Rainbow for Big Bro

The last of the 8 blankets I have crocheted for my Grandchildren. It is quite a relief to know they all have one now.

I am following in the footsteps of my paternal Grandmother who crocheted a blanket for each of her 14 grandchildren, luckily, I only have 8.

The brief: Big Bro wanted ripples like his brother’s blanket, but different.

He wanted bright rainbow colours and lots of blues. I made a sample in all Stylecraft Special DK yarn, but the purple, orange and some of the blues were not quite right, so we scoured the internet to find the colours he liked.

I always really enjoy the design process with my Grandchildren. They have very clear ideas about what they want and I like to encourage them. I believe it is important to give children opportunities to make creative decisions – a life skill worth having which encourages them to develop their own style.

The pattern is Attic24’s Neat Ripple Blanket using Acrylic DK and 4.5mm hook

I did a starting Chain of 213

It measures 1m 34cm x 1m 94cm

Each row of colour (2 rows of crochet) takes about 15 gms of SSDK yarn.

The mix of repeating colour orders and random mixes makes the blanket more interesting – well I think so. Do you agree? Or would you prefer a strict repeating pattern?

Colour Order:

You can find the colour order for the first 30 rows in this post.

Rows 31 onwards

Geraardsbergen (2011).  Scheepjes Colour Crafter

Saxe           Cygnet DK

Petrol   James C Brett Top Value Shade 846

Hayfield Bonus Extra Value Shade 0824

Turquoise SSDK (Stylecraft Special Double Knit)

Empire SSDK

Petrol SSDK

Green SSDK

Grass Green SSDK

Sunshine SSDK

Bright Orange – James C Brett

Matador SSDK

Fuchsia Purple SSDK

Orchid – King Cole Pricewise DK

Purple – King Cole Pricewise DK

Lobelia – SSDK

Royal – SSDK

Lapis – SSDK

Aster – SSDK

Turquoise – SSDK

Azure –  Hayfield Bonus DK, Extra Value (0824)

Petrol – James C Brett

Empire – SSDK

Petrol – SSDK

Bottle – SSDK

Green – SSDK

Grass – SSDK

Sunshine SSDK

Bright Orange – James C Brett

Matador  – SSDK

Raspberry – SSDK

Fuchsia Purple – SSDK

Orchid – King Cole Pricewise DK

Purple – King Cole Pricewise DK

Royal SSDK

Geraardsbergen (2011).  Scheepjes Colour Crafter

Aster – SSDK

Lapis – SSDK

Empire – SSDK

Azure –  Hayfield Bonus DK, Extra Value (0824)

Turquoise – SSDK

Petrol   James C Brett Top Value Shade 846

Petrol – SSDK

Bottle – SSDK

Green – SSDK

Grass – SSDK

Sunshine SSDK

Bright Orange – James C Brett

Matador  – SSDK

Fuchsia Purple – SSDK

Orchid – King Cole Pricewise DK

Purple – King Cole Pricewise DK

Lobelia – SSDK

Royal – SSDK

Saxe           Cygnet DK

Geraardsbergen (2011).  Scheepjes Colour Crafter

Aster – SSDK

Turquoise – SSDK

Azure –  Hayfield Bonus DK, Extra Value (0824)

Petrol – James C. Brett

Empire – SSDK

Petrol – SSDK

 

THE BORDER

The first row in Petrol – James C. Brett,  filled in the troughs of the waves, following the instructions onAttic24’s website.

The second row of single crochet (US) is in the same yarn.

Third row in Azure –  Hayfield Bonus DK, Extra Value (0824) is double crochet (US)

Fourth and last row is in Turquoise SSDK in Crab Stitch.

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Ta Dah!!!

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For other crocheted blankets go to my THROWS page

 

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Karoo Vintage MAL

On I trundle with the Karoo. What a challenge and an adventure.

Part 6 is complete

I’m now halfway through Part 7 and then there is an edge.

These colours felt strange in the middle of a heatwave a few months ago, but I’m so enjoying working with them now.

Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting in the Park whilst my grandchildren played with their friends after school, the autumn leaves were falling around me, my blanket on my lap whilst I worked on it, and the warm October sun on my face. That to me is a slice of heaven right there!

The design is by Jen Tyler of Hooks n Tales. Stylecraft Special DK and a 4.5mm hook.

Pattern on Ravelry.

You can find the list of colours on my Ravelry Page.

This pattern is not for the faint-hearted! and there are literally 100s of ends to sew in, but I do really like the result.

I’d like to make this pattern again in different colours, but I’m not sure when I will be ready to dedicate so much time and attention to such a big project again.

It is very demanding!

Whist sewing in all those ends at home in the evenings, I listen to the radio – this fabulous music programme keeps me company – available on iPlayer for the next 29 days.

Joining in with Ginny’s Yarn Along

 

Cosmic Bedspread Complete

Tah Dah!!!       Drum roll please!

At last it is finished

This has been a really fun project to make. The journey began back in April when Helen Shrimpton’s Crochet Along started and I finished the CAL back in June, but I wanted to do a few more rows to make it bigger and work out how to make a scalloped edge.

The bedspread, shown here on a 5′ wide double bed, had to wait patiently in the background whilst I made a couple of dreamcatchers for birthday presents, and then it was hard to pick it up again.

But I did it!!

I can highly recommend Helen’s patterns and this one is FREE and comes with a video tutorial.

To see other amazing Cosmics, join Helen’s Hookaholics on FB and go to the Photo Albums. If you ever need inspiration for colour combinations there is surely no better place to go.

I made this Bedspread with Scheepjes Whirl and Whirlettes and a 3mm hook:

2 x Rosewater Cocktail Whirl

1 x Jumping Jelly Whirl

1 x Citrus Whirlette

1x Blueberry Whirlette

I really enjoyed mixing up the Whirls and playing with the gradients in the colours to get the effect I wanted.

It measures 1m 41cm – 1m 35cm.           or             4’6.5″ x 4’5″

Blog posts showing progress:

Making a start. Parts 1 and 2

Parts 3 and 4

Parts 5 and 6

Parts 7 and 8

Part 9 and beyond

I am so happy with my zingy bedspread!

Lime Green Vintage

At the moment I am immersing myself in the colour called Lime Green mixed with oranges and other autumnal colours whilst I crochet the Karoo Vintage Mystery Along.

Going with the Vintage theme for my Vase this week, there are a few elements in the picture all bought in the 1970s:

A Timothy Whites vacuum flask, still going strong. Who remembers Timothy Whites? A High Street chemist shop taken over by Boots in 1968,  the trading name stopped being used in 1985. The cup that went on the top has been lost but the flask still keeps water hot for a good long time. It sits by my kettle to house excess boiled water to be used for washing up etc.

The green floral table cloth (more lime green in reality) is a huge 2.5m diameter circle of Laura Ashley fabric bought as a Second from the Laura Ashley shop in Bath on a lovely pre-children shopping trip with friends. It has been brought out to cover trestle tables at many a family event over the last 40 years or more.

The bright green cloth with turquoise stitching trim was bought from Habitat in about 1978.

The bright orange metal jug with white flowers was made in (former) Yugoslavia and given to me by my Mum who found it on a market stall.

In the jug is a plant which I like the look of because of its bright pink bits – but I guess it is a weed. Do you know its name? Can it be used for anything?

From my garden:

A pot of lemon balm sits waiting to be made into a lovely refreshing tea.

The figs have been plentiful and glorious this year.

I’m delighted to have found a salad crop that does not get eaten by the sparrows – pea shoots! Thank you to Postcard From Gibraltar for inspiring me to try these – they are yummy!

I am growing them in a waist high Veg Trug outside my front door (Zone 1 in Permaculture)

My daughter thinks the new shoots look as if they are waving and dancing

here they are having a party!

Apples are plentiful but all blighted by the wretched codling moth.

Pears are looking good this year.

Joining in with Cathy and In a Vase on Monday.

Happy Gardening!

Cosmic Crochet Along

Behind the scenes I have been beavering away at Helen Shrimpton’s current Crochet Along, the Cosmic Cal 

and I have just completed Part 6

Currently measuring 32″ x 35″.

Some of you might have seen my progress on Instagram.

Having seen so many wonderful creations using gradient yarn, I was eager to try it and after much deliberation went for Rosewater Cocktail, a Scheepjes Whirl

You can see all the other colourways here.

It was not easy to choose so I joined the Facebook Group Scheepjes Whirl Creations! 

I could then see all the wonderful things that have been made with Whirls and how each colour looks when it is made up. What a wonderfully helpful community crochet groups are. I’ve learnt so much and been able to ask loads of questions. It has been an enriching experience.

Unsure of how much yarn the blanket would take, I bought 2 Rosewater Cocktails and a Citrus Whirlette as I already knew I wanted to mix up the colours a bit.

But a few rows in I realised I might want to add more colours and bought a Jumping Jelly Whirl.

In a series of blog posts I will describe how I used the Whirls and Whirlettes together:

I wanted to have some turquoise in the centre so I wound off the dark blue of the outside

Cosmic Cals started to appear on Helen’s Hookaholics and I tried out a couple of designs

On the left, I used a 3.50mm hook and included some of the Whirlette, on the right I used a 3mm hook and made the centre look more like a flower

the centre was made with yarn that was pure turquoise

the star was made with yarn that had flecks of pink in it

 

after the turquoise I introduced a round of Citrus Whilette, which is a burnt orange.

and then continued with the yellow from the centre of Rosewater Cocktail.

Wanting to define the hexagon I wondered which of the blues to use

and went for the darker blue with flecks of turquoise in it

(gosh how the colours change according to the light – the photo below does not show the true colours!)

and then one row of lighter turquoise before returning the where I left off with the Whirl.

Continuing with the Whirl until the end of Part 2

More to follow ……

Edit

You can see progress up to Part 4 in this post: Cosmic 4

~

And on Fridays a treat – pop along over  to Nanacathy for a good old Knit and Natter

Cal9: Cosy Blanket. Ta Dah!

This blanket follows Lucy’s Cosy Stripe blanket Crochet Along (CAL), changing the colours slightly so that I could use what I already had. This really is a lovely pattern using Stylecraft Special DK. The way Lucy balances the colours is truly beautiful so I stuck as close as I could to her colour order. Her colours have an autumnal feel, mine are a bit more summery I think (my colour list is near the end of this post).

I started way back in ….. November 2014 – oh, so only just over a year! I thought it was longer!

In my last post about this blanket, I was still working out the edging. The edging was added as, halfway through making it, we (my daughter A and I) decided to change it from a throw for a single bed, to one for her double bed.

Laura on Ravelry, had used a border of African Flower Squares, (click on the link to find an excellent tutorial). It looked so pretty, so off I went, not quite realising how working out the colour sequences and lengths to fit, would turn this into such a marathon project.

I wanted to create a random sequence of flowers, set within the three different greens. I do make life complicated!

11 squares were needed for each short side (including one each at the corners) and 13 for each long side. 48 squares in all.

The easiest way to attach the squares was to join then in a long line first and then, sitting on a cushion on the floor, mattress stitch the line of squares to the edge of the blanket. I realise now that it would have been much better to have blocked the squares first – I was far too eager to see how they looked sewn together.

After sewing on the squares I did a row of single crochet (US) in the Lime green, making sure to keep the edges tight by not adding stitches at the seams between the squares

And this is how I worked round the corners:

Then after all that sewing, and working things out, and going around once to create a foundation for the outer border, I could relax into a few rows of speedy crochet before working the final edging.

Lucy’s edging seemed just a little bit too narrow for this size of blanket so I tried a larger variation so that A could choose which she liked the best

Lucy’s pattern goes horizontally across the top, my variation on the left.

A chose my adaptation (Let me know if you would like more details about how to do this edging). I wanted to finish in time for A’s birthday in October……

But ……. I didn’t.

I really enjoyed the feel of the weight of the blanket over my knees as I worked on the edging, such a relief to be making good progress, with the end in sight.

Then after a few more ends to sew in – just the signature heart needed in one corner …..

and

TaH DaH!

It was finished in time for Christmas!

 Hurray! Round of Applause! and Party Poppers!

What a relief! I feel a huge sense of achievement and it is SO great to have finished it. I haven’t managed to take a photo of it in situ yet, but A took this photo with her phone and emailed it to me. She absolutely loves it and it makes their room so cosy and bright.

It does look right at home in that log cabin!

~

Joining in with Ginny’s Yarn along

Book: ‘Heidi’ by Johanna Spyri, this was one of my favourites as a child, I read it to my daughter and I have just started to read it to Miss E. Such Joy!

~

Here follows the nitty-gritty of how to make the bedspread:

The width was the same a Lucy’s pattern, which is a width for a single bed.

Using Stylecraft Special DK, and a 4.5mm hook, make a foundation chain of 198, and work 78 rows for the body of the blanket. (This is a little shorter than Lucy’s pattern)

Here are the colours in the order they were crochetted:

The colours in bold are the same colours as Lucy used, although not necessarily in the same order (I have listed the colours I have substituted in Cal4):

Petrol, Meadow, Saffron, Spice, Bright Pink, Lime,

Khaki, Wisteria, Magenta, Clematis, Spice, Raspberry,

Denim, Bluebell, Khaki, Petrol, Spice, Lime, 

Saffron, Spice, Bright Pink, Magenta, Clematis, Bluebell,

Denim, Meadow, Saffron, Clematis, Raspberry, Spice,

Saffron, Lime, Petrol, Magenta, Wisteria, Khaki,

Clematis, Meadow, Denim, Bright Pink, Saffron, Spice,

Raspberry, Bluebell, Lime, Saffron, Denim, Magenta,

Spice, Meadow, Bright Pink, Clematis, Saffron, Khaki,

Spice, Wisteria, Petrol, Bluebell, Raspberry, Spice, 

Saffron, Lime, Bluebell, Magenta, Spice, Saffron,

Meadow, Petrol, Raspberry, Bright Pink, Khaki, Denim, 

Clematis, Wisteria, Spice, Magenta, Lime and Petrol.

 

I had fun mixing and matching the colours for the border as you can see from these previous posts :

Cal5

Cal5 decisions and choices, where you can see many of the squares as well as the ones that Miss E and my daughter chose as their favourites

Cal7, where you can see more squares and me trying to work out how many for each side. I realise now that I did not need to add any rows at all as the seam lines add sufficient extra length to the squares to fit.

If you want to know any further details about this bedspread, let me know. There are over 500 variations on Ravelry, so plenty of inspiration for other colour combinations.

It was an absolute joy to make!

I might just have to make another one.

Whoop! Whoop! I Won a Giveaway!!!!

Do you know people who often seem to win things, raffle prizes, lottery money, games of chance? I do, my son is one of them – it is a bit of a family joke. Me – no – it is not something that I’m familiar with – this winning thing – however maybe the tide has turned!

I am one to the lucky 4 winners 0f a Giveaway on Janette’s wonderful blog “the Green Dragonfly” in New Zealand.     Hurrrraaaayyyyy!!!!!

Janette (that is her picture below) made these House Slippers from a pattern by Tara at Mamachee

and wore them in a post – she got such a response that Tara was generous enough to offer not one but TWO patterns in a giveaway, to not one but FOUR lucky followers of Janette’s blog and Yippity-do-dah! It turns out I am one of the four – how happy am I!!!!!

I have chosen the pattern for the House Slippers, like Janette’s above AND the Fox Slippers, click on the links to see pictures and where you can buy the patterns.

I think my grandchildren will love the Fox Slippers – but Yikes! that means making 16!!! Hope the patterns arrive soon so that I can make a start to get them done before winter sets in. (Maybe winter 2016 is more realistic?!)

A huge thanks goes out to Janette for hosting the giveaway and to Tara for generously offering the prizes. Isn’t this blogging community ❤ GREAT! ❤

I am joining Ginny’s Yarn Along with this post, and she invites us to add a book that we are reading. Now I used to read avidly, but something happened, not sure what , and I just seemed to lose the concentration for reading. However Cathy mentioned a couple of books in our Photo Challenge, this week. The subject is ‘Wisdom’ which is a pretty tough subject to photograph, don’t you think! It is always fascinating to see the variety of interpretations within the challenge. One of the books Cathy mentioned as containing WISDOM is Charles Kingsley’s ‘The Water Babies’. I’ve never read it, and think that now might be a good time to do so. I was able to download it for free onto my iPad.

While I wait for the patterns to arrive I am still working on the edge of the Cosy Cal blanket – I think it will look great when it is finished, but oh boy – remind me never to edge a blanket in squares again – it really is demanding time and concentration to get them to work out.Are you enjoying any Yarn related fun this week? Click on the link below to join in with Ginny and all her many wonderful Yarny friends who also write great book reviews