i've been dithering for months over an Important Purchase, and have at last bitten the bullet and made up my mind. it's yarn for a baby blanket which will be crochet blocks from this book. wanted something easy care, preferably cottony, subtle rich colours, less than £2/50g.

no chance.

have been debating the toss between subjecting myself to weeks of work with eyeball-searing luminous plastic (let alone subjecting poor mother and babe to same) vs second mortage for something rowany or blissish.

my decision was to compromise on the colour front. it's the modern use of colour that appeals to me most about the book, and i loved the idea of using non-babyish colours for a blanket that would hopefully last through to childhood. but the colours i like simply aren't available in my price bracket for the project. so i've had to go slightly softer, more pastelly, more conventional/traditional, which isn't the end of the world given that i at least got a composition i'm happy with: 50%cotton 50%acrylic, machine wash, see here. they say it's lighter than 100% cotton which is true judging by the yardage per 50g, perfect for a summer baby. even better i got it for 99p a ball + cheap postage from dianne's yarns.

next comes the fun bit, choosing the squares...