back in 2002 when I first time came to the Baltic Sea. My English is very poor and I lack the words to describe my feelings when the huge, enormous sea suddenly hugged me. No, I was not swimming. I cannot swim and I am afraid of the water. But I was “hearing” the sea. It was “talking” to me. And I was totally lost, frozen and loved.

I love cold sea. Pale and grey. I love pale yellow sun and wet sand. I love the smell of salty, cold sea wind. That night, when I saw Dedri’s blanket for the first time, I felt very strong to tell my own sea story with it. Not really a sunny holiday story. But the story of my birthday(s) in Malmö.

It is really strange but during last 14 years I celebrated my birthday in Malmö probably 4 times… Not that I specially seek for this opportunity to visit my friends every year in August and celebrate my birthday with them, but it just happens like this (I hope they are not tired of my visits and baking birthday cakes for me. As I cannot really promise I will not come again... :)

First time it was in 2003 I guess. My friend Fredrik suggested that we should take the bikes and to go the beach late in the evening… Just to mention I am unable to ride a bike as well and I almost broke someone's car when falling down onto it behind the first corner… But somehow I managed to reach the sea. It was night already. It was my first birthday in Malmö. And I totally cried out - sitting on the wooden bench and looking into the dark waves… That was a very strong moment. And I clearly remember it till today.

Malmö is one of the largest cities in Sweden. Technically it doesn’t lie by the sea, but by Öresund channel with the famous bridge connecting Sweden and Denmark. It takes 15 minutes to go by train from Malmö to Copenhagen airport.

But for me this channel is the sea. :) There are several beaches in Malmö: with the sand and with the wood. In the summer they are crowded by people. I haven’t seen any beach huts, and I am not really sure if there are any.

When I was choosing yarn for my blanket (Colour Crafter* by Scheepjes – read my review here), I was thinking about the colors of the houses, and of the grey wood. And I was mainly thinking about my own mood and my vision of this place. I was trying to translate my feelings via this blanket.

I enjoyed every single stitch. I called my blanket “Birthday in Malmö”. And I love it.

Next week I will share the pictures of my finished blanket together with the shades and exact yardages I used. You can check Colour Crafter yarn at Wool Warehouse* and Paradise Fibers* (US). Both retailers ship yarn internationally.

Update: complete information about the shades and yardages for this blanket is available HERE.

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