I AM BACK !!!!!!

I am BACK!!!

I know it has been ages…

I have been so busy trying to finish several projects which I  had committed to it and I  was so frustrated because I couldn’t share any of the work I was doing… but now my last project is live  I am BACK  !!!!!!

It has been an amazing few months!

I have been working flat out on several things.. I should also say  I did take on board a bit too much and at times I was slightly overwhelmed by the all things but now that all the blankets are available it makes it all worthwhile.

The final chapter was to deliver my last blanket to CROCHET NOW’s HQ last month!  very exciting and a bit scary too… The RISE &SHINE cal has been a real labour of love! to create something to keep an audience interested and more so, happy to continue on a project that is going to run over 12 months it is NOT an easy task!!

I really hope you will like it, and with trepidation, I am waiting for the reactions online as it went live TODAY !!!!!!!!!

So I am back writing again… I missed writing my blog, but I know you all have very busy lives and I didn’t want to fill my blog with idle chit-chat and not been able to tell you what I was doing.  so where to start…

Let’s go in reverse order and start with the latest project…

here are some pictures, also you will find pieces of information on the CAL on Crochet Now website… I have a few more pictures but I will post them as the CAL progresses.

 

The blanket is a CAL and will run over 12 months.

Part 1 can be found in Issue 27 of Crochet Now which will be in shops on Thursday 12th April or available to buy online at www.moremags.com/crocheting 

I have used STYLECRAFT SPECIAL DK, (mainly using 2 strands  held together)  the colours are:

 

Stylecraft Special DK – 295m per 100g ball; 100% acrylic

3 balls in Mustard 1823

2 balls each in Fuchsia Purple 1827, magenta 1084, Shrimp 1132, Grass Green 1821, Sage 1725, Bright Pink 1435, Emperor 1425

1 ball each in Plum 1061, Fondant 1241, Pistachio 1822, Empire 1829, Petrol 1708, Lipstick 1246

(Important Note: Based on the designer’s tension, 98g of Fondant 1241 and 96g of Empire 1829 were used in this blanket. If you are unsure of how loose your tension is, we recommend purchasing additional balls of these shades.)

Stylecraft Special Aran – 196m per 100g ball; 100% acrylic

1 ball in Lipstick 1246

 

What I can say, is that it is really great fun, it is a project for everyone and I hope you will love it.

It is all about texture, interesting techniques,  and more so COLOUR!!!

I don’t know where you are based around the world, but for us in the UK has been one VERY LONG WINTER!! we had snow in Scotland up to last weekend.. really  I’m still thinking spring will never come this year!! so the brightness of the colours of the Rise & Shine kept me entertained during the winter months. To be able to create something it can be really tiring and sometimes quite frustrating too…especially when things do not go to plan, but I loved every moment of it.

But thats not all…

two more blankets I designed for Stylecraft went live a few weeks ago… both bursting with colours, one is called HYPNO and the other BOHO…

you can find them as a Pattern  here:

https://www.poppys-holmfirth.co.uk/lucia-s-shop/lucia-s-shop/lucia-dunn-hypno-blanket-cushion-printed-pattern-9527

https://www.poppys-holmfirth.co.uk/lucia-s-shop/lucia-s-shop/lucia-dunn-boho-blanket-and-cushion-printed-pattern-9528

at the same time, I made the Valentina Shawl…for Poppy’s ,

and I wrote the pattern with the help of the ladies at Poppy’s for the Walrus blanket too..they are both available on my shop at Poppy’ s https://www.poppys-holmfirth.co.uk/lucia-s-shop/lucia-s-shop  and soon should also be on my Ravelry’s store.

 

I will write all about my Poppy’s adventures as it deserves a proper special blog entry!  everyone made me so welcome! and it has been amazing to be able to collaborate with others! but I will do it in a  separate entry,  this one is just for touching base, dust off the cobwebs out of my blog and just let you know I am back again.

So you have: a CAL, 2 BLANKETS, A SHAWL  and the WALRUS BLANKET too…

what am I doing now? …

I am helping to finish my daughter  Francesca’s granny square blanket… she made 180 squares and she panicked a little when it came to joining them so I said I was going to help… ( don’t ask me why…)

I also had a dip into amigurumi…

It all started because I needed a rest from Blankets and I wanted a little project.. if you follow me on facebook you might have guessed I got a bit obsessed with it! no idea why the amigurumis are so addictive!

it might be the fact that you work on a tridimensional plane and that is a bit of a novelty to me… so I started with a Crafter Granny… then I made a bear, then  I made another bear..( which I  still have to complete)..then I tried a bunny but looked like out of a horror movie …then my son Giuseppe asked me to make  a  chameleon for his girlfriend that loves  Tangled’s Pascal.. so I just finished that a day ago ready for her 18th birthday..

I am planning other things too… but I needed a few weeks of not designing, recharging my batteries by just enjoying other people amazing patterns!! and I feel the energy coming back which is a good news indeed!!

So, as I LOVE lists of TO DO’s my new resolutions are…

  • do not take too much work on!!!
  • write at least 2 blogs a month with updates on what I am doing,
  • walk and not be a couch crocheting potato!
  • be more social and not a grumpy bear hiding behind a mountain of yarn…
  • organise some new exciting material for classes ( because I love teaching!!!) and put some dates in the diary.
  • make more videos!
  • last but not least go to London to see my daughter Valentina!!
  • loads of more things that I am sure I have forgotten…

that is all for today! thank you for all your support, I love your messages and all your lovely comments on Facebook and Instagram!

and on that subject just a little note…

I understand how frustrating  it must be not to be able to get either the patterns or the kits for the Eastern Jewels and the Frida’s Primavera because often they are sold out or are not available as digital downloads , but as I replied to many of  you, I just designed both the patterns and I am not involved in how they are distributed.

So please get in touch with ether Stylecraft or Janie Crow if you need some updated pieces of information.

https://www.stylecraft-yarns.co.uk/

https://janiecrow.co.uk/presta/

My only direct contact with the retail status is Poppy’s and I know they have  sold several packs of the Eastern Jewels, ( the Frida’s Primavera is just available  from Jane ) but again they too, as retailers, depend from Jane and Stylecaft for the  printed patterns so please, if you are interested, leave your email with Helen’s at Poppy’s and I am sure that if the packs will be back in stock she will message you .

https://www.poppys-holmfirth.co.uk/lucia-s-shop/lucia-s-shop

HAPPY CROCHET!  thank you for reading,

love to you all

LUCIA XXX

13 comments

  1. Great pist Lucia. Enjoy some ‘me’ time and hopefully some warm weather yere in Scotland.
    I like to crochet outside.
    Looking forward to hooking your amazing CAL. X

  2. Wow what a post – there’s so much to take in I’m going to have to read it again! Any chance of a link to your Ravelry store please? I’ve been looking for it, but it has successfully eluded me! Thank you!

  3. So good to see you back again Lucia! I have missed reading your posts. And now more blankets to add to my growing to do list…Planning to start my second Valentina shawl soon.

  4. Love the colours in your CAL, so bright and cheerful. I can see how they would brighten up a long, cold winter.Here in Australia we are having the opposite problem with summer dragging on and on and no rain for months, too hot to do crochet or much else come to that. I will put it on my to do list for when it cools down. I’m not sure if the magazine is available here (in the shops) but it will be a couple of months behind anyway, so will have to look on the net.Thank you for your wonderful inspiration and I think you certainly deserve to put your feet up for a well deserved rest.

  5. Looking forward to the CAL with Crochet Now magazine. I have subscribed specifically for the pattern. A bit worried about some of the tougher looking squares though. Will there be any video tutorials to follow along with?

  6. Hello Lucia, thank you so much for the amazing Rise & Shine CAL. I’m a pretty novice crocheter but decided to buy the kit and try it as I fell in love with the photos in Crochet Now magazine! Please may I ask a question about tension? I’m getting the correct tension at 11 stitches and 14 rows in DC to 10 cm, and the pattern says that each square is approximately 24 cm, but 28 stitches (27 stitches plus the turning chain) is 2.5 times 11 stitches and therefore 2.5 times 10 cm, or 25 cm, and this is without the edging. Is there a misprint in the pattern, or am I missing something? I would have just carried on but am worried that I’ll run out of yarn ☺
    Many thanks,
    Chris.

    1. Hi Christine,
      sorry, I just saw your message, I think you got an answer already from the group? if you still require some help please get in touch
      all the best,
      lucia x

      1. Hello again Lucia,
        I didn’t get an answer from the group because the only social media I belong to is Ravelry and I couldn’t find anything on there, but I did contact Crochet Now magazine and Jenny kindly emailed the correct details to me and said they’ll update them for the next issue. Thank you so much for your reply and I think I shall be OK now, but as I said, I’m a novice crocheter and needed to be sure before I work the whole blanket and then find out that it doesn’t fit together. What a nightmare that would have been!
        I’m ready to get back to my hooking now, in the garden, I think, as it’s gloriously warm here today.
        Thanks again,
        Chris.

  7. I should add some of yours to my list too to mine, Couch potatoe and hiding behind yarn, I know that we’ll. By the,
    way are there videotutorials for the rise and shine, I would like that but if so nobody will by the magazine, hmm…?

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