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Annabelle’s blanket colours and few more stories….

Lucia & Francesca / / Patterns, Recipies

my plan to write a blog entry last weekend didn’t really work…due to a flu epidemic that left most of us floored for a few days.

I am on the mend now so I thought I could catch up with this.

Firstly I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU for all the lovely comments on the colours choice! I  thought Caro’s pattern was really lovely and unusual and it worked really well with the bright colours  I used.

 

Here is the link to the original pattern just in case you missed it on Facebook, as said, I bought it on Ravelry.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-blanket-in-overlay-crochet

and this is the list of the colours and yarn I used for my version:

STYLECRAFT SPECIAL DK :

1 ball each in:

spice,fondant,fuchsia purple,magenta,mustard,aspen and buttermilk.

STYLECRAFT BATIK DK :

2 balls each in :

pistachio and coral.

a note on the quantities…

I listed what I started with, but as you know, I made the 48 squares suggested in the pattern, but I ended up using just 20 squares for Annabelle  because I wanted the blanket to be stroller’s size as I found it is  a very practical option to give as a present, they are not too big, they can be carried everywhere,  they can be fold and stuffed  in a bag if  not needed and, in my experience, you can get the most use out of it

 

So if you are thinking to make a blanket for a baby I would suggest anything between these 2 sizes:

a minimum of   60cm x 75cm  to  75cm x 100cm .

Annabelle’s measures: 65cm x 85cm and you can see it “in action” here…

How cute are Annabelle and her sister Rose? I was delighted that Siobhan and Andrew were ok with me sharing this lovely picture of their beautiful girls with you, so you have a chance to see the other blanket I made for Annabelle’s older sister, Rose when she was born two years ago. It still looks great and I am so pleased they use it all the time because that is what blanket -making is all about! making something that is useful, that can be washed, that can be dragged around and snuggle under and if the colours make you smile that is an added bonus!

Next, I have to organize my thoughts for 2018…

I have several things in mind and a few projects I have been working on, behind the scenes,  coming up too.

it is going to be a VERY exciting year! as I am NEVER tired to crochet, I have a head full of colours and ideas. but my aim this year is to take on board all the comments and advice I gathered in 2017 and to make my work more accessible to all of you out there, I want to do more classes so I can pass on my passion for this amazing craft , I want to be less erratic with my blog entries and improve my online presence too…

It is going to be a lot of work but it is going to be great fun too so stay tuned!

 

lots of love,

Lucia xx

 

 

DECEMBER’S blanket,Frau Holle and a little girl called Annabelle…

Lucia & Francesca / / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories

29th of December…in Italy, we say “meglio tardi che mai”  which translate… “better late than never”…..

Firstly,  I am so sorry for the lack of posts…and thank you for your patience and I hope you are all enjoying your festivities.

What have I been doing?

This month has been a bit of a blur … I had things to finish that, unfortunately, I can’t share until next year…I also had work, family and all the rest to manage as December seems to be the busiest time of the year!!! Yesterday was also my birthday.

If you are following me on facebook you might have seen some post about Frau Holle as she is the theme for my December blanket. So let’s start introducing this special lady which has been part of my Christmas since I can remember…

 

 

I should start by saying I have been brought up with books…  and yes, as you might have guessed,  I am old enough to remember apple just as fruit- yes, a time before iPads, mobile phones, internet and computers.

It was the time when entertainment meant books and I was so lucky to have a grandmother with the most extraordinary knowledge of folk tales and stories and the will to share them.

I was the little girl that always said ‘another one, please’…

I know now, after 50 years, that my grandmother loved mixing and matching.

she picked what she wanted from the stories, she also made some up on the spot.

One night was an episode from the Odyssey or Eneid, the other was some mythological beast. Another night was some exotic location, the other a tiger out of a Salgari’s book ( if you are Italian you might know him). One night would be some little girl lost in Nordic landscapes, a god with one eye, a grey horse with eight legs , a magical tree  with lots different worlds and my favourite …GHOST STORIES!

and I mean proper ones…none of this wishy-washy Twilights saga….

The common denominator of all these stories were that none of them were PC ( politically correct) , no annoying pig which jumps in puddles (she who must not be named).

My nonna’s stories were full of monsters, gore, dramas, swords, heroes, felons, dragons and skeletons on horseback, a LOT of pre- Disney’s  faeries, and amazing goblins lost little creatures which were always rather nasty … (I am still quite wary what is lurking under a bridge over a creek…)

so tales of all sort, I loved them so much and I still love them now.

One of my favourite stories is from the Dolomites, a range of mountains in northern Italy on the border with Austria.

I love those mountains so much, they are home to me and to Frau Holle.

You might be familiar with one of the versions of this folk tale’s  figure. The story is as old as the 1st century BC when Germany was populated by tribes.

The legend tells the story of an Earth Goddess that we know as Frau Holle or Hulda.

She was known in Northen Hesse and quite popular on my mountains too until she became famous in the 19th century thanks to the work of the Brothers Grimm. So if you don’t know it you should read Wilhelm’s version- it is a lovely story.

For us, on the Dolomites, Frau Holle is not just the depiction of a nice lady who shakes her pillow and the feathers which fall become snow on Earth… she is also the sky queen who, besides mastery of clouds and winds, she had the power of granting sunshine and prosperity to the fields. She is the motherly protector of women’s lives, she controlled feminine work, namely favouring spinning, and, as Frau Holda or Holle, she kept the souls of the unborn children.

In some countries, it was said that her home was on a mountain, a magnificent cave, and still in some others, it was in the waters of some fountains or ponds it all depends on where you are.

So I made a little one to hang over my table to remind me that, sometimes,  we all need a bit of magic too!

 

anyway back to the blanket…

A new baby girl has just joined the family, she is the daughter of my husband’s cousin Siobhan. Her name is Annabelle and she has a beautiful big sister called Rose who is truly adorable.

Annabelle was born about 6 weeks ago and she is well overdue a blanket!

I made a blanket for her older sister so I making one for her now. I used, as inspiration, one of several beautiful images of Frau Holle from the Grimm’s tales…

I loved the colours and the details of these illustrations as much as I love the story.

So here it is my last blanket on the go..hopefully it will be ready in a few days but here you can see the first square…on some very “on theme” fresh snow!

and the usual production line on the go…

and some very appropriate, fresh snow, shot of the garden this morning…

 

The colour choices are mine but the pattern is not- I bought it online, I will give you all the details once I have finished the blanket.

To you all, I wish you a peaceful New Year and the best for 2018!!

I will write a final post with a summary of this amazing year VERY SOON

lots of love

lucia xxx

November blanket: the WALRUS HUG

Lucia & Francesca / / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories

Ok it is December already… and I finally found the time to write a post about the November blanket. I don’t really know where my days go especially at this time of the year, it feels like I am always chasing my tail! I had a couple of project to finish and deadlines at work too. plus we had a bit of a drama with frozen pipes and burst pipes… the joy of living in a house that is 200 years old…

any way back to the Blanket..do you like it?

 

I started joining the pieces together at the end of November and finished the blanket a couple of weeks ago . Joining the pieces is one of my favourite parts as the blankets start to take shape. Until this stage, it is a bunch of squares that “should” work nicely together, that is what happens when you start a blanket from scratch without a pattern to refer to- so there is always some risk involved!

 

It might be a bit daunting to create something from scratch but it is very exciting too, until the end you don’t know if it is going to all workout or if it is going to be something “OK “… I make several attempts before getting it right, and there isn’t really a plan of action. I do start with an idea of a general feeling, then I try to match the yarn to that feeling.Then I look on the internet for images that might convey my idea, as inspiration, then …even if I have been doing that for many years, I still need to put them on a scrapbook. There is nothing like a visual aid if you plan a blanket and that is what I was teaching to the ladies that came at Poppy’s in November.

On that matter if you haven’t read it, please read the Blog entry that Sophie from Stylecraft did of the weekend, it is so well written and has lovely pictures too…I was far too busy chatting and playing with the yarn that I took virtually no pictures at all!!!

This is the link if you haven’t read it yet….https://stylecraft-yarns.co.uk/blog/lucias-eastern-jewels-workshop-at-poppys/

so back to the blanket.. why WALRUS HUG?????

Well, there is a story behind… Like many of you, I crochet while doing other things, especially at night, I might listen to audible if I need to keep my eyes on the project, but if it is something I am quite comfortable with I watch TV with the family. One date that we never miss is a Sunday night Sir David Attenborough’ s BLUE PLANET 2. All my kids love it and we make a point to watch it together. It is a bit of  a routine..cups of teas, biscuits, blankets, I always have a WIP in my hands, but I choose something easy so I can follow the program at the same time…( I have been known  to crochet without looking..) Blue Planet is amazing, I watched all David Attenborough’s programs but there is something really special about this last one. I think it is not only about the amazing, extraordinary beauty of the world that we are living in, but there is also an emphasis on how important it is to be aware of the fragility of the environment. What we can do, even on a simple domestic scale, to make a difference.

Nothing hit home as obvious as the mother walrus, swimming in the icy waters of the Arctic , holding her exhausted pup as she grows increasingly ­desperate to find a resting place for herself and her baby. As ice flows diminish, she finds competition for a spot is so fierce she must fight her way through the other breeding walruses. It brought tears to my eyes and all my children were the same…that is why it is so important for them to see programs like that.It creates an awareness of the situation and it might help in the long run.

That is why the blanket is called a walrus hug, it doesn’t matter if it is a human or another mammal, the maternal instinct is always there to protect, comfort, and keep our children safe. A blanket, as trivial as might be, can help to make something feel better.  So while I was watching the program I thought about the blanket I was working on in my lap and that is how the name came along.

If you have a chance do watch  BLUE PLANET 2, it is amazing and such a breath of fresh air in a very disappointing selection of programs to watch with the family on a Sunday night.

so here is my walrus hug..it is heavy, cosy and perfect for the season.

I am writing the pattern and I am determined to get it out before the end of 2017!! so yeah still a few days in the office then Christmas then hopefully some chilling time and plenty of crochet ahead! so wish me luck!

I am getting there..well maybe 😀

happy crochetting and thank you for reading,

Lucia xx

 

 

November blanket….time to cosy-up!

Lucia & Francesca / / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories, Uncategorized

Halloween is over, yesterday we had the first frost, so as the temperatures plummet, no excuse is needed to wrap up warmer…and that is what I am aiming for with the NOVEMBER BLANKET.

I like the colder months very much, I do not mind shorter days, the cold, the wind and the rain as the key to enjoying this time of the year is to surround yourself with the softest, cosiest textiles around and maybe the odd hot chocolate or two….

Chunky knit, throws but also some soft cushions, maybe a sheepskin rug, some lovely scented candles, mood lighting ..it is all over magazines and shops windows as a way to create a perfectly plush refuge from the wind and rain and to lighten up your home as the days get shorter.

This trend is getting more and more popular, and has a few names: it is called Hygge, Gezellig and many other names…all of which encompass this desire for something cosy, nice, homey, friendly, snuggly, fun, comfortable or enjoyable…I guess it’s a feeling rather than a word.

It is everywhere… I went to IKEA a couple of days ago to get few bits and pieces ( they have the best and cheapest unscented candles…)  so I took a couple of snapshots with my phone of some neutral interiors set-ups, I always feel IKEA is a good indicator of what is trending and what people are seeking.

 

 

so I decided for this month I am going to go cosy, chunky and neutral!

 

neutral what a word for me!!!

I love colours and I am always surrounded by colour but for this month I thought would be fun to step out of my comfort zone and try something new and go NEUTRAL…

How scary!

so where to start..

the first thought that came to my mind was my nightmare hue, the unnameable one …it starts with an “M”…

the colour of the 90s: If like me you are 50 something you know EXACTLY what I am talking about, it  was omnipresent and everywhere, public spaces, hotels, new homes, old homes……well I bet you guessed what I am referring but I might write it down just ONCE: “m-a-g-n…” I bet ALL of you have used, have lived with, have bought a tin of…

MAGNOLIA!!!

I still have nightmares of designing houses and been told that the colour for walls, ceilings, woodwork and everything else that could be painted, was going to be magnolia, because “it goes with everything, it looks clean and fresh…” and me thinking “gosh not AGAIN!!!!”

Now I think that nearly 20 years later, neutral rooms don’t have to be a bore.

the trick is to create contrast and avoid everything been ” too plain and too matchy”  because that is what causes dullness is the same tonality;  so what is vital is to play with the saturation levels and undertones to create a warm, calming, inviting environment that has still freshness and crispness.

Another key to ban dullness is TEXTURE, and that is chunky yarns, sheepskins, washed wood, earthy pottery, candles, greenery and maybe even a pet!

Now if you go in a DIY store you find rows upon rows of neutral colours and undertones available for your home.

What I find really funny is that they aren’t called white, cream, beige, pale grey anymore…

they are called…

newborn, falling snow,lambskin..polar drift, icing sugar ..hahhaha you name it!

said that one thing is true…neutral colours, when used properly, work anywhere and everywhere.

So this is my challenge this month a neutral blanket!

 

I have already made a sample or two, I cant make up my mind yet about which one of the 3 colours to choose …so I have to sit on it for a little while I guess…

 

 

 

Chat  to you soon,

love you all,

Lucia xx

 

 

October…October…it is over.

Lucia & Francesca / / Lifestyle, Stories, Travel

October has been one amazing month…I cannot believe it is already gone!!

I feel my feet have not touched the ground, I have been running around even more than the usual.

I went to Italy just for a couple of days at the beginning of the month because was my dad’s 84th birthday,  then back home for a few days, some final touches on the new blanket ,the Fiesta,  which I made for October, as an alternative kit to offer with the  Eastern Jewels at the Knitting &Stitching show  at the Alexandra Palace in London,

also, I made,re-made, and made again my entry for the blog tour2017..but you probably have already read the all saga in my last blog.

Now that the BLOG TOUR2017 is finished I can say it was amazing! so many projects and so much variety !!

I am so pleased you loved my Spanish moss scarf!  there were so many downloads of the pattern that it crashed my blog!

I love the scarf too, I have already used a few times, hopefully, you will enjoy yours too.

 

So two projects for October: here they are together the FIESTA and the SPANISH MOSS SCARF.

and few more pictures from AllyPally:

a nice collage Sophie did ( I was too busy chatting and took virtually no pictures!) as few friends came and visit us on the stand, so you got  Phil  from https://thetwistedyarn.com/  and  Sarah, https://annabooshouse.blogspot.co.uk/and Emma, http://emmavarnam.co.uk/

 

London was amazing, the Stylecraft team made me so welcome, I had a fabulous time, I loved every minute of it.

It was also quite ” dreamlike “too as I am not used to the attention, the compliments and general extraordinary kindness.

Been a crocheter and a blogger can be quite a solitary pursuit, You sit at home with your yarn and your laptop and you just ..crochet, write, frog, read comments, answer emails, mix  more colours, make swatches…more frogging…drink endless cup of teas…it is a marvellous thing  but it is also a bit of an obsession too….

I grab EVERY second I got free to do yarny things, yarn follows me everywhere it is in my handbag, it is in my drawers in the office, it is  ALL OVER my craft room, I have some in the car..( just in case there is a traffic jam …) I carry some in my pockets too, my children tell their friends that, in our house, you can spot the odd skein or two in the fridge too…I always attempt to denial but, if I am entirely honest, I have to admit that “maybe” a lonely ball of mohair has  occasionally made her way  in the vegetable drawer..as I read somewhere that to  avoid the fine hair to catch on your hook you should stick the ball in the fridge..( I have to say I m not so sure it works after all! Mohair is, cold or room temperature, still a bismal  to work with a hook!!)

So back to Ally Pally…what can I say?? AMAZING ! thank you, SOO MUCH for coming to see me, and for being so kind! I loved talking to everyone that came to the stand, some chats were technical questions about the blanket, some were just general yarny chit-chat, it was great fun. I also had the privilege to meet in person some of you that have been following my blog and my facebook since day one!

So besides the huge feel-good-factor of being able to meet some of you crocheters out there, there was another bonus, as being at a show gives me an opportunity to understand better what you like, what you are interested in, how you choose a project and why.

So I came back with a lot of new ideas of what to make next, how to improve the page and the patterns and also I came back with a little present too…

In the past few months, I have been chatting online with a lovely lady called Joy which owns a shop in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, the shop is called Wool &More  https://showme.co.za/plett/lifestyle/woolmore/and they are stocklists for Stylecraft but they also have a lot of amazing local yarns.

 

Joy was in London visiting her new grandchild and also she came to see us at Ally Pally, she was so kind and brought me a selection of beautiful South Africans yarns! I loved reading the story behind these amazing mostly artisan-like fibres, I could appreciate the passion and skill required to produce the yarn and it makes using the skeins even more special. without people like Joy and her team, it would be really difficult for these yarns to reach the end consumers so

support your local shop wherever you live and  WELL DONE  Wool&More!

look a beautiful array of south African yarns!

and here a picture of   Joy ‘s friend Nicki and myself and in the background the VERY busy Stylecraft stand!.

 

I did make another scarf too , and loads of samples for the months to come, some will see the light and some others will go back at the bottom of the basket.

oh i nearly forgot…I made a bag too!!

so  November here I come!

 

stay tuned and remember…..

 

 

lucia xx

 

 

 

The EASTERN JEWELS is finally LIVE !

Lucia & Francesca / / Patterns, Stories

 

The September blanket is a bit of an unusual one…because I start making it 7 months ago…it took ages ( but I am going to tell you why) but I finally can share  it  with you and I never been so eager to write about a project as much as I have been for this  blanket.

So here is the story behind this latest collaboration between Jane Crowfoot,  https://janiecrow.co.uk/presta/Stylecraft https://www.stylecraft-yarns.co.uk/ and myself.

I will start with a bold statement:

THIS IS THE BEST BLANKET I CROCHETED SO FAR!!!

…and let me tell you I have crocheted quite a few of them!

It has been a real labor of love and,considering that it is not such a big blanket, it has also taken me ages to come up with the final color selection. I have been through several balls of yarn and I have a big basket of failed attempts sitting in my studio!!!!

Look at this “baby”…how lovely is she????

 

 

So grab a coffee or a tea, sit comfortably so I can tell you the story of the latest creation I have been working on, behind the scenes, for the past few months.

It all started back at the beginning of the year with another recoloring project: the Frida Primavera which I am sure many of you have seen it.

I enjoyed the challenge very much, I knew the blanket as I had taken part to the CAL that Jane ran for Stylecraft the previous year.

And, I am taking the opportunity to say that I am so happy that the new colorway was well received by many of you, thank you again for all your lovely messages!!.

On that wave, Annabelle from Stylecraft and Jane asked me, back in March, if I would consider doing the same for the Persian Tiles.

and by now you know me so I said …

YES!!!!

I knew the original pattern as I had bought a copy from Jane when it got released but I never got around making it…

Hence I got quite excited about the prospect of working on something new. The Persian tiles was another chance to unplug, look away from the screens and my day job, let the liminal brain take over and unleash creativity.

Doing that for an already existing pattern is an added bonus as I feel like it is a bit like coloring between the lines, in a way, quite a safe exercise,  as all I have to do is focus on the colors which are my favorite part of the process.

Where did I start from?

I always start, like I do for all my blankets, by making a sample of the motif with some random yarn as long as it is the same composition and gauge. It might seem a waste of time but it is the opposite.   Making a sample helps you to familiarise yourself with the pattern. It helps you to solve some possible “tricky” parts and it gives you an idea of tension and size of the final motive. It also allows you to see if you need to adjust or not the size of your hook and finally it is a record of your work to keep as future reference, especially if you are making the blanket for someone else.

this is a picture of one of the ‘trial’ motifs I made as said, it is random yarn to start with….

 

Once I got the motif right then is when the fun starts as it is COLOUR TIME!

So this is the original Persian Tiles. The picture is from Michelle and Anne’s page  crochetbetweenworlds.net    Michelle and Anne are also  Blogstars for Stylecraft, they are amazing and you should check their page! I believe this blanket was made by Michelle

what catches your eye first?

For me was the geometry of the pattern and how the original colors emphasized this aspect, so my first thought was that in order to make something that looked different and was a real alternative to the original, I needed to do something more than merely changing the original seven colors. I needed to come up with a different way to use colors and keep the geometry but in a more relax and loose manner. I show you what I mean with an example of actual tiles…

Here you have a collage of different way to use the colors in tiles that are very similar in style and all retain the same strong geometry feel. As you can see just changing how the colors are used it changes quite dramatically the overall look.

Using the tiles above as a reference, I thought that Jane’s original color selection was similar to square N.1.  What caught my attention was square N.3

I liked how the geometry aspect was a bit diluted by the apparent randomness of the colors.

So let’s have a close-up look at the Eastern jewels…

Can you see where I am coming from?  By not repeating the same sequence of colors for each motif it makes the blanket looks more ‘random’. In reality, it is not random at all, Every single color and its position have been chosen.

I used just 12 colors to start with including the buttermilk which is my “neutral”.

The buttermilk is actually the most important hue in all blanket. I was so pleased when Annabelle at Stylecraft accepted my proposal and introduced this new color in their range! I was so determined to convince her that it was a must! now you can see why…

 

 

 

these are the “neutrals” on the Stylecraft range…so you have:

white, cream, parchment, and buttermilk.

I apologize as the white is not in the picture but ..I run out of it!

Said that it doesn’t really matter because what I want to show you is not the actual hue but how they work with the other colors.

So now look how these neutrals behave in blankets….

WHITE:

 

 

 

CREAM:

 

 

PARCHMENT:

 

 

and finally the BUTTERMILK:

 

you will agree with me that if we are looking at:

PICTURE 1:

just ONE round of white in a very bright blanket still makes a huge impact.

PICTURE2 :

even if the percentage of the use of cream is much higher than in picture 1  it is still predominant but not as stark.:

PICTURE3:

there is a LOT of parchment…but it blends more with the colors and the impact is quite subdued.

finally PICTURE 4:

 

in the Eastern the buttermilk it is completely blended and helps the other colors to keep the geometry!

I know it might sound a bit too technical and boring but I want to give you the tools to see how colors behave so you can make your own combinations.

Another bit of theory and then I promise  I stop..

the blanket uses as I said 12 colors. I needed to keep the number of colors down to keep the cost of the blanket ‘s kit down and also to avoid to have a lot of left-overs.

 

To create the illusion of LOADS of colors EVERY motif has a DIFFERENT colors combination, BUT even if there are 12 colors and 14 rounds on each of the hexagons, I  used just an average of 7/8 colors for each Hexagon. The result is that each hexagon has a color which is more predominant and that is what creates the effect you see. Ironically if I had used all 12 hues for each hexagon  ( considering that there are 14 rounds you could, in theory, use all the hues for each motif) I would have a much more uniform looking blanket than what you see.

how did I decide what colors to use and when? very, very simple:

I wanted a “HAPPY” blanket, and I started by selecting colors that I identify with that. Colors that remind me of the past, of happy holidays, beautiful landscapes, the Mediterranean sea, but also the colors of food, spices, and even, why not, …smells.

As an example of colors reference how about this picture of the Cinque Terre,  five small villages on the Ligurian Coast of Italy called Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore…beautiful places so worth a visit if you are touring Italy.

Someone once asked me what computer program I use to choose and select the position of my colors…I actually laughed!!!  because if you knew me in person you would know that my relationship with technology certainly is one of “LOVE-HATE”!

I love computers as they allow me to communicate with you, but at the same time, every single task doesn’t seem to come ‘naturally ‘ to me. I always struggle and forget the sequence of steps  I have to take even in simple tasks as transforming an HR picture in a more manageable format so not to take all my allowance of data for the blog…so the idea of me mastering complex technologies and using some amazing gizmo of a color program is totally ludicrous!!

I use a large table crammed with pencils,  balls of yarn, color swatches,  and most of all my eyes…that is all there is to. No magic formulas in operation here!

Same goes to balance the blanket and choose the next round.

I always make one round at a time for each of the main motifs then I place them on the floor, the best place is outside if its not raining… as I get a real feel for the colors in natural light.   Here is a  couple of pictures of the blanket starting taking shape.

 

I wanted to share the creative process with you because it gives you an idea what takes making a blanket .. and that is just one part of it.

After the blanket is done, then the long and a bit tedious, process to record and translate my scribbles on my copybook into something that can be used starts…

I have to say I am not a fan of this particular stage of “blanket making” because you got to be precise and make sure that everything is correct and make sense, and I find all the above quite boring! I like playing with colors and making things..I do not like papers!  but at the end of the day that is of no use if it is not shareable…after all it is like a cooking recipe: you cant say ‘Oh there is a bit of this and a pinch of that..’ if you want someone else to make it!

That is all there is about it, my dear fellow crocheters!!

I want to thank Jane once again for letting me play with her patterns, and Annabelle plus all her team at Stylecraft for their hospitality and making me feel part of the team, for checking and re-checking my notes …. for   the  copious amounts of yarn they send me on a regular basis and the platform they have offered me to share my work with all of you out there!

I leave you with a couple of pictures I took in July at Stylecraft’s HQ…

 

and… I know the Model on the billboard looks much better than me holding the blanket… but please indulge me a little. lol!!.. after all I do love the Eastern very much and

I hope you will love it too!

 

thank you for reading

love lucia xx

JULY IS NEARLY OVER…THE HARLEQUIN BLANKET’S DETAILS

Lucia & Francesca / / Patterns, Stories

Hello everyone,

This month I am very ahead of myself! It has been a really busy month, I had a lot of deadlines and also I went to the Blogstar’s summer meeting last weekend which was absolutely fantastic! I came back with a bag full of new yarns and shades!! I met several of Stylecraft’s retailers too which was very interesting but I will tell you all about in another entry because the purpose of this one is to give you the details of the ‘Harlequin’. Having said that, I have been messing around in my studio all week clearing up yarn and upgrading the space, those of you that follow me on facebook will have seen some of the pictures…the purpose of the clear up was to be able to play with all that squishy, colorful new yarn!

I can’t wait to show you some of the new shades !!!!

I will update the blog and the Facebook once I start to make some samples and decide what to do with the haul….I am also going camping next week just for five days near Gloucester, with my daughter Francesca, and my friend Yvonne, another fabulous crocheter, so guess what get put in the boot of the car before anything else:

I bet you already know… YARN, YARN, YARN !!!!!

But as usual, I m going on a tangent… back to the ‘HARLEQUIN’:

I haven’t had a chance block the blanket yet as you can see the weather is really poor and I had no chance to do it properly as I  can’t dry it outside, so apologies if the border looks a bit “curly” it is actually perfectly flat.

 

first the PATTERN:

As said on facebook it is not mine but I found it free on the internet. It is the work of Solveig Grimstad , a very talented  Norwegian crocheter. This is her page :https://www.facebook.com/Solstrikke/.

She has fabulous projects, some are translated in English too, there are charts ( I followed the chart for my Harlequin)   and this is the link to the harlequin blanket which I used for my version:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/harlequin-blanket-5

I followed her pattern and my blanket measures: 92 cm x 102cm including the border. ( the original one is 75 x 80 cm.) I think the discrepancy between sizes is due to the yarn used, and the fact that  I made a different border.

As in the original version, there are:

38 full diamonds motifs,8 half diamonds

8 half diamonds  (vertical),

12 half diamonds ( horizontal).

The joining method is a JAYGO and again she has a lovely very clear photo tutorial on her blog’s entry I  gave you the link to, which I have followed.

 

BORDER:

I wanted a border a little bit more substantial so I opted for a different one:

Many of you I am sure are aware of the fabulous CAL called: NUTS ABOUT SQUARES. sponsored by Scheepjes. http://www.scheepjes.com/en/

It is free on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nuts-about-squares-cal  and also comes with Esther Dijkstra ‘s fantastic video tutorials too!!!

Nuts about Squares CAL

 

I really wanted to make the Nuts about squares blanket but sadly I have not enough time to squeeze another project in! I have still followed the different squares’ entries online as many of my favorite designers have participated designing one of the squares.

The border I used is week 15 of the CAL ,  it has been designed by Tatiana Kupryjanchyk    here is the link:

http://www.lillabjorncrochet.com/2017/07/nuts-about-squares-cal-border.html

the only thing I have added is a row of trebles all around to adjust the number of stitches to the requirement of Tatiana’s pattern repeat.

and a final row of: 1dc,3ch,1dc on he same dc of the precedent row, skip one dc and repeat. It is my mini shell finishing that I use in most of my blankets.

The joining color is CREAM  ( 2 balls)

 

crochet hook: 3,5 ( normally I use a 4,0 for the Stylecraft’s dk but I wanted a more tight fabric hence the 3,5. please do a swatch if you want to crochet the blanket and see what you like best).

YARN USED:  STYLECRAFT SPECIAL DK

STYLECRAFT SPECIAL DK in:

GOLD/GRAPE/VINTAGE PEACH/SPICE/FONDANT/CANDYFLOSS/BUTTERMILK/CREAM;

FONDANT/CANDYFLOSS/BUTTERMILK/CREAM;

STYLECRAFT  LIFE DK in:

DAFFODIL/MELON/CLOVER/LILY/FUCHSIA;

BATIK:

CORAL.

with the option of one ball of  KING COLE  SPRITE shade KOS.

I said option because you really don’t need it as there is plenty of yarn left from the Stylecraft to finish the project.

 

The reason I used the Sprite is that I wanted to create the effect of the crumbling walls of many of Venice’s buildings and the variegated effects of the Sprite did the job.

Here is a picture that let you understand what I mean with crumbling walls if you never visited Venice in person…they have a wonderful color/texture. the image is the House of the Rennaissance painter Tintoretto :

I love the colors not only of his house but of his paintings too. Look at this is called “Christ in the house of Mary and Martha” painted in 1580.

The warm oranges gold and pink are very common in the Rennaissance art, especially when linked to Venice.  I got another painting for you: this is a portrait of the Doge Andrea Gritti ( the Dogi were the rulers of Venice )  painted by Titian in 1545.  Just magnificent!

 

Anyway back to the Sprite …I got my ball as a sample from Linda at Threads…( she always tempts me with something new to try!!)  Now the Sprite looks lovely but I haven’t tested it.  I am saying this because I noticed it has an ever so slightly fuzz that I am not so sure how it will behave after several washes and use. I am very thorough with my testing, especially if I am going to recommend a yarn to you I feel the responsibility to make sure it behaves as it should as there is nothing more disappointing than spending loads of hours on a project and then ruining it through washing or use.

All the blankets I make are not just made to be PRETTY they are also made to be USEFUL, dragged by children, family pets, back of your sofa, car, taken on family holidays,  or simply used when you want something comfortable to wrap yourself in.

every yarn I use, regardless of the brand,  goes under the same process: I make a sample and then I hand wash it first to see the color fastness, then I put it in the washing machine and tumble dryer several times before using it for my projects. I didn’t have time to do all the above for the Sprite, so fingers crossed.

QUANTITY:

the blanket weight just 560 grams. I used probably about 45 grams of each colour…some more some less, plus 150 grams of cream again the quantities are approximate. But , as I said before, you can really decide if you want more motifs in one color instead than the other. I did about 3 motifs for each color to distribute the hues  evenly.

 

 

So this is all for today, I leave you with a picture of oranges and pinks in my garden…have a wonderful weekend and thank you for reading,

Lucia xxx

 

 

Odinella..the Icelandic Blanket.

Lucia & Francesca / / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories, Travel

Another blog entry…two in two days!  I love weekends because no work mean more time to write stories!  So some more about the June blanket:

 

Despite the heat, I finished the June blanket just a few days later then envisage.

 

I was so close to put the blanket in the WIP’s pile …as I didn’t consider the possibility that Scotland could get hot too, but I loved the yarn and the pattern I designed for the blanket so much that I persevered regardless of the temperature.

So now it still needs a  very simple border of some sort of type but I have run out of yarn and while I am waiting for it I started my July new adventure.

I might postpone the border to September I see how things go.

I was on the Ayrshire coast last weekend with my daughter Olympia and three of her friends,  so I took a few pictures of the blanket and the lovely coast.

The blanket is beautiful both sides! I still cant make up my mind which one I like the best…

 

The original idea for the pattern was to emulate the colors of Bifröst, the burning rainbow bridge that reaches between Asgard and Midgard,  a tribute to yet another of the books I love and I mentioned before: ‘the Prose Edda’.

I thought I was going to make some sort of stepping stones like large pebbles, colorful paving stones for the bridge, but as always happens with things that are made as you go, the ‘pebbles ‘ looked more like a starfish then anything else!

more so when I photographed the blanket on the Beach…

So yeah…no paving stones, sorry Heimdallr,

 

On the matters of lore, traditions, and stories I was going to mention elves and trolls and more so some really amusing little books written by a blogger and journalist called Alda Sigmundsdóttir. She has written several “Little Book” . they are a series of short essays that tell the story of the Icelanders,  now and in the past, some of the how they live, how they eat, how they deal with the beautiful but challenging Icelandic landscape.

Some of the topics include early superstitions, cultural anecdotes, and stories of the elves. (Do modern Icelanders really believe in elves? The answer may surprise you!)

Back to the blanket. I gave it a new name is called Odinella. you will find out why …

I realized that looks more like a  coterie of starfish, but as they are technically not fish… I am calling them sea stars.

While looking at images of sea star to use for this blog entry I stumbled on this beauty…is called Odinella and belongs to the family of the Brisingids.

     

 

The sea star’s family  is named after the Brisingamen, Old Norse for “glowing jewellery”,  ‘fire torc’ , the most beautiful necklace worn by the goddess Freyja so we still have  after all a Norse mythology connection, and Heimdallr is back too, as in the Prose of Edda, Loki steals the necklace, to avoid been found  he disguises  himself into a seal. Heimdallr turns into a seal as well and fights Loki. Heimdallr wins and returns Brísingamen to Freyja….great fun indeed.

Now this might be a bit controversial, as the Prose of Edda is a phenomenal extraordinary scholarly book, but…if you have no time to read it or you want something ‘lighter’ to share with your children you should have a look at  Neil Gaiman’s book :’Norse Mythology’. I found it witty and very enjoyable,  for me the added bonus,  is that it is available on Audible too, and the reader is Neil Gaiman himself!

back to the blankets some lovely shots of Turnberry’s lighthouse…( I walked over the golf course, not with a set of clubs but with a basket, a blanket, and a camera..and few puzzled looks)

 

 

the details of the pattern are still in a jumble in my scrapbook. I will ( don’t I always say that?! …) write it  down, but ,as I have been asked for the yarn I used, here is the list of the colors:

The yarn is LETT-LOPI  , a DK weight  100% wool. it comes on a 50 grams ball,100metres.

0867/9427/9426/9423/9421/1404/9418/9419/9432

/1414/9417/9431/9429/9428/9414/9434/1408.

I used 2 balls of all the above, besides 1408 (light red heather)  which I used just 1 ball as it is a very powerful hue.

 

the joining was done with 6 ( so far ) balls of 0058 (dark gray heather) I  am saying so far because I haven’t finished the border yet. I reckon I will need probably another 4..I am not sure.

More warnings…they yarn is FABULOUS BUT….if you are accustomed to the feel of acrylic, cotton, or merino please note that this is different. Lopi Lettlopi Wool is a breathable and water-repellent Aran weight roving yarn.

I love it and it is my favorite 100% wool yarn! it is the best for garments for the Scottish weather as it is rustic but so warm you will be pleasantly surprised! also, it is handwash only.

my advice? if you want to make the blanket before embarking in buying the full amount yarn just try a ball and see how you feel about it…

that is all for today,

happy crocheting,

lucia xxx

 

July’s blanket: A white rabbit, Venice,brocade and Arlecchino…..

Lucia & Francesca / / Lifestyle, Stories, Travel

July is already here!!! and to quote a very special white rabbit from one of my favorite books, ‘Alice in Wonderland’:

“the hurrier a go the behinder I get”!!

 

 

Besides me  chasing my tail for the past few weeks trying to fit everything in , Alice in wonderland’s  little white rabbit is not just going to remind me that I seem to be always behind with things, his tabard with the playing cards, is also going to be one of the sources of inspiration for my July blanket.

The July blanket is also a place that is very dear to me and where I have lived for 7 years while studying Architecture…

VENICE !

I know, how lucky is that?? I loved every single minute of those 7 years!

   

There are so many things I love  about Venice, to fill several blog entries, but for today I m going to focus on colors…( just for a change!) I am going to show you what has inspired not only the palette for  July’s blanket but also the pattern too.

So where to start….some shots of fabrics, buildings, interiors…  a riot of warm colors that summarize Venice for me…

how about the ‘coral room’ at Palazzo Brandolini,

 

or the interiors with their brocade’s dressed columns of St Brigida Church…

 

 

Some amazing fabrics…  Rubelli’s ‘ silk brocade with strawberries’

When coming to fabrics Venice for me is Rubelli and Mariano Fortuny….

From the historic Venice location of Palazzo Corner Spinelli , Rubelli , a 200 year old textile company, produces in their own weaving mills, an extraordinary quality of damask, silk, two-pile velvet, soprarizzo, lampas, and brocade.  they also have very modern and contemporary designs but what I am focusing on, is their traditional cloths.

    

and with Rubelli I also have to mention Mariano Fortuny.

Fortuny was a talented artist with a  passion for textiles.

He was an extraordinary man,  an inventor, painter,  sculptor, photographer, he was interested in architecture, and theater staging and lighting. But most of all  Fortuny was a fashion designer and  Palazzo Fortuny is the place where this extraordinary eclectic artist lived and worked and it is now a Museum well worth a visit.

Fortuny ‘s dresses were so legendary that if you like Proust you will remember Albertine been bribed to stay  by buying her Fortuny gowns that “swarmed with Arabic ornaments, like the Venetian palaces hidden like sultanas behind a screen of pierced stone.”

 

When it came to fabrics and fashion, he not only created extraordinary garments but he also manufactured his own dyes and pigments for his fabrics, with these dyes he began printing on velvets and silks and dyed them using a press that he invented with wooden blocks that he engraved the pattern onto. His dresses are seen as fine works of art today and many survive, in museums and many people’s personal collections.

 

Well, what can I say?, every corner of Venice is truly remarkable

to go back to the blanket now can you see where the colors come from….and the shape of the pattern?

the shape of the pattern is  not only from the playing cards’ tabard of the white rabbit , it is also from  the outfit of a very famous character of ‘la Commedia dell’Arte’ : Arlecchino ( Harlequin)

 

here a bit more of ‘Venice’…

 

Guess is enough for today, I m going and see how I assemble this little blanket of mine….

happy crocheting  !

Lucia xxx

 

 

 

 

 

Some overdue details for the Indigo blanket.

Lucia & Francesca / / Patterns

Hello everyone,

This entry is well overdue, but as I said on facebook I have been really busy with family, work, a commissioned crochet project, that I can’t wait to share with you all,  magazine articles, June’s blanket…and the giveaway too!!

Having said that, I have been putting together some close-up pictures of the Indigo blanket and a few notes about the patterns for the different squares,  the stitches used and some links online for them.

 

Firstly I would like to start saying that the peculiarity of this blanket is to be a  bit random, so please do not feel stressed about sizes of the squares, how many rounds etc. it is after all  it is all about scraps, recycling and  random  motifs  pieced  together, wanting to perfectly recreate what I have done defeats the purpose of the concept of ‘boro’.

Use my blanket and the details I have posted here as a guideline to create your own indigo blanket!

In my previous post I gave you the details of the yarn and materials  I used:

 

 

and the link to the overlay mandala from CARO that is the focal point of the blanket. As I have said, anything round that you like will do. I wanted to try one of her mandalas and that is why I bought the pattern.

besides, it is SO IMPORTANT to support the designers by buying some of their patterns when you can. I know that everyone prefers free patterns but please sometimes spare a moment for the designers.. after all the patterns will  cost as much as a fancy coffee out of your favourite chain, or  a magazine; and the point is those 3, of 4 pounds you spend  will give you hours of pleasure and entertainment and will help one of those talented ladies to find the time to dedicate to create some more patterns for all of us to enjoy!

I had no idea what an arduous task it is to write a pattern until I attempted to do it  ‘properly’myself. It takes hours upon hours, then you got to have it tested for mistakes by some other crocheter, then you have to photograph the different stages, maybe make a chart and also you have to set it up on a template!

I am doing all of that for the Norian…So far I had to pay for someone to make me a template to use, because I do not have the IT skills to create one from scratch by myself,  also often it is a good idea to use a  professional pattern corrector to make sure that your pattern is absolutely foolproof  and making sure that each comma and hyphen is in the right place so anyone can understand and follow your instructions, that doesn’t come for free either….

well …sorry for the rant!

 

Anyway, back to the Indigo blanket.

 

let’s start at the top with the cherry blossom squares.

There are 10 of them, they measure 19cm square ( just over 7 inches square) I used a size 4 1/2 hook and one strand of Jeanie yarn in Memphis/Dixie/Delta. Also, the petals are in StylecrafAran in cream. This is the pattern I used.

I am sorry the chart is not good quality but it is a zoomed screenshot from Postila Ru and I can’t find the original link.

After round 7 I added another round of front post trebles to increase the size of the square and give some tridimensionality.

The squares are joined together on the right side with a simple dc round. Again I loved the 3D effect.

 

The long rectangle on the right of the  cherry blossom square is made up with rows of  long double crochet linen stitch  a fabulous textured stitch here is a link to the pattern:

 

Long Double Crochet Linen Stitch Pattern

It is made of alternate rounds: one round is a strand of 4ply

one round is a strand of 4ply Stylecraft  yarn in cream with a strand of Sundae dk in blueberry sorbet.

2nd round is one strand of Batik  storm.

The rectangle measure 58cm/18 cm.  and I started with a 28 chains and 78 rounds.

the first block with the embroidery the pattern is of a pot holder. I liked the look of it and this is the link to the embroidery aspect:

https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/506373551838477528/

there are 8 solid granny squares all made of 7 rounds. This is the pattern  I used : http://www.craftpassion.com/solid-granny-square-crochet-pattern/

one of each in : cream/Memphis/dixie/delta

one in a alternate rows in delta/menphis/dixie/cream/ delta/Memphis.

one in alternate rounds of  a strand of 4ply in cream and storm together and a round of cream

one in a strand of 4 ply cream and blueberry sorbet together

one in a strand of batik indigo and 4ply cream

they all measure 19 cm square.

there are  2 squares of half trebles alternate 2 rows of each in dixie and delta and the other one is memphis and cream

a large rectangle in Memphis with some embroidery in cotton classique dk ivory . This is the diagram , again from postila. no idea of the source.

The one that I haven’t been able to source again is, unfortunately, my favorite square. I think has been taken down from online because it must have breached copyrights. I have no idea. All I know is that it has disappeared…But there are loads of alternative of  very similar shell patterns on my picot. here is a couple of links you might want to consider:

 

 

http://mypicot.com/0031.html

http://mypicot.com/0037.html

There are some denim squares, rectangles, and 1 hexagon. I tried to salvage as much as I could out of the jeans I cut. The size is not relevant but make sure your corners are 90 degrees, it make easier to crochet around !

I cut my pieces with a rotary cutter, it came with 3 types of blades: a straight one, a wave one, and a perforating blade. this is the Amazon link : https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005DQ90UM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 .

I cut the pieces to the shapes I wanted with the straight blade, then I ran the perforated one about 5 millimeters from the edge of the piece. That creates the holes that allow you to go through with a crochet hook and make the border ( I just did a sort of elongated DC (UK terms) ). 2 points of advice. if the fabric ( like mine was ), is a bit frail and old you might end up ripping the space between the holes…as there isn’t much space, my blade created probably a 2/3 millimeters bridge between holes, so when you try to join 2 pieces of fabric that have a crochet edge, it is not strong enough to hold. Hence why I often overlapped the pieces to not create a point of tension and rip the border. But if you use a stronger fabric I think it will hold much better. It all depends. Another way to do it it is making single holes with the crochet head..now I did that on the hexagons, again it is a bit of a pain, to be honest…I know that the correct way should be using a needle and thread and create a border where you can attach the crochet, but I felt it was a bit of a palaver and I always try to find out the quickest route. ( after all the blanket was an experiment). so to summarize: perforating blades are a great choice but you must have a reasonably strong fabric, and a steady hand to run the holes; individual holes, again great if the fabric is thinner but a bit labour intensive if otherwise; 3 the thread and needle one: most likely the best if you want something really neat but it will take a great deal of time. You will have to make a sample with the fabric of your choice and see how you feel about it.

The piecing together it is really a bit of a try and miss!! I just overlayed some and but together others….the only important thing is that you try to come up with a blanket that is as rectangular as possible with straight sides!  If your squares are too big and do not fit, once you have decided the frame of the blanket just overlay them to fit! After all, that is what Boro is about, overlaying and just stitch together.

If you are more skilled and patient than I am let your creativity run riot and decorate your blanket with some lovely embroidery!  Get inspiration from sashiko work, some is incredibly beautiful and complex but some are just simple run of single small stitches together..I tried a bit of this and that but I am definitely NOT skilled at all.Having said that I love it because it is not perfect!

 

I hope the guidelines above are of some use to you all,

happy crocheting,

Lucia x

 

 

 

 

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