Nature’s Walk

One of the crochet designers I follow is Sandra @ cherryheart.co.uk. Her tutorials are clear and helpful, and her patterns carefully designed to help you learn more about the skills of crochet as you go along.

I usually use an inexpensive (but reliable) acrylic yarn for all my projects; it washes well and has a huge range of colours, and I can combine all my scraps/leftovers into new projects without complications.

But when Sandra released her latest CAL project (crochet-along, that is the pattern is realised in parts week by week), I decided to treat myself to the specific yarn with which she had designed the blanket (a cotton acrylic mix). At almost four times the price I was nervous that it would be worth it, but it has been wonderful to work with (apart from the occasional joining knot) and I’m really pleased with the result.

I love the drape of the yarn too, and the colours are subtle – there were other colourways designed to reflect the seasons, some of which are much brighter than these – I wasn’t sure about the colours at first, but now it’s complete I am content 🙂

Pattern and more details here

I’d love to work with the yarn again, but sadly the cost is prohibitive …

… so it’s back to my familiar squishy acrylic for the next project!

A commission and a gift

This blog has deteriorated into a record of my crochet projects and not much else … but it’s my blog, so I suppose that’s OK! 😀

First up, a commission – a dear friend of mine, A, has a friend who is adopting a 2yr old girl. She’s arriving with nothing, and A wanted to give her something to fill in the gaps of her early childhood. A has two grandsons, and apparently their favourite comforters are the blankets I made them when they were born! So A asked me to make a baby blanket for this new little one …

A chose the style and colours, and this lovely squishy waffle blanket is now on it’s way to it’s new home 🙂

I have any number of on-going projects … and of course, leftover yarn from all of them once they are finished. So I needed a scrap project. The Seaside Stash Buster (!) came to mind, as I’d first noticed it some time last year, and it seemed ideal …

… I loved how the colours came together 🙂

It didn’t take long, and I Ioved every moment of it … I took it to our church Craft day – where we all take our projects and get very little done as we sit and talk and drink tea all day – to add a border once I’d sewn in all the peskies (ends). A lady sat next to me who is undergoing regular chemotherapy, so after she admired it, and I’d finish the simple dc border, I gave it to her … but I was careful to get some photos first!

Sadly I wasn’t able to get a picture of the whole blanket, but I have a record of the colours and stitches … I’d like to use the colours again, and there are a couple of stitches I’d like to use in a project of some kind, esp the basket weave (rather like the waffle but a slightly different arrangement of stitches).

Now I’m working on a couple of CALs, but not all the parts have yet been released (I’d rather start only when I have the complete pattern) … so I shall have to find something else to take on holiday. Which means I may have completed two projects, but I have just as many on the go as before!

Sunshine and Showers

October 1st and it’s been raining convincingly for a few days now … definitely showers. But the summer was lovely …

Sunshine and Showers

I loved making this, but the result is once again too long for the width. (I know now which rows I would omit another time … but I’m not sure I’ll do it again 😮 ) Such unusual colours for me made it so much more interesting, too. I haven’t added a border … the sides are so uneven at one point (see photo), I’m not sure how to even them out by adding more (they are the rows I’d omit – it is tempting to try again … !)

I had another project in mind … but I’ve ‘accidentally’ started two, and have another just waiting for all the parts to be published 🙂

Pattern – Rose blanket

I started these squares many months ago, then became distracted onto something else. Just now I’m between projects, so have been tidying up my odds and ends … and found these squares again. 35 gorgeous little flower squares … just enough to make a pram blanket (since I was able to admit to myself I was unlikely to go back and make any more!).

Pattern details

I used Stylecraft Special DK in the following colours:

Silver for the borders and joining
Sunshine, Citron and Lemon (yellows)
Cloud Blue, Sherbet and Aster (blues)

But you could use any scraps you have to hand plus one main colour. And of course, you can make as large or small a blanket as you like 🙂

The pattern for the squares is here.

I joined the squares using DC through back loop only, to give the squares a little more definition. The edging uses a base row of dc – 1dc in each tr, 1dc in each corner along the edge and 3dc in each corner space – and I added a htr at each join (into the joining dc behind) to avoid pulling across the joins.

The squares are quite textured, so I wanted a textured border, and puff stitches are ideal. So I used edging Number 132 from Edie Eckman’s ‘Around the Corner’.

A couple of people have asked for the pattern, so I hope you find this useful. I’ve not included details of hook or gauge since size isn’t critical. However I used a 4mm hook, and each square measures 9cm (3 1/2 inches). The finished blanket, 7×5 squares, measures 70 x 50cm (27 x 19 inches) unblocked.

 

Bank Holiday

Since it’s a Bank Holiday, I’m resolutely doing nothing remotely connected with church – our busy patch is turning into a busy season, perhaps even lifestyle, and there is always the danger of becoming overwhelmed. I have made adjustments to my commitments, to create a rhythm of busy and not so busy weeks … but that doesn’t apply to DH. We have however, settled on an annual pattern of breaks and holidays for the future … something we’ve struggled with since the girls started the exam years … not that the exams are over, but at least for DD1, they are part of her work routine, and she is living independently. DD2 is still job hunting, and waiting for her MSc results, but in the meanwhile has settled into living at home fairly easily.

So after being in the garden while it was still cool – I am loving this summer’s heatwaves, but it does create work; watering and weeding – I have spent some time with some recent finishes. They’ve been slow, it’s been far too hot to sit under an almost finished blanket sewing in ends (!), but they are done now. And I am without a project 😮 I have fallen in love with another mosaic pattern but it’s not yet fully released (and it’s still too warm to do more than a few rows).

Arizona

This is a highly textured blanket, and I’ve loved picking up new stitches. I also have an idea for an en point granny square blanket, using the same method of squaring off. It will easily top a double bed.

Origami

Cot-sized in my version – not perfect, but fun to plan and make.

Finishing Indian Summer

I rarely block a piece of work, but this one curled badly, so I tried – I’m not convinced it will make much difference, but it was worth a try.

Click on titles for links to the patterns. For more details of the projects, see the gallery page 🙂

Indian Summer

Just a few ends left to sew in! I enjoyed working with these colours – I matched the original selection in another yarn to the yarn I use – but the pattern was a little disappointing in places, and the blanket itself is too long and narrow. Nevertheless, I’m pleased with the result, and enjoyed doing a pieced blanket that also included rows.

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https://www.deramores.com/products/indian-summer-the-official-deramores-2018-cal-by-leonie-morgan

Mistakes

I’ve had this blanket on my bed for some months now – and today I noticed a mistake! 😮

You’ll have to look carefully! One hint … it’s about colours. See it yet? For once the colours in the photo are pretty accurate, and two colours are fairly similar to each other, which is probably why I’ve only just noticed it, but I can’t understand why I didn’t see it when I was joining squares!

Look at the diagonal row of dark red stars … and then the row next to it. Of course, having seen it, I can’t unsee it … but no-one else will notice, especially as this one is in my bedroom! 😀

When I showed you my finished ‘Havana in Blue’, I failed to confess that I had noticed a mistake just after I’d added the border. It’s taken me a while to a) decide if it was worth worrying about (ie would anyone notice) and b) how to correct it/cover it up.

And it was only as I looked at this photo, I realised there were in fact, two identical  mistakes – horror!

But the disguise was quite simple (although I very nearly used cream yarn rather than white – doh!) … and while not perfect, there’s no longer anything to draw the eye (which is how I found it).

Not perfect, but close enough … I’m thinking of gifting this one, so I had to do something! 😀

Slow start

With the launch of a new project at church at the beginning of January, we knew life would get busier, we just didn’t realise how exhausting we would find it. Gone are the occasional leisurely weeks, with only a few commitments, leaving us space to recoup and regroup. Life is now relentless – but totally worthwhile, as the project continues to grow. The main ‘unintended consequence’ has been lack of time, energy and inspiration to think, blog and create. So frustrating.

However, I kept plodding on with a second Havana …

… not quite as wide as the first, but with the addition of a wider border, probably about the same overall.

Not the mosaic border of the original written pattern though .. I started it, but didn’t like the effect. So I went for a simple stripped border in the same back loop DC stitch. I also did the back border in DC rather than the suggested treble stitch, but if I ever do yet another, I will count my stitches before joining! I had to ease the sides together, which was a bit fiddly .. and together with the yarn splitting from time to time, it’s wasn’t altogether a satisfying experience. But I am content with the result.

We now have two craft days a month … though I seem to spend little time actually creating, as I’m usually occupied with getting alongside newcomers, or catering. Since the blanket was too large to easily relocate each time I moved seats, and I didn’t want to sit empty-handed, I’ve also been knitting hats (on circular needles, rather like I knit socks) as a portable project. But I’m really rather bored with hats, so I hunted round my stash and found a project just waiting to be started (as well as several WIPS*, none of which inspired me to pick them up again) … so I’m all set for tomorrow’s craft day, after all!

Final finish of 2018 … and a new beginning

Havana CAL worked in leftovers, and finished on New Year’s Eve 2018 … no new yarn was purchased during the making of this blanket!

I’ve seen it worked in so many colourways … all beautiful. My favourite has been a dark background colour with alternate rows in brighter yarns – ideal for using up small scraps – but having worked the border in Midnight Blue, I know I can’t use it for a whole blanket as I simply can’t distinguish the stitches I need for the pattern, even in the brightest light.

With the leftovers I had, I struggled towards the end to find colours that felt right so I did it over a couple of times, eventually staying in the blue/pink range rather than switching to the greens I had available. I also needed extra length as my blanket was rather wider than the original pattern, so created a simple panel of my own design.

I loved this so much – both the creating and the result – that I’ve already begun another 😮 this time in a more deliberate choice of colour (blues, of course – I feel so much happier working in blues!). I’m making the blanket itself just slightly smaller, so as to work the extended border with a mosaic pattern … the border is a lot of work on blanket this size and the extended border adds several inches to the finished article. (This is the first time ever I’ve needed a YouTube video to help me with the technique, but it’s really quite simple once you ‘get it’ 🙂 )

I love the final texture … weighty but soft with a lovely drape. It’s worked in Stylecraft Special DK, with a 4mm hook.

Note to self: I’m not totally convinced by the simple border – it’s worked as a double layer, so you don’t have to sew in any ends (of which there are hundreds). I reduced my hook size as instructed, but I may go down another size next time as it still buckles slightly. I will hide the slip stitches along the edge that form the foundation for the border too, since you use a totally different colour and I don’t like that it shows when done according to the original pattern.

Quick blanket

When I finished the 6-day blanket (see previous post) I wasn’t ready with a new project, and none of my existing projects are simple enough to quickly take up and hook in front of the television!

But this caught my eye … Cherry Heart’s Dotty Darlings, part of this year’s Stylecraft blog tour. It’s not often I find something there I like or want to make, but it’s always worth a look.

At only 110 stitches across, it’s baby sized and quick to hook up …

It only took me two evenings, and I’m ready to go with another television project, and, once I’ve completed one of the more complicated projects, I have another in mind 🙂

So many projects and so little time … !