crochet Archives - Lucias Figtree

THE NONNO BEPI BLANKET

Lucia & Francesca / May 14, 2022May 14, 2022 / Blog, Design, Lifestyle, Pastime, Patterns, Stories

One very BIG blanket…

Hello everyone,

Firstly thank you very much for all the likes and lovely messages I received both on Facebook and Instagram for my blanket! I am overwhelmed.

This is a project that started without a precise plan and mainly as a way to relax during a rather difficult time and has ended up being a rather successful one.

Sometimes it is really true, the less you plan, the better the results.

It all started at the end of January, I needed something to do while in Italy looking after my dad that was very sick, and the blanket kept me going during those long weeks.

Mosaic crochet is a straightforward and rewarding technique, there is something quite cathartic in working rows upon rows of double crochet and trebles, so it seems, at the time, the perfect choice for the circumstances.

I had seen Winter Wonderland and Winters Heart on social media and in order to create a bit more of a challenge I just mixed the 2 patterns together.

Drops Alaska seemed to be the most sensible choice as it is widely available in both Italy and the UK, and, at the time was also 30% off. ( which helps…)

After Dad passed, I have to say, I got tempted to abandon the project as it reminded me of a difficult time, but then I thought, that my dad never left anything half-done, he was a perfectionist and everything he did was always done at the best of his abilities and he took great pride in his work…

So I kept going and I finished! And I am very glad I did!

I called the blanket NONNO BEPI ‘S BLANKET, in his memory, to remind me, not of the sadness of his departure, but of all the lovely times we had together.

A BIG THANK YOU also to ABI @getyerhookon and ANA @oneskeinoflove , they created 2 beautiful blankets that inspired me!

As promised I have pulled together as many pieces of information as possible, so you can make the blanket yourself.

Please bear in mind that I have combined two patterns of other designers to make my blanket and I take copyrights very seriously so I will give you the colour I used, their placements and quantities but you need to buy ( as I did ) both the patterns for the charts of the different sections.

To make it easier I also added a diagram with the position of the different charts in the blanket.

You need to figure how ( depending on how wide you want your blanket to be ) the number of repeats for the blanket and how wherein the repeat you want to start to create and combine the 2 different patterns together.

I added some close-up pictures of the edges so that should help.

Both Patterns are very comprehensive and they already give you the number of repeats so it is just up to you how wide you want your blanket to be.

My blanket is 200 cm wide by 180cm long in total.

those measures are UNBLOCKED.

I had not a chance to wash or block the blanket because it is huge, it weighs 5 kilograms..

The weather in Scotland is still pretty awful at the moment and there is a big chance, if I wash it , that it will NEVER dry!

So that is my excuse for not blocking… Besides the fact that being so heavy it sits perfectly flat and square and I am not so bothered about the blocking.

So lets start:

As said on social media I used 2 different patterns combined:

-WINTERS HEART designed by Abi McIntyre ( a fellow Scot!) @GetYerHookOn

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/winters-heart-mosaic-blanket

and

– WINTER WONDERLAND designed by Ana Morais Soares @One Skein of Love.

ttps://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/winter-wonderland-mosaic-cal

You can find both patterns on Ravelry and here are the links

YARN:

I used 108 balls of DROPS YARNS: ALASKA.

ALASKA is a 100% wool, Aran weight yarn that comes in 50gr balls,70 metres.

As said on social media it is a LOT of yarn but it is reasonably priced, well tested, widely available and also Drops does regular 30% discounts sales during the year ( I bought mine at the sale).

I have used Drops many times for my projects over the years and I think it is an excellent choice.

The Wool warehouse sells the yarn so please click on their logo on the side of the blog.

COLOURS USED:

– 58 MUSTARD: 4 balls
– 62 FOG MIX: 6 balls
– 66 TOFFEE: 15 balls
– 67 MAROON: 10 balls
– 12 NAVY BLUE: 12 balls
– 63 PEARL GREY: 10 balls
– 64 NORTH SEA: 21 balls
– 65 SAGE GREEN: 16 ball
– 50 DARK BROWN MIX: 9 balls
– 49 LIGHT BROWN MIX : 5 balls

PLEASE NOTE:

The quantities are approximate and are based on my tension so bear that in mind

I used 2 hooks:

-5.0mm for the body of the blanket
-4.5mm for the foundation round of the border.

TENSION:

BASED ON A SQUARE 10CM X 10CM worked in MOSAIC TECHNIQUE AND A 5.0 HOOK:

16 stitches x 15 rows.

PATTERN REPEATS:

You will have to do a bit of maths to fit the repeats of the 2 patterns as they are not the same, but it is very easily done by looking at the blanket edges.

In order to calculate your stitches counts and me not breaking copyrights

I give you the number of repeats I used:

I took as reference WINTER WONDERLAND’s reindeer as they are easily spotted in the blanket (PATTERN 4 in Oneskeinoflove’s pattern)

MY BLANKET HAS 14 REINDEER.

For WINTERS HEART I took as reference the STAR (PATTERN 9 in Getyerhookon ‘s pattern)

MY BLANKET HAS 9 STARS.

Some advice…

Please study the picture of the blanket… and the start of the patterns. You will notice that I have respected the start of the WINTER WONDERLAND chart but I had to MOVE the beginning of WINTERS HEART to fit the discrepancy between the repeat.

I am also a bit obsessed with symmetry so I always try to centre the patterns, even though I might have to fidget a little, for example, the centre of the pine trees is in line with the centre of the star… but again it is up to you.

PATTERN SECTIONS/COLOURS USED

I made a chart for you to see which pattern I used in each SECTION.

There are 13 SECTIONS which I numbered with letters from A to M .

Please see the chart below:

SECTION A :

Pattern 1 of WINTER WONDERLAND.

COLOURS:

C1: 64 north sea

C3: 66 toffee

SECTION B:

Pattern 2 of WINTER WONDERLAND (small hearts)

COLOURS:

C1: 50 dark brown mix

C3: 65 sage green

Small variation:

Row 2 and Row 14 are in NAVY BLUE

SECTION C:

Pattern 3 of WINTER WONDERLAND

COLOURS:

C1: 64 north sea

C3: 58 mustard

Small variation:

I added 1 extra row of DC ( UK ) and SC ( us) at the top and at the bottom of the pattern and they are both in sage green (65).

SECTION D:

Pattern 4 of WINTER WONDERLAND, The reindeer is my favourite!

COLOURS:

C1: 67 maroon

C3: 63 pearl grey

Small variation:

I added 1 extra row of DC ( UK ) SC ( us) at the top and at the bottom of the pattern and they are both in navy blue (12)

There is some INTARSIA technique in this section, the diamonds between the reindeer are done in NAVY BLUE.

To do the intarsia you carry 2 strands at the same time and you switch colours following the chart. If you have never done intarsia before there are several videos on youtube. The colours that you are not using you carry in the back, to avoid the floats being a nuisance in the following row when you do the DC ( UK term) you can include the float. it will not appear on the front. Please look at the picture of the back as a reference.

SECTION E:

Pattern 9 of WINTERS HEARTS ( stars)

COLOUR A: 65 sage green

COLOUR B: 66 toffee

Small variation:

I added 1 extra row of DC ( UK ) SC ( us) at the top and at the bottom of the pattern and they are both in the north sea (64)

Row A1 and Row A35 are in a Dark brown mix (50)

Also in this section, there is some intarsia (the diamond and the centre of the star are in MAROON (67) and row 18 and row 20

are in the north sea (64) plus take note of row 16 the intarsia to frame the square around the centre.

Close up of star E

SECTION F:

Pattern 5 of WINTERS HEARTS ( pine trees)

MY BLANKET HAS 8 PINE TREES

COLOUR A: 49 light brown mix

Colour B: 50 dark brown mix

Small variation:

Intarsia for the star in between the pine trees is worked in the north sea (64)

I added 1 extra row of DC ( UK ) SC ( us) at the top and at the bottom of the pattern and they are both in mustard (58)

SECTION G:

Pattern 7 of WINTER WONDERLAND

COLOURS:

C1: 65 sage green

C3: 58 mustard

Small variation :

R1 is in light brow mix (49) and R11 is in north se (64)

SECTION H:

Pattern 14 of WINTER WONDERLAND (snowflakes )

MY BLANKET HAS 14 SNOWFLAKES

COLOURS:

C1: 62 fog mix

C3: 12 navy blue

Small variation:

I added 1 extra row of DC ( uk ) SC ( us) at the top and at the bottom of the pattern and they are both in north sea (64)

SECTION I:

Pattern 9 of WINTERS HEARTS ( stars)

COLOUR A: 66 toffee

COLOUR B: 65 sage green

Small variation:

I added 1 extra row of DC ( uk ) SC ( us) at the top and at the bottom of the pattern and they are both in north sea (64)

Row A1 and Row A35 are in Dark brown mix (50)

Also in this section there is some intarsia (the diamond and the centre of the star are in navy blue (12) and at the same time you carry an extra strand of maroon for the centre of the star.

Closeup picture star I

SECTION J

Pattern 4 of WINTER WONDERLAND, The reindeer again

COLOURS:

C1 : 63 pearl grey

C3: 67 maroon

Small variation:

I flipped the original chart!

So the reindeer are looking to the RIGHT ( that is easily done with a phone using the edited photo and you mirror the original chart )

I think they look much better but obviously is up to you. I added 2 extra rows of DC ( UK ) SC ( us) at the top and at the bottom of the pattern and they are both in fog mix (62) and navy blue (12)

There is some INTARSIA technique in this section, the diamonds between the reindeer are done in NAVY BLUE.

SECTION K:

Pattern 3 of WINTER WONDERLAND

COLOURS:

C1: 64 north sea

C3: 58 mustard

Small variation:

I added 1 extra row of DC ( UK ) SC ( us) at the top and at the bottom of the pattern and they are both in fog mix (62).

SECTION L:

Pattern 2 of WINTER WONDERLAND (small hearts)

COLOURS:

C1: 50 dark brown mix

C3: 65 sage green

Small variation:

Row 2 and Row 14 are in NAVY BLUE

SECTION M:

Pattern 1 of WINTER WONDERLAND.

COLOURS:

C1: 64 north sea

C3: 66 toffee

BORDER:

My border is a double border so I can sandwich the pesky ends!

the foundation round is done in dc ( UK terms) and a size 4.5 hook and the following rounds are half trebles(UK term) the back is 4 rows and the front is 4 rows too, both made in the north sea (54), I joined the 2 sides of the border with a row of dc ( UK term) in maroon (67)

Also …

Make sure you have the same number of stitches on the vertical sides!!! otherwise, your blanket will squint.. the best way is to take a note of how many stitches you do per section, and make sure you do the same on the other side!

FEWWWW IT IS DONE!!! I hope it helps

HAPPY CROCHETING TO YOU ALL

Love,

Lucia xxx

The PEACHY PETALS BLANKET

Lucia & Francesca / July 23, 2020November 5, 2020 / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories

The PEACHY PETALS a new blanket…

After some silence I got a new blanket for you!

The time in lock down has given me the opportunity to reflect on what ‘s really important to me and it has been a time to re-evaluate priorities and to think about resetting goals for the future.

This doesn’t apply just to crochet but also to my life in general.

Crochet has played, without exaggeration, a vital role in these past few months, it has entertained me, distracted and brought some well needed focus.

I crocheted a lot, I made several samples, but mainly I focused on two new blankets.

One is a collaboration project with my friend Tinna Porudottir Porvaldar ( but I will write about all of that in my next entry…) and the other is PEACHY PETALS !!

Over these past months I have been looking into my work and what I like about designing.

And I think I am a bit of an ‘odd ball’ ( no surprise in that…)

I don’t know how other designers work but for me every blanket is a long journey, it takes a lot of energy and time to come up with a concept or something that I think is new or interesting… so you will wonder why do I do it?

Because I love it! I love the excitement of starting something new, I like making samples, choosing and tweaking the motif ,and at the same time my favourite part… picking the colours and fibres.

So the Peachy Petals is the result of all the above and several months of work.

Let’s start from the name.. why Peachy Petals….

‘Petal’ in Scotland is an old fashioned term of endearment, I heard Glen, my daughter Olympia’s boyfriend, calling her petal once, on a car journey, and the combination of the Scottish brogue plus the actual word made me smile ( don’t ask me why, it just did! ) , she is a bit of a petal after all!

And peach is her favourite colour… so there we go, a blanket came in my mind to emulate who Olympia is .. a lovely soft sweet girl that always smiles.

I wanted warm, light suffuse hues to emulate her character hence why the Peachy Petal is very different from my much bolder style!

So could I create something that is not so familiar to me? The answer is yes, as I do love a challenge.

Then came the practicality..how can I create something with tonal and subtle hues that is pleasing and interesting without using a ridiculous amount of different yarns and costing a fortune?

The secret is mixing…

I started with a colour “Blooming Dahlia” or Pantone 15-1520

then I made a mood board of basic tonal palette inspired by interiors .It came apparent that the most important thing to create a well balanced project while using several variations of the same colour.

The aim of this blanket was to use natural fibres and to create an array of tonal suffuse pale hues without using a lot of different colours and making the blanket prohibitively expensive!

I am very aware of the cost impact on my projects and I strive to offer projects that are beautiful but cost effective .

I think the combination of a mercerised cotton like Muskat and the Mohair silk yarn is a fabulous way to achieve the above.

The Mohair works beautifully in combination with the silkiness of the mercerised cotton and create not only subdued variations in colour but also gives a beautiful soft halo to the blanket. and… they work perfectly together, no knots, no tangles.

I have also added to the pattern a bonus version of the blanket ,made by one of my testers , Susan Cox.

Susan sent me this lovely picture of her blanket that she called ‘SPRING PETALS’ .

She made her blanket in 100% cotton too but without Mohair. and she also crocheted a lovely cushion made with a combination of cotton and mohair.Am I not a lucky girl to have such lovely ladies helping me?

My testers Janet and Julie tested the motif and Maggie draw a chart of the motif that I added to the pattern.

The pattern has also all the details on how to use the different yarns and the placements for each of the 96 motifs in the blanket, plus all the stats for Susan’s version. I think it is a lovely variation to the pattern and I hope it will give you the confidence to use this versatile pattern with the colours of your choice.

You can download the pattern either from here or from Raverly

Peachy Petals Blanket- Digital Download

So THANK YOU Susan for sharing your project, and Maggie Bullock for the motif’s chart.

LasT but not least you can get all the yarn for the blanket from the Woolwarehouse just press the icon , they have just started to send yarn internationally again after teh lockdown and the MUSKAT is on sale at 40% less until the end of JULY !!!!

Woolwearhouse MUSKAT LINK

So I hope you will give my new blanket a go !

Happy crocheting,

Lucia

A Tyrolean table set

Lucia & Francesca / June 5, 2020November 5, 2020 / Patterns, Stories, Travel

If someone had told me last Christmas , that the world was going to change and I would spend the best part of the new year in lockdown in my home and scamper trying to rally all my children back I would first thought you have been watching far too many sci-fi movies .

Travel bans and self-quarantines across the globe have led to ‘U-turns’ and majour change of plans…

Today I should be packing ready to leave and spend a few weeks with my family in Italy , instead my flight has been cancelled and I am going no where…What I found more frightening is not the disruption of my plans but the fact that even visiting your parents is an impossible idea.

So while spending another week under lockdown, myself as many of you all over the world are looking cautiously and hopefully to better times.

So what is the best way to focus on positive thoughts?

Making something that remind you of happier and better times!

That is the thought behind my TYROLEAN TABLE SET.

As few of you know I come from a small village in Northen Italy and I love the Dolomites. I am so lucky that I had the opportunity to spend weekends and long holidays on the most amazing beautiful mountains since I was a little girl and now my children are enjoying visiting the same village as I did.

Photography@martino pietropoli

I love everything of the landscape of South Tyrol the picture perfect villages, the fresh air, the majestic mountains, the trees,the food and …obviously the textiles.

photography@ patrick baum

The Tyrolean region has an amazing tradition of beautiful fabric, natural materials, yarn and garments.

One of my favourite garment of the Alps is the Dirndl. My girls ,over the years, have enjoyed wearing this beautiful folk costume and traditional dress for women and girls in the Alps.

With a lot of colours and textures in mind I created this new project and ,if you want to make something that is not too challenging or time consuming , a little project to enjoying between other works in progress, or a quick present to give to a loved one I think the TYROLEAN TABLE SET is a great option.

The pattern has written instructions and there are charts for both place-mat and coaster.

Tyrolean Table Set

I used Drops Muscat dk, a 100% mercerised cotton yarn, the quantities are specified in grams and there are 3 different colours options

You can find your yarn here:

WOOL WAREHOUSE DROPS MUSCAT LINK

With a dk yarn the place-mat measures 39 cm/15.5 inches in diameter and the coaster measures 12 cm/5inches.

All the best to You all out there, stay safe and keep crocheting!

love,

Lucia

The Coorie shawl, Tinna and I…..

Lucia & Francesca / March 30, 2020November 5, 2020 / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories

Hi Everyone,

Well two posts in the space of a few days.. things are indeed changing…

I normally stay clear from talking about myself or my life and I focus on general topics or a crochet project, mainly because I do not think my life is so eventful to be worth it sharing but I am going to make an exception with this post.

I still find quite surreal what is going on around me at the moment but I guess I am not alone in my bewilderment.

By last Thursday the adrenaline that fuelled me over the mad rush to try to sort out as much as possible before the lock down dwindled to fumes, and I suddenly got hit by the enormity of the situation not only for me and my family but for the entire human race. That subsequently morphed into an overwhelming anxiety based on tsunami of “what if…” dreadful scenarios.

I was so engulfed by the all thing that I couldn’t even pick up my hook and work on something.

I just went to my bed…

then, as I couldn’t sleep, I picked up my phone, which normally I NEVER do, as all Electronic devices are banned , in purpose,from my bedroom, but in these past few weeks I made an exception and kept it by my bedside just in case I end up missing a call from my parents or my brother in Italy…

Any way, I am scrolling down my messages and I see one from Tinna .

I post a screen-shot for you…

So I downloaded the pdf expecting the new pattern we had chatted about while she was here instead there is something new: the Coorie shawl…

and I am like awww a Scottish inspired pattern, so nice of her…

then I read the introduction and I started to cry…

What can I say?

Serendipity…things happen to you when you most need them!

I am posting the introduction here, but, please ,forgive me if it might seems a bit self indulgent.

I assure you that it is not the reason why I am posting it at all.

I am sharing it with you because those lines encompass all what I love about crochet!

Crochet is about feeling good ,enjoying the craft, it is about friendship,gifting, sharing, exchanging. Crochet is about hard work behind the scenes, it is about an overwhelming addiction to yarn, but what Crochet is for me is people!!

Please do not get me wrong, it is not all pretty rainbows and fluffy clouds,

more you share more you put yourself out there .

Bigger is your presence on line bigger isyour exposure to all sort, and you do encounter some unpleasant people which take vantage of you and your craft, but, thank goodness, there aren’t so many of them and the overall experience is so worth the effort, the sleepless nights, because the pattern is not right, the frustration with technology, the worries, the lack of time and more so the going back and start again…

The magical bit happens when, in your journey, you stumble in someone very special indeed.. and you find out that besides crochet you got loads of other things in common!

So when I picked up Tinna at the airport that Tuesday it felt like I was picking up a old friend,I opened my home to her and she fitted in like a glove as simple as that and if wasn’t for the crochet I will never have met her!

So yesterday I set aside what I was working on, pull out the lovely Icelandic Plötulopi yarn Tinna brought me and I am making my Coorie, with this lovely surprising light unspun yarn it will remind me of the lovely time we had together and I cannot wait for the next time we will see each other again.

As the real magic in life is just human kindness.

So all the best to you all out there, stay safe

Peace and love,

also last but not least, if you want to make your COORIE too you can find Tinna’s pattern here:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/coorie-3

LUCIA XXX.

Last chapter on the January ‘s blues blanket.

Lucia & Francesca / February 4, 2019November 5, 2020 / Patterns, Stories

I can not believe we are already in February!

Normally January drags a bit on for me but this year has definitely not been the case.

I guess I have been very busy with work and with “non-crochet “related stuff but I still managed to add a border and finish the blanket.

Today I can give you the last pieces of information so, if you like, you can finish your blanket in the same way.

About the border, I am going to digress a little bit and give you some thoughts.

I personally love borders very much especially if they are big and bold!

That works even better if you have a simple pattern throughout the main body of the blanket as we have in this case. Maybe my propensity for statements borders is due to the fact that my first attempts on crochet, many years ago, were cotton’s tread fancy borders for linen towels!

If you are Italian or Spanish or just Mediterranean in general you might are very familiar with them.

another picture this time from the oldest and most famous creative magazine in italy called “Mani di fata” which translate very appropriately in “Faerie hands” !!

It used to be a great test for beginners to master crochet without embarking in something too challenging or time-consuming, even if, I have to admit, it still took a fair amount of time to make them as the cotton yarn was at least a 4ply but often much thinner than that.

I have a few stashed in a drawer somewhere in the house, I use them seldom as they are delicate and definitely not tumble-driers proof!!!

If bold and big is not your style, it doesn’t matter as a ripple pattern can look just beautiful as it is! the little scallop at the top and end can be left as it is and still look fabulous so do not panic if you cannot be bothered doing the border your blanket will still look lovely. Just surf the internet or Pinterest for inspirations, and remember it is YOUR blanket so don’t be afraid to go off-piste! actually, I love if you go off-piste and you put your input! it makes your blanket more personal.

Back to what I have done… some pictures to start with:

In my case, I filled the ripple because I prefer straight edges especially if you are opting for a more challenging border.

I draw the distribution of the “filling” stitches for the top and bottom of the blanket.

I started my foundation round with the Pistachio on the corner ( now you can see why it is good to start and finish the blanket with the same colour. it brings continuity on your foundation round, which means when you start the next round of the border with a contrasting colour ( in my case is the claret) you have a solid even base to work with)

on the side I worked 2 dc in the space created by each tr at the beginning and end of each round .

I have in my case 195 stitched in each of the vertical sides of the blanket and 114 on each of the horizontal for the 4 corners we have :(1dc-ch1-1dc) repeated 4 times.

so the foundation round is made of (1dc-2ch-1dc)+ 114 +(1dc-2ch-1dc)+195+ (1dc-2ch-1dc)+114+(1dc-2ch-1dc)+195.

the border is done with Claret and a 3.5 hook

I have chosen for the border again a diagram I found on Pinterest this is a picture of it. I made some minor adjustments to the last couple of rounds to simplify it mainly because the pattern is written for a cotton thread and not DK yarn.

Ther repeat of the pattern is on a multiple of 10 so on my first round of claret I added 4 stitches in the each of the short sides and 3 on each of the long sides.

If you use another pattern for the border please consider adjusting the number of the stitches according to the repeat!

I posted a couple of close-up so you can see better how the pattern develops. It has a fair amount of rounds but it is pretty fast.

my last round is a contrasting one done in Fuchsia purple.

YARN QUANTITIES USED for the border:

for the Filling round and foundation, I used 35 grams of PISTACHIO

for the BORDER:

ROUND 1 TO 7 : I used 150 grams of CLARET

ROUND 8 : I used 30 grams of FUCHSIA PURPLE

last but not least….

I have been asked if I can transcribe the diagrams into words…. I know for many of you it is easier to use written instructions but I wish you tried ( NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION !!!) to use a diagram!! It will open you amazing opportunities! this blanket, in particular, has such an easy diagram so please give it a try trust me you will never look back! there are loads of tutorial on you tube to learn how to read a diagram, do have a look and see which one suits you better.

love to you all…

I have something new I am working on so I will post again very soon,

lucia xx

A little bit more about the January’s blues blanket

Lucia & Francesca / January 21, 2019November 5, 2020 / Patterns, seasonal pattern, Stories, Uncategorized

Firstly sorry this blog entry is a bit late, finally, after a very frustrating weekend, I got my blog back!

I am quite impressed with myself for sticking to my new year’s resolutions ( or trying to) …I am back writing again!…( mind you it is early days…) nevertheless it feels good!

One of my children bought me a planner this year, I don’t know if it is meant to be a gentle hint to get better organised as I failed completely last year trying to ‘get organised’ using an App on my phone!

So on 2019, we go back to basic! Hoping that pen and paper might do the trick for me …

Do you have a planner too?

I still have to get used to these little snippets of encouragement that are keeping appearing randomly on this planner ..they make me giggle. I just discovered that there are stickers too! Probably those are a step too far for me🤣🤣🤣

I will keep you posted!

Let’s get back to the blanket.

I finished the main body a couple of days ago and I have been gathering the details so you can make one yourself.

As you know the blanket is not completed but I think it could be interesting for you to follow me “in real time” and see the blanket coming along, a bit like being behind the scenes.

The pattern is really simple, that was the point of this blanket in the first place, to do something really easy and relaxing.

I used a V-STITCH RIPPLE for my blanket. As said on Facebook there are several versions and options for the stitch available out there.

The version I used I found it on Pinterest. Just a diagram nothing more here is the picture I have used.

I like to give credit to the designers even if I think this is just a diagram of something that has been out in the open as a free pattern. All I got is a watermark which said Tejiendo Peru’ I have also tried to get in touch with them but with no joy. so I assume it is ok for me to share with you as it is in the public domain already..

I used the diagram above as a guide but I did an alteration to it.

If you read the diagram you noticed that the rows are worked on the front (RIGHT side ) , then you turn your blanket and you work on the back (WRONG side). If you follow the diagram as it is in the picture below you can see the result:

I didn’t like the results on turning your work after each round, as I think it muddles the effect of the stitch so I opted for working just on the RIGHT SIDE ONLY! you can see the difference in the picture here:

The blanket is even, each round is exactly the same, no difference either in size or texture. Also because I change yarn every row it makes no difference of whatsoever if I work always in the front.

Maybe you are all thinking I can’t see where the fuss is all about, but believe me when you work the all blanket you definitely will be able to see the difference between the two options. working just on the front makes a much better-looking blanket.

The blanket still doesn’t have a border but the main part measures 90 cm wide by 140 Cm long

the yarn used is STYLECRAFT SPECIAL DK . the hook size is a 3.5 mm (E).

Here the list of the colours I used:

The number between brackets refers to the quantities of yarn used in grams. obviously, do bear in mind that the yarn usage is just an indication based on my tension and a 3.5 hook used.

So dig out your leftovers from your stash as you might be able to use them and plan the blanket.

LIPSTICK (13)
SPICE (53)
CLARET (29)
MAGENTA (17)
PLUM (29)
FONDANT (27)
CLEMATIS (29)
MUSTARD (71)
PISTACHIO (90)
SHERBET (51)
ASPEN (33)
TURQUOISE (23)
STORM BLUE (10)
PETROL (34)
CYPRESS (25)
TOMATO (25)
MEADOW (71)
FUCHSIA PURPLE (52)

The pattern is based on a 14 stitches repeat plus 3. I started with 269 chain stitches that gave me 19 REPEATS ( 90 cm wide) it is very easy to adjust the size by adding or subtracting repeats to get to the size that you want.

I also took note of the colours sequence I used. there are 96 rows.

a couple of HINTS :

if you look at the blanket I have repeated the first 3 rows in reverse order at the end. that will finish your blanket much better, it is like a visual frame which works beautifully not only for this blanket but in any you might want to do at home.
I also started each row with a self-standing treble and NOT 3 chains as in the diagram ( simply because I feel is a more sturdy way to start and it will work better when we will add the border.

that is all for today

thank you for reading,

Lucia xx

JANUARY’S BLUES…AND MORE THOUGHTS

Lucia & Francesca / January 10, 2019November 5, 2020 / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories, Uncategorized

2019…

a new year!

I don’t know about you but I found January a bit of a difficult month…especially after the whirlpool of activities, family, parties, food, visitors, birthdays and so on.

January means the fizzling out of the holidays and that life is about to crank back into action and so I welcome the new year with a mix of relief and sadness, relief because I quite like to go back to my normal routine with the added bonus of a fresh new start, and sadness because I miss having a “full house” as I wave goodbye to Valentina on her way back to London and Giuseppe to university.

my babies…

January, for me, has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It’s a time to reflect on the changes I want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes. January is about lists, hopes and resolutions.

I found the resolution’s part quite funny in a way because there are 364 other days to make resolutions, but we choose to make them on a single day!

If you follow me on Facebook and Instagram you probably have noticed that my crochet slows down during the holiday’s period, I finished my beautiful Havana just before the holidays and that was really it..

I made a few hats and a Valentina shawl, but nothing very exciting.

My creativity seems to take a break as I need to empty my head and start to re-focus.

I feel creativity is about imagination and yet it is also about reality too, seeing the world as truly is and observing carefully, so I welcome the peace of these few days to gather my thoughts

about observing…

I read this last night: an extract of a letter Vincent Van Gogh wrote during his stay in Saintes-Maries :

“One night I went for a walk by the sea along the empty shore. It was not gay, but neither was it sad – it was – beautiful. The deep blue sky was flecked with clouds of a blue deeper than the fundamental blue of intense cobalt, and others of a clearer blue, like the blue whiteness of the Milky Way. In the blue depth the stars were sparkling, greenish, yellow, white, pink, more brilliant, more emeralds, lapis lazuli, rubies, sapphires. The sea was very deep ultramarine – the shore a sort of violet and faint russet as I saw it, and on the dunes (they are about seventeen feet high) some bushes Prussian blue.”

Saintes-Maries, 5th june 1888

is it not just amazing? to be able to see reality in such a way? I thought you might like it too.

So after not lifting a hook or thinking about crochet for almost a month, I started ephemerizing again…which means collecting ephemera like pictures, colours chips, dried flowers, quotes, books, photographs anything that catches my eye and I feel my “crojo” akka “crochet mojo” is coming back to me slowly . I needed something easy, rhythmic, relaxing, no headaches of pattern writing… just concentrating on the simple pleasure to see the colours mixing and morphing into each other.

Here it is my new project, it is just 2 days old..so I m not sure where I am going with it but I will share it with you next week..pattern, colours etc.. just give me a few more days to see how it develops.

Love to you all,

Lucia xx

Is it TOO EARLY ????

Lucia & Francesca / October 2, 2018November 5, 2020 / Lifestyle, Patterns, seasonal pattern

Hello everyone!

You might be wondering what the title of my blog is all about…

it is about, surprise, surprise…COLOURS.

So let’s take a step back and give you a bit of a background… Many of you are probably aware that, as every year, October is the time for the

STYLECRAFT BLOG TOUR!

Back in July, at our summer meeting, we got given two packs of BELLISSIMA yarn to choose from. I loved them both but I decided to opt for the Autumn Leaves ..because somehow the hues reminded me of Christmas!

Then I start to think Gosh is it October too early to talk about Christmas?? probably it is, at least in my book, but I might be forgiven this time as you can decide to make the cushion ANYTIME!

I am not going give you a time or a deadline to download the pattern I decided to leave it free and available so you can enjoy it whenever you feel “Christmassy”

I also made sure that looks pretty both sides! hahhah because, let’s face it, cushions are there to be used and not just to be displayed..so we want the bottom part to be as nice as the front!

I really hope you will like my cushion, it is a quick, cheery, little project, something that you can make it in no time ( the yarn is used two strands together), It is something for your home or to give to a loved one , or something special you can add to a hamper full of Christmas goodies!

I am going to add a Christmas picture of my studio to put you in the mood..:

Please, if you make one, let me see it! Join us on our facebook page: “Crochet with Poppy’s and Lucia’s Figtree”

it is a closed group where we share projects, tips and also you can get discounts for yarn and giveaways https://www.facebook.com/groups/crochet/?hc_ref=ARQTzC0B_0QGNHRJfadJfD7Z-BfC7Nno93j6pXunCuGmaMYRrj4XH3xx8zJhoTiuXHI and spam me with your cushions!!!

The yarn is perfect for the project, it is soft, but has a beautiful stitch definition. which is a perfect base for Cross Stitch.

If you have never attempted cross stitch on a crochet cloth, please give it a go! it is easy, very effective and it will open lots of options for your future projects.

bottom line?

DO TRY my little cushion!

As always there is an opportunity to win a pack of yarn entering this giveaway,

LINK FOR FREE PACK GIVEAWAY!!

share my page and give an opportunity to your friends to try.. and I cannot wait to see all your lovely reindeers !!

as always,

lots of love and thank you for reading my blog.

Lucia xx

HERE IS THE PATTERN!!! PRESS THE LINK!

Reindeers Cushion Download

A little catch-up!

Lucia & Francesca / September 24, 2018November 5, 2020 / Patterns, seasonal pattern

A little catch-up… I know it has been AGES!

I don’t know about you but time has passed me by in a whirl of yarn, patterns, ideas, pictures, stories and the odd family commitment or two..lol

So where to start…

I have pulled together very basic information about the Wreath because I know quite a few of you are interested in it.

I made it, as said, a couple of years ago, I guess I must have been a bit bored and when I am bored of my current WIPs or I am tired, I always look for something reasonably small and quick to make. I call it “instant gratification”

It turns out that in these 2 years I found my wreath really useful, I never, as said on Facebook, stitched the pieces permanently on the ring but I left them pinned down with these little white headspins. I have used that wreath many times, for trying different colour combinations or using some of the flowers as decoration in pictures of other projects.

So if you need to test some colours instead than doing a lot of boring squares, make some flowers!! Then you can play with them!

There are many wreaths available in both Ravelry and Pinterest that can help you to decide how to make yours, for me, my initial inspiration was seeing the most amazing, beautiful and complicated wreaths that Lucy @attic24 had made and that what spun me making one.

Mine is much more simple in comparison with Lucy but .. did I mention, instant gratification??? LOL

I love small projects that can be made in a day or a weekend!

I have been looking throughout the past couple of days if I had saved any pattern or link or reference, but all I found were a couple of pictures. So for the purpose of this blog I pulled my wreath down and I made a 3D daisy and the 5 petal flower again so I can jot down the details.

so let’s start :

what do you need?

1 half rounded polystyrene ring – 35cm in diameter. It has to be flat in the back and rounded in the front. (you can get them from crafts shops or Amazon)
leftover yarns.

Please look at Lucy’s wreaths, she has a very comprehensive tutorial on how to cover up your polystyrene ring and also there are some lovely patterns for the leaves too, which I used in my wreath. this is the link to Lucy’s blog wreath :

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2015/03/winter-wreath-ta-dah-1.html

for the base of my wreath, I used some Lopi’s ALAFOSSLOPI yarn left over from a jumper it is a chunky yarn, the colours are:

0085 OATMEAL HEATHER
0867 CHOCOLATE HEATHER.

I love this Icelandic 100% yarn because has a rustic, organic feeling, and it makes the most amazing super -toasty jumper ever!

I can’t remember exactely what hook I used but I guess must have been either a 4.00 or a 4.5 mm, you want your fabric to be dense so it covers the ring beautifully. So make a small section and see if it covers up the ring neatly. Mine worked, like Lucy’s, in rows of double crochet stitches (Uk terms) 22 stitches wide and 112 rows alternating 2 rows in oatmeal and 2 in chocolate.

To help to keep the strip in place as well as the sewing in the back I sprayed my ring with some SprayMount Yp208060506 adhesive spray, I use it in the office for my mood boards, it is great, but make sure you spray lightly!

now to the FLOWERS:

the yarn is leftovers of STYLECRAFT SPECIAL DK in:

storm blue
duck egg
mustard
camel
grape
lime
pale rose
parchment
gold

you also need some polyester toy filling for the centre of the daisy. If you have none, ordinary cotton wool balls will do.

I made 2 types of flowers :

-10 Hellebore flowers from Lucy’s wreath, pattern link here:

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/crochet-hellebore-flower.html

-12 three dimensional daisies:

the pattern as follow:

The centre of the daisy is done with the same principle of amigurumi, crocheting in a spiral, without joining in the round and without turning the crochet work,

Start with any yarn and a 4.00mm hook and make a magic ring

Rnd1 :

Work 6 dc in a magic ring. ( 6 dc)

Rnd2:

work 2 dc in each stitch. ( 12dc)

Rnd3:

work [dc in next st, 2 dc in next st] repeat [ ] 6 times ( 18st)

Rnd4:

work 1dc in each st. ( 18dc)

Rnd5:

as Rnd 4 (18 st).

Rnd6:

as Rnd4 (18st) put a marker in any of those stitches as a reference for the petals we are going to do after.

Rnd7:

as Rnd4. (18 st).

Rnd8:

we start the decreasing now and your work will start to looks like a little cup.

work [1dc, 2dc together] 6times . stuff your little cup with the filling.

Rnd9:

work 2dc together all around, add some more stuffing and close the bud. ( if you want you can leave a long tail to sew the flower to the wreath later).

PETALS:

with a different yarn work on the side ( rnd6) , using the picture as a reference,

1st ROUND OF PETALS

work :

[1dc, ch3,skip 1 st, 1dc ] all around that should give you 9ch3 loops that we are going to fill up to make the first ring of petals.

in each of the ch3 spaces work: 1dc-1htr-2tr-1htr-1dc.

2nd ROUND OF PETALS

work:

1dc in the skipped st above, 5 ch, skip 1 dc and repeat that makes another round of 9petals staggered from the petals before the previous round. In each of the ch5 space we work: [1dc-1htr-4tr-1htr-1dc ]

that makes our 3D DAISY!

LEAVES:

makes 18 ( again make as much as you like!)

the pattern is again from lucy’s @Attic24, this is the link:

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/may-roses.html

For my version I used some leftovers of STYLECRAFT CHUNKY SPECIAL and some of the ALAFOSS LOPI I used for covering the ring in:

STYLECRAFT SPECIAL CHUNKY:

gold
camel
dark brown
lime ( stylecraft DK)

ALAFOSS LOPI

oatmeal heather
chocolate heather.

then you can take a few pins and place your little flowers and leaves all around the ring…

hope it has helped

love to you all and happy “crocheting”..( someone told me I shouldn’t use the term “happy hooking”!)

I got a few more things coming along so stay tuned!!!

lucia xxx

summer’s stories…

Lucia & Francesca / June 19, 2018November 5, 2020 / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories, Travel

Goodmorning everyone 😀

I eventually managed to get some internet and a laptop to download some of my summer’s photos! And also write a small update.

So where to start… I left Scotland at the end of May so to spend some time with my family in Italy; it has been a lovely break for many reasons, mainly because I had some proper quality time with my mum and dad, my cousins in Tuscany and my brother and his family.

My family comes from all over Italy and, during these past few weeks I have been travelling quite a bit, not only to spend time with loved ones ,but also to enjoy exhibitions, museums, the beach, the hills .. the only regret I have is the lack of time to visit my beloved Dolomites!

So I got here some lovely pictures of Ferrara, on the Po Valley, where my maternal Grandmother was from,

then I went to Carrara, a small town famous for the white marble on the sea at the border between Tuscany and Liguria, Carrara is where my paternal grandmother came from and my cousins are living and where I used to spend most of my summers before I moved to Scotland 27 years ago.

Tomorrow I am off to southern Spain to catch up with my children and Michael for few days all together…

In the midst of all, I m still crocheting OBVIOUSLY!

Last year, when I came to Italy, I took a lot of acrylics and it was a major mistake because the heat was so fierce that literally melted the acrylic in my hands, this time, I took just cotton and I have been working on several WIPS at the same time.

I have a new shawl that is getting tested at the moment, I am working on a new blanket which is going to be really interesting.

It is a new concept of pattern focused on versatility.

I have taken on board all your messages and requests, I know that some of you are not so keen on acrylic yarns and prefer natural fibres, I also know that cotton is often your choice not only for an ethical reason but also for climate issues.It will be the main subject of my new classes that I got planned for July and the autumn: https://www.poppys-holmfirth.co.uk/wool-shop/knitting-and-crochet-workshops .

So, as it is already quite hot in Italy, the blanket I am making is a cotton one, but I will have an acrylic version available and by the autumn a pure wool one ( very exciting to let you know about this new collaboration I am working on) also different sizes, borders and joining methods too!

so LOADS of interesting new things.

As cotton has been my focus for the past few weeks, I also tested some new yarns.

Just before leaving a Bulgarian company called PERFORMANCE YARNS, https://performanceyarn.com/ contacted me and asked me if I was interested in testing some of their products, I said that ,as long as I could give and write an honest opinion, I was delighted to try new yarns, so just before I left I received a pack with 5 different yarns to try, so far I tried 2 of them, as I got quite a few deadlines to work on at the same time.

I tested a blend of 80% cotton and 20% linen called LINEN TOUCH https://performanceyarn.com/product/linen-touch/ and a 100% combed, gassed and mercerized cotton called COTTON QUEEN MULTI.https://performanceyarn.com/product/cotton-queen-multi/

The linen/cotton was lovely , it didnt split but ,as it is untreated, I felt it slowed the work quite a bit, I dont know if it is due to the heat or the fact it is an aran weight, but I felt I was much slower that I normally am, I will try again in Scotland to see if it is a temperature issue only, on the other side the COTTON QUEEN is AMAZING!!!! it glides on the hook, it has a beautiful shine and is incredibly soft too!

Probably the best cotton I worked with so far!

I made a small project, and I used some Scheepjees Catona too to compare the two kinds of cotton, the Performance’s cotton is better, it has the same shine, it doesn’t split but it is far softer which means it will not hurt your hands even if crochet long hours or you are a very fast crocheter. Such fabulous yarn.

I used mercerized cotton many times but I never heard of ‘GASSED’ cotton, so I found out that it is a different treatment that improves not only the shine but more so the softness of the fibres which makes a huge difference.

I still have three more yarns to test so I will let you know how I m getting on with them.

I never ordered from PERFORMANCE, but the yarn they sent me arrived well packed and very quickly by a carrier. They are Bulgaria’s biggest yarn manufacturer with 80 years of experience. They have an easy website and shop to navigate, their prices are competitive and they do worldwide delivery at 4 euros flat rate or free for orders over 40 euros.

I really like this COTTON QUEEN so I will find out more about the colours available etc once I am back.

As soon I got to Spain , assuming that I got proper internet, I will write some more updates, for now, I wish you all a lovely summer and thank you for reading!

love,

Lucia xx