crochet Archives - Page 4 of 5

Never mind the macaroons…mini grannies are like Marmite!

Lucia & Francesca / March 19, 2017November 5, 2020 / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories

An unusual title, I know…but if you are acquainted with Marmite you will know exactly where I’m coming from! For those of you that haven’t the faintest idea what Marmite is, I will explain..

Marmite is a thick, sticky paste made from concentrated yeast extract, a byproduct from brewing beer. German scientist Justus Liebig invented accidentally the concoction in 1902.

Marmite has a very distinctive flavour. The taste is so unique as to defy description, but think of a yeasty, salty, soy sauce-esque flavour with the consistency of old engine oil. Some people really like eating it, and some people don’t like eating it at all.

I personally quite like it, but it is definitely an acquired taste!

So what does marmite have to do with crochet or mini granny squares????

Because Marmite actually based a marketing slogan off this divisiveness: “Love it or hate it.” It has infiltrated British culture and language to the point where an object or a person can be described as ‘marmite’

So MINI GRANNIES ARE LIKE MARMITE : You either LOVE THEM OR HATE THEM!

Lately I think I am more inclined to the latter…but I am glad I persevered! I still have 35 mini grannies to sew the ends in and I am done!

All 240 of them. What a marathon.

I did some other things in between because I discovered that I found the little pesky things really boring to make. I am sure after they are all joined together and I started the border It will become much more exciting.

I will let you know what I have been up to! It is under wrap I believe until the middle of April!!

I leave you with all my little granny squares…

Now I need to join them! ..and find a border too.

Happy Sunday

Lucia xx

Yarn,friends,more yarn,macaroons and a family’s ceilidh…part one

Lucia & Francesca / March 11, 2017November 5, 2020 / Lifestyle, Stories, Travel

Let’s start with a question:

Do I need more yarn? ABSOLUTELY NOT !!!

Do I WANT more yarn? ALWAYS!!!

Saying that let me start telling you about my weekend.

Every year I go to two yarn exhibitions: Yarndale and the Edinburgh Yarn Festival.

The reason why is because I like the spirit behind them. They both are a gathering of mainly independent producers, dyers and designers. And they are so worth going to because of the amazing talent and creativity behind those stalls.

On Friday morning my daughter Valentina and I took an early train from Glasgow to Edinburgh, Valentina had a dissertation meeting at University, and I went to the Corn Exchange where EYF is held.

I met my friend Julia from http://handknittedthings.blogspot.co.uk/ in the queue outside the building amongst many very enthusiastic and chatting ladies! It didn’t rain which was a major plus, and it wasn’t too cold either so the hour and a bit waiting outside flew by in a flurry of yarn chats!

Julia and I we went inside and we met Janehttp://janiecrow.co.uk/presta/ who was one of the exhibitors. and Sandra http://sandra-cherryheart.blogspot.co.uk/ then I just I wondered off admiring all the goodness in the show. Highlights? Far too many to mention but I especially loved Marie Wallin’s tiny stand with her jumpers with the most exquisite colour combinations,

Amanda Perkins crochet blankets http://www.amandascrochetblankets.com/home-page

The knitting Goddess http://www.theknittinggoddess.co.uk/, Eden Cottage Yarns and my friend Zoe, which was exhibiting too and has a lovely shop in Glasgow where I buy all my natural yarns. Zoe has a great selection of small independent producers, plus she dyes her on yarn also. http://www.thequeenofpurls.com/

But let me tell u what made my day…

It wasn’t the yarn; it was those ladies that somehow recognised me and stopped to say hi and to tell me that they read and love my blog, my stories and my 12 blankets in 12-months challenge.

It was so overwhelming and humbling to get tangible recognition that my rumblings online are enjoyed by you out there .!

So a MASSIVE THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!

I am not taking the time you are spending reading my blog for granted it is totally appreciated.

So what did I brought back with me? I already posted a couple of photos on Instagram; I bought some lovely hand dyed yarn from the Knitting Goddess, three skeins from Eden Cottage and a VERY expensive cake from this new Hungarian supplier of gradients yarn called Bilum

B .

Amanda’s new blankets book, small pamphlets on crochet shawls that look very promising and a book on knitted toys because I couldn’t resist all those mini dresses and cute animals!

Out of the show, I shared a taxi with a lovely lady from Hampshire which very kindly gave me a lift to Edinburgh centre. I went to Mademoiselle Macaroon! https://mademoisellemacaron.co.uk/

Because I haven’t forgotten about my blanket and because they have THE BEST MACAROONS IN SCOTLAND!!!! Gosh, I wish you could try them! They are delicious, and the small bakery/cafe is so quaint, you can see Edinburgh castle while sitting sipping your coffee and ejoying your macaroons and the staff couldn’t be more helpful.

yeah, as we say in Scotland: ‘PURE MAGIC!!’

and look what we got here…..can you spot the macaroon and the new squares??

More Edinburgh news tomorrow as my weekend is not over yet and I have a family Ceilidh tonight.

love to you all,

Luciaxx

The Emily’s epilogue

Lucia & Francesca / March 1, 2017November 5, 2020 / Patterns, Stories, Travel

I finished the blanket about a week ago, but I wasn’t so pleased with the quality of the pictures I took indoor. The weather has been quite poor (surprise, surprise) and I couldn’t photograph outside, but I managed a couple of hours’ window on Monday and I got a few pictures. You must be wondering why I am so obsessed with outdoor’s photography; it is because my blankets are very much just about colors, and it matters a great deal to me for the images to be as ‘real life’ as possible.

I wish I had the time, last week, to go back to Haworth and photograph the blanket there, but I have been busy, and it is a long round trip from Glasgow. Said that the next time I am down in Yorkshire, I would!!. As an alternative location, I thought of Pollok Country Park , Glasgow’s largest park ,which features the impressive Pollok House as well as the renowned Burrell Collection. Both Pollok house and the Burrell collection are closed, at the moment, and under renovation, but the gardens are still open to the public.

It is a beautiful place, well worth a trip if you are visiting Glasgow.

Anyway back to the Emily:

The blanket measures: 140cm x180 cm, in total, the border is 14cm deep. There are nine squares by 12 rows for a total of 108 squares.

The yarn used is a combination of STYLECRAFT ALPACA TWEED DK, SPECIAL DK, and LIFE DK.

14 Colors used which are:

ALPACA TWEED DK: ocean, dusky pink, sea breeze, sage.

SPECIAL DK: copper,plum,mocha,pistachio.

LIFE DK: heather, stone nepp, chocolate nepp, pebble nepp, gorse nepp, mixture charcoal.

QUANTITIES:

one 100gr ball for each color plus five balls of mixture charcoal.

PLEASE NOTE: mixture charcoal is used for ALL the first 2 rows of the squares, the joining, and the border.

CROCHET HOOK size 4 . the squares measure 11cm

The squares measure 11cm

SQUARE PATTERN:

the square is my design:

ROW 1: 6 chains join in with an ss

ROW 2: in the 6 chain ring work as follow: 3 chains (that makes the first treble),1 treble,1 ch *2 trebles,1ch* repeat ** 7 times. ( 16 trebles and 8 ch1 spaces)

ROW 3 : *puff stitch in each of the ch1 space of row2 ,2ch*, repeat ** 15 times (16 puffs, 32ch)

ROW4: *4 trebles cluster in the ch2 space of round3,3 ch*, repeat **15 times (16 clusters, 48ch)

ROW5: we add the corners as follow: start in any of the 3ch space of round 4 and work* 1 dc,skip the cluster,3ch,1dc in the next 3ch space of round 4.; next we make the corner: in the next ch3space work: 5trebles,3ch,5trebles;1dc in the next ch3 space of round4,3 ch* repeat ** 3 more times (4 corners, 12 dc, 8ch3 spaces)

ROW6 and final row: start on the corner and work: 2htreble,2ch,2htreble, 5 back post half treble on the 5 trebles of row5,1 half treble in the space between the 5 trebles of row 5 and the dc of row 5, 2dc on the ch3 space,1 dc on the dc of row5,2dc on the next ch3 space,1htreble on the space between the dc of round 5 and the next corner .repeat all around.

REMEMBER ROW1 AND ROW2 ARE ALL IN CHARCOAL.

The others row, please alternate the colors, as usual, choose any of the two methods I had listed before in the past blankets I posted.

You have plenty of yarn to make the blanket, and some left too.

JOINING:

with mixture charcoal, a simple dc join.

THE BORDER:

ONE foundation row around the blanket of dc in charcoal to set the border then follow the diagram below:

a note about the pattern for the border:

I found the pattern on Pinterest. It is what I believe a shawl. I tried to go back to the source of the original designer, but I haven’t been able to find out who is. The watermark is too feeble, and I got nowhere with that either.I went as far as finding what I assume is a Japanese pattern, but again has been posted and re-posted several times on Russian/Romanian sites, and I can’t read Cyrillic or Japanese so , I am afraid, I have no idea.

PLEASE if you do know the designer behind the diagram, let me know, and I will credit her/him. THERE IS NOTHING OF MORE ANNOYING THAN PILFERING OTHER DESIGNERS HARD WORK WITHOUT, AT LEAST, THE COURTESY OF ACKNOWLEDGE THEM!

following what I wrote above I am adding this here, on the 3rd march, 1917:

I just got a message this morning from a nice lady called Lynette Williams, she found the original designer on Ravelry. I am very happy to say it is a free Ravelry download pattern so I havent infringed any designer’rights. This is the link to it : http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/erigeneia

the designer is called: SILKE TERHORST, and the shawl is called : ERIGENEIA which means “Early-born” and is an epithet to the greek goddess Eos – the goddess of the Dawn. How nice is that? I love the name and the story!

THANKS AGAIN LYNETTE!!!

Has the Emily been a success? Can I imagine the blanket sitting in a corner of the parsonage? maybe yes or maybe no. All I know is that has been a lovely journey and the blanket will always remind me of my trip to Haworth and how much I love the Brontës sisters.

That is all, thank you for reading my blanket’s adventures, for been patient with what I believe, are quite pedestrian, and often sketchy pattern details. I will get better, I hope, with practice!

Happy crocheting!!!!

Lucia xx

More about the Emily…

Lucia & Francesca / February 19, 2017November 5, 2020 / Patterns, Stories, Travel

I thought I’d write an update on the blanket I’m currently making. I must say it has not been plain sailing, maybe it is because the task to transform an idea into reality, especially if it is something that you are passionate about, is never easy.

If you have read my previous post, you might recall the 14 colors I had selected. I had to make some adjustments as the tomato was too bright and highjacked the colors combination.

In the picture you can see why, it is out of focus in purpose so you can see the ‘tomato effect’. I substituted the bright hue with a tweedy chocolate which works much better and, consequently, I had to do a fair bit of ‘frogging.’ Chocolate browns, pale greens, dusty blues and some copper, they are all part of the interior of the parsonage and the surrounding area. One of the rooms I liked most was the hall. I remember reading Ellen Nussey’s ‘Reminiscences’, how “…the hall floor and stairs were done with sandstone, always beautifully clean, as was everything about the house…” and she describes the walls as being “not papered but stained in a pretty dove-coloured tint’. The restorations of the house revealed that it was more of a pale blue-gray that had been introduced and it is what you can see today.

Next was the pattern for the actual square, again several attempts and LOADS of samples later I came up with something I quite liked. The first thing I wanted to do is for the square to have a rugged feel of the Yorkshire landscape and outdoor clothing. My attention was drawn by some of the original garments wore by the Brontës that I had seen displayed in the museum.

The reason why so many sisters personal items, utensils, and clothes which in normal circumstances would have disappeared have been preserved is that a cult and interest for everything that involved the sisters became quite prominent very soon after they died. Fuelled not only by the extraordinary success of their novels but also by the publication of the first biography of Charlotte Brontë written by Mrs.Gaskell’s in 1857 just a few years after the death of the sisters.

It wasn’t only the sisters but it was also theirs surrounding that became of interest. Virgina Woolf wrote in 1904 following a visit to the parsonage:”Haworth expresses the Brontës; the Brontës express Haworth; they fit like a snail to its shell.”
I digress…
Back to the blanket. As I said I wanted to have a feeling for the landscape and the clothes, but also I wanted to have some lacy aspect also to celebrate the very popular at the time, Irish crochet that adorned not only their clothes but also their homes.

On the subject of Irish lace, I also got inspired by some amazing examples I saw in the archive of the Knitting and Crochet Guild on the Friday when I visited Stylecraft.

Irish lace became popular around 1830 when an English businessman, Charles Walker, brought several lacemakers to teach the craft in Limerick, Ireland, drawn to the area by the availability of cheap, skilled female labor. Walker’s business thrived: within a few short years his lace factories employed almost 2,000 women fuelled by the increasing demand.
The hues of my blanket are quite demure, as nothing of Emily makes me think of frivolity, the yarn is tweedy, warm and quite substantial, like their clothes made for long walks on the moors but also some femininity, hence the lacy feeling of the pattern, with a round 3D center and lighter surroundings.

Still, on the lacy theme, I was going to use a flat braid to join the squares, but it didn’t work for me at all, the squares became quite misshapen and had to be unraveled once again.

Then I thought about something curious I saw at the museum: a letter which was written by Anne Brontë to Ellen Nussey, actually, quite poignantly it was going to be her last letter as Anne was terminally ill, the note was a beautiful example of cross-writing, the letter is written with lines both horizontally and vertically, a common practice to save on postal costs.

The pen marks and pattern of the letter inspired my joining method: mixed charcoal, a beautiful organic color, became the chosen hue and a crisscrossed pattern to join the square.

In the next few days I am going to tackle the border..I have a couple of options and i will have a try and see which one look the best.

Until the next, thank you for reading!

Lucia xxx

THE JANUARY BLANKET IS DONE!!

Lucia & Francesca / February 2, 2017November 5, 2020 / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories

First THANK YOU SOO MUCH for the lovely comments and likes , I m really glad that the first blanket of 2017 has been received so well, I am so glad you loved the colours even if the pictures I posted on Instagram where not the best.

The best way to appreciate the colours is with an outdoor picture and I have been stalking the sky for days now hoping for a break in the weather. this morning I managed to take a few but the sky is like pewter colour and the light is poor too , those are the joys of living in Scotland! today we even have a rainbow…

anyway I am not entirely happy with the results but I have to do for now, as I have received so many messages asking for details ,colours and ..the border!

so lets start with the yarns and colours first:

2 types of yarn : STYLECRAFT SPECIAL DK and STYLECRAFT BATIK

As said in my previous post the SPECIAL DK is 100% premium acrylic fibre and comes in a 100 gr. ball. the STYLECRAFT BATIK DK is a 80%premium acrylic and 20%wool and come in a 50 gr. ball.

both yarn are machine washable at 30 degrees and also cool tumble dry.

I tested both of them several times and they wash beautifully .that is the reason why I use this yarn, because there is no point making a beautiful blanket and then been afraid to use it because it is a nightmare to wash ( never mind drying) but I wont go into a big discussion about quality and versatility . we leave that for another time.

colours 22 of them…I know sounds a lot but the variety in hues makes the blanket really.

STYLECRAFT SPECIAL IN: lime,pistachio,cypress,khaki,spring green,tomato,mocka,walnut,pale rose, raspberry ,sage,storm blue.

STYLECRAFT BATIK IN: graphite,coral,old gold,cream,pistachio,sage,raspberry,storm,indigo

the border joining and border are made with STYLECRAFT BATIK in biscuit.

QUANTITIES:

SPECIAL : 1 ball for each of the colours

BATIK: 1 ball for each of the colour listed, plus 5or 6 balls for the joining and border.

a note: when I made the blanket I found I got a bit short on the batik but just for probably 7/8 grams.

now ideally you want to have 2 balls of the batik for each colour but again you will have left a lot of yarn, and I don’t know how you feel about it. I don’t mind as I make blankets all the time so I will re-use what is left, but if your blanket is one-off, you might want to think about it and maybe use more of the special colours as you will have plenty there to finish with.

I would still use the biscuit for the border and joining though, it is so lovely and it suits the blanket beautifully.

The quantities above are for a blanket which measures: 120cmx200cm .I made 9 strips of 15 squares each , so we have in total 135 starburst squares.

As said the pattern for the starburst is from Jane Brocket’s book : ‘the gentle art of knitting’. I know the name is misleading but it is a book with patterns for both knitting and crochet. I bought mine 2nd hand on amazon this is the link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Gentle-Art-Knitting-Jane-Brocket/1843405326/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486052621&sr=8-1&keywords=the+gentle+art+of+knitting

please check the 2nd hand availability as it can be a fraction of the price and unless the books are ex library they are always in great condition , besides you recycle and save the planet and give a really nice book another chance! so win-win all the way !

note that I have added an extra round of half trebles, that is because it frames better the square and make the all thing much neater , but I am afraid, it adds more ends to sew! and talking about the much dreaded ends, just after each round is complete please,please sew your ends!!! if you do that it is not such an horrendous task at the end !

there are 2 ways to make the blanket: one you do the lucky dip and pick random colours off a bag without looking, or if you are like me and you want to control the hues makes all the 135 squares one round at time , then you clear up some space or use the outside and place 135 little squares so to decide the next colour up.

both methods are excellent it is just up to you what you prefer.

THE BORDER!!!!!

I m so surprised and delighted that the border has been such a success! as said on facebook I tart up something I saw on the internet. this is the original diagram. as you can see it is just the horizontal part and there is no corner.. so I made the corner up and eliminate some of the rounds.

lets start from the beginning:

you join all the squares together with a simple SC stitch then I did a full round ( foundation round )of half trebles in biscuit : the corners are 2 sc- ch1- 2sc then 2 more rounds . I think it is called moss stitch:

ROUND 1 : sc, 1 ch,skip a stitch below and 1 sc

ROUND 2: skip the sc of the round 1 and in the ch1 space make a sc not in the space but in the row below, the foundation row

this will make a nice sturdy frame for the border. the border works on a multiple of 13 stitches . I started just after the corner with a ch3 skip 2 of the base. and kept going with round 1 . this round it is really important and yougot to arrive at the corner with a ch3 so be careful, if you find that for some reason you are either shorter or you got too many just unravel a few of the chain and try to fiddle a bit you wont notice that much at this stage if instead to skip 4 you skip 3 as long as you do it for a max extra of 4/5 stitches! it is called fidgeting…don’t do more then that or you have a dog-dinner of a border!!

On a serious note if you keep the intervals precise of round 2 in the diagram your border will sit perfectly flat .

ROUND 3 :I followed the diagram but I didn’t do the 3 ch space between the 2 shells.

ROUND4: I followed the diagram but instead to do the shell on the 3ch space that I omitted in the previous round I did my shell in the space between the 2 shells of round two.

ROUND 5: as the diagram.

ROUND6: skipped

ROUND 7 : final round I followed he diagram but instead then more chains I made sc in the round 6 ch spaces. that give a solid well defined last round instead then some flimsy chains , they might work for cotton but in heavier dk yarn it is much better more definition , it keeps your border neat and straight without either frilling or curling

corner: please look at the picture, it is self explanatory .

I will get the program to write diagrams and once I figured out how it works I will make it easier for everyone to follow my pattern..it is just I need to find the time to do that. If out there is one of you that is a computer wizard and know how to do that get in touch!!!

well that is all for today,

to the next blanket for February…gosh I have to think of something then!!!! …I deffo bitten more then I can chew with this one blanket each month!

all the best Lucia xxx

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM AND CROCHET. WHY NOT?

Lucia & Francesca / January 31, 2017November 5, 2020 / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories, Travel

Abstract expressionism and crochet…. I bet a lot of people will find my statement total blasphemy.

I don’t mind, if that is the case, and I apologise in the very unlikely eventuality that an art critic has stumbled upon my blog. The purpose of the entry is to tell the story how this blanket came about, and how I have used saturated colours.

It all started with a pile of yarn , and the notion to try something out of my comfort zone for a change. I wanted to use a pattern with a strong visual impact so I opted for bull’s eye which is a circle inside a square. If you google bull’s eye crochet square, the search engine will come up with several versions same basic design but slight differences due mainly to the thickness of the yarn ,which will determine the size of the square, the number of stitches and the numbers of rounds .

I made a few samples ,with one strand of DK but it turned out too flimsy and far too many rounds , so I opted for 2 strands together and fewer rounds. That created a more distinctive texture and visual impact. that made the blanket not only bold in colours but also bold in texture and weight!. ( in the photo above the one strand sample)

lets go back to the colours…

I wanted to use bold strong saturated colours and most of all what are often considered ‘difficult ‘colours such as midnight blue , emperor, burgundy for example.

Colours that very seldom I choose to add to my selection. I toiled with different combinations without much success I have to say, Then ,while in London last September , I went to see an exhibition with my oldest daughter Francesca at the Royal Academy of Arts called ‘Abstract Expressionism’ a selection of works by Hofmann, Pollok, Gottlieb,Willem de Kooning, Rothko,Kline,Still and many others.

I am not an expert or an art critic but just looking at those paintings as an ordinary person what I found astonishing was how colour do exist as an independent element, and how colours project a mood and also , how simplified forms and geometric shapes plus the use of saturated hues create such a strong and bold statement.

I know that it might be a bit ridiculous to compare crochet to works of art , but it is all about what catches your eye and what do you see and inspire you, it doesn’t have to be a painting at all , it can be someone else amazing blanket, can be nature, can be a pininterest board or a scrap of fabric or your favourite jumper.

That afternoon three paintings made quite an impression on me: one is called ‘in sober ecstasy’ painted by Hans Hofmann ,then ‘penumbra’ by Adolph Gottlieb, and Williem de Kooning ‘untitled’.

I couldn’t take pictures obviously so I bought one of the catalogues of the exhibition and went home .

Now I wish the pictures could give justice to the original but it can still give you an idea where I am coming from. what I saw in Hofmann was the amazing combination of colours and how those brown/reddish rectangles just made the painting sing, so it occurred to me that a ‘dull’ imposing block of colour with a very strong geometric form can make the other colours sing beautifully. hence dull colours handled correctly can make a fantastic impact.

I loved Kooning’s painting for the colours choice and the impact of circles and squares together and last in Gottlieb’s painting the red ring around the the black dot. can you see where I am coming from?

Bottom line of all of this is:

Just look around you and just pick what you like, and I mean it, pick ANYTHING that inspire you, because that will make any of your work personal and your item will tell a lovely story which is not my story but it is YOURS.

Now few details because I have been asked to write down a pattern for it and the colours selection.

The blanket measures: 200cmx150, there are 35 squares of 25cm each one.

I used Stylecraft special dk 2 strands together and a 5,00 hook.

the colours are: camel,midnight,tomato,gold,claret,emperor,fuchsia purple,storm blue,lime and pale rose. each square is made by a round centre squared up , I think a shape you are probably quite familiar it is also called bull’s eye.

my version is made of 9 rows:

row1 to row6 for the central circle and the last 3 rows squares it up.

PATTERN:

ROUND 1:

make a magic circle, inside 12 trebles,

ROUND2

2 trebles together in each of the trebles of the previous round close with an ss on the ch3 of the beginning (24 trebles in total)

ROUND3:

ch3repeat this sequence: *1 treble, 2 trebles together* all around ( 36 trebles in total)

ROUND4:

repeat this sequence: *2 trebles,2trebles together* all around (48 trebles in total)

ROUND5:

repeat this sequence: *3 trebles, 2 trebles together* (60trebles in total)

ROUND 6:

repeat this sequence: * 4 trebles,2 trebles together* all around ( 72 trebles in total)

those 6 rows make the internal circle. be aware that the sequence remain the same for all the blocks but in each individual block some of the rows are in simple crochet and NOT in trebles! so please refer to the details of the the individual block to know which of the rows are in simple crochet.

ROUND 7/8/9 they will square the circle as follow:

ROUND7

start this row with *1dtr, 3tr,2htr,5 sc,2htr,3tr ,1dtr* then we do the corner as follow: in the same treble we crochet: **2dtr,ch1,2dtr** repeat 3 more times the all sequence that will make 4 corners (2dtr,ch1,2dtr) and 4 side of the square (1dtr,3tr,2htr,5sc,2htr,3tr,1dtr)

ROUND8

start this row at the corner . in the ch1 space make *2dtr,ch1,2dtr* this make the corners, then the side is 20 trebles to reach the other corner and repeat the sequence all around.

ROUND9

start this row at the corner in the space ch1 of the previous round and make the corner as follow: *1tr,1dtr,2ch,1dtr,1tr* 23 trebles for the side and the corner again.

note: I say at the beginning 1 treble but the first treble is substituted ,as always happen at the beginning of each round, by 3 ch and if it is a rounds of sc will be 2 ch. also I close every round with an ss on the first group of chains.

normally I would say choose the colours as you please but in this case it makes a different if you use them in a specific order so I am going to list the different blocks as follow:

there are 10 different blocks in the blanket : this is the list:

then combine your 35 blocks as follow in the picture, and join them together with 1 strand of yarn only and a simple sc in the back , now I m a bit of a perfectionist so I didn’t want the seam of the joining to be detected so when you join the block together please make sure that the colour of the yarn you are using matches one of the colours of the last round of the block. which means if you have 2 blocks to join together which the last row is one lime and the other emperor use emperor to join. I know you will have more ends to sew but it does make a difference trust me.

the border is 9 rounds using 2 strands of yarn together.

first 8 rounds are sc and the last round is crab stitch .

colour sequence border:

ROUND1 : camel

ROUND2: gold

ROUND3: midnight

ROUND4/5/6/7/8 : claret

ROUND9: midnight.

QUANTITIES of yarn…I am afraid that is going to be a bit empiric but I tried to make a block to see the quantities, you will have to add it all up ….

round 1 and 2 together : 4 grams

round 3: 3 grams

round4:4 grams

round5: 5 grams

round6: 6 grams

round 7/8/9 together: 26 grams

the border I have no idea but I recon is at least 100 grams of claret.

sorry for the quantities, it wasn’t my plan to make a pattern out of it, it was just an experiment blanket, so if you want to make one please make a sample of the block , that will help you to decide how much you need.

all the best

Luciaxx

Beating the January’s blues: a plate of leftovers for a “presto-pronto” quick cushion.

Lucia & Francesca / January 13, 2017November 5, 2020 / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories

I always feel the first few weeks after the festive season can be quite a bit of a challenge, cold and dark days ahead, if you are like me in the northern hemisphere, back to work, maybe a depleted bank balance after the festivities or are you overwhelmed by far too ambitious list of ‘new year resolutions’?
If that is the case all you need is ..CROCHET of course!!!
What you want it is a small project: something special to look forward and to concentrate on, something reasonably easy and quick for instant gratification, and if that also put a dent in your stash of leftover yarns it is even better!
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you might have seen a picture of some shriveled colorful little strip ..well that is my first new project of the year!
I thought my kitchen looked quite bare and needed some cheering up after I took down all the Christmas decorations, I needed some bright colors, so I made a new cushion for the sofa.
The cushion took just a few hours in between following Lucy’s Moorland Cal.
I used some leftovers Stylecraft chunky special I had. But any chunky in bright colors will do the job. The colors I used are: petrol/spice/gold/meadow/copper/pomegranate and plum.
The cushion measures 45 cm square.
For every block of color, I used about 28grams of chunky yarn.
The pattern is Margaret Willson’s “Bargello pillow” you can find it on Ravelry, this is the link:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bargello-pillow
I bought just the pillow’s pattern, but all the magazine’s issue looks quite nice too.
Now a few tips:
ONE:
Use a smaller hook from what the yarn recommend; I used instead of a 6,0 a 4,5 hook. My hand is quite loose so just have a try. What you want is a dense, stiff fabric. Doing so will make your pillow less prone to lose its shape with use.
Do not worry if it looks all wrinkled and misshapen, all you need is some steam-blocking! And voila’ you have a lovely, smooth, perfectly shaped square!!
TWO:
The two sides of the cushion are different. That not only optimize the use of your stash but also create an alternative look;
THREE:
Make sure that your cushion pad is BIGGER than your crochet cover!!
My cover is 45 cm square, but I used a 50cm feather’s filled pad from Ikea.

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/textiles-rugs/cushions-inner-cushions/fj%C3%A4drar-cushion-pad-off-white-art-80300518/

I like Ikea’s pads because they are cheap, mine was 4 pounds, fluffy but still quite firm and more so they DON’T lose any feathers!!!

Well that is all for today, I hope you like my cushion and I wish you all a lovely weekend
Lucia xxx

NEW YEAR NEW ADVENTURES

Lucia & Francesca / January 11, 2017November 5, 2020 / Lifestyle, Stories, Travel

Hello everyone and the first blog’s entry for 2017!

Firstly I would like to wish to all of you, out there, may you have hope, peace, joy, good health and more during this coming year.

Second, now that it is official, I can let you all know I am an STYLECRAFT BLOGSTAR!!!

How exciting is that???

I have to thank not only Stylecraft to invite me to be part of their group, but more so I have to thank you all for liking my page, sharing what I do and supporting me and my crochet adventures !!

It still amazes me that I got the opportunity to write and share my experience with you all, simply because crochet doesn’t have borders, crochet it is what we all got in common, and it links all of us together regardless nationality, culture, language and social background and I think, you will agree with me ,

it is a beautiful thing.

So you might wonder how did I become a Blogstar… well actually I m a bit surprised myself!

It all started with Lucy’s blog Attic24. I just stumbled on it a couple of years ago, while looking at crochet projects, and chatting to a friend of mine, Yvonne, who loves crochet as much as I do.

Lucy ‘s blog was, and still is, amazing! Full of colours, beautiful images, advice, lovely projects and tutorials, to the point that I decided to buy a kit for her cottage ripple blanket and give it a go. The price was very reasonable, the colours looked amazing BUT….

big, BUT, it was…ACRYLIC!

My memory of acrylic yarn was of an unpleasant,scratching ,shining fibre, which, if you rub it on, will make your hair standing like a porcupine!!! But it wasn’t the case… when I opened the pack, I got a soft, squidgy lovely yarn with beautiful hues, exactly how Lucy had described it on her blog!!!

I loved the yarn so much that that year I made LOADS of blankets and I bought every single shade that was available!!

So when STYLECRAFT launched a competition for a new shade, I had to be part of it!

My entry was Lobelia, and I was lucky enough that Lobelia got selected, with other beautiful hues, and became a permanent colour in their special DK range.

From there it is all history… emails, a visit to their HQ in Yorkshire, I met Sue Pinner at Edinburgh yarn festival last year, more blankets, more designs and here I am a blogstar…😊So this year is going to be a BIG one, and I will try my best to bring you lots of colours and projects, to share my journey and last but not least to HAVE FUN!!!

FOR THE NEW YEAR ALL WE NEED IS SOME GREEN!!

Lucia & Francesca / December 11, 2016November 5, 2020 / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories

FOR 2017 ALL WE NEED IS SOME GREEN !!!

As I bet you are all busy getting organised for the festive season I thought I share with you some ‘colour’s love’. This weekend Pantone, the market leader in colour communication and colour technology,has released their new colour of the year 2017 and it is FABULOUS !!

It is called GREENERY .

It might seems a bit silly getting excited about a release of a new colour ,but colours trends are quite important for my job , so I keep always a close eye on them because they can have a substantial impact on the industry.

The other reason it is because I LOVE anything about colours anyway!

So ,if you are not familiar with,what is the PANTONE Colour of the Year?

It is a symbolic colour selection; a colour snapshot of what we see taking place in our global culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude.

So even the colours industry seems to send a message of hope ,regeneration , environment issues ,etc and all the above is very relevant with the choice as Greenery is symbolic of new beginnings.

So what do you think? You like it?

I do. I think greenery is much better then last year choice of a dusty blue n a pale fleshy pink, and has a much better vibe too.

Back to crochet….

I know that some people find green difficult to use in crochet but ,trust me, green can be really effective and just lovely!

One of the projects I did last February was a multi-green wrap. I have been wearing it quite a lot because greens are one of those colours that goes with everything and it does compliment not only most wardrobes but also skin tones and complexions .

The idea came from an amazing blanket I saw quite a while ago on a blog called ‘according to Matt’ the blog has now been revamped , renamed and it looks fantastic is called : ‘Boys&bunting’

http://boysandbunting.blogspot.co.uk/

Please Have a look because there are a lot of really nice projects, tutorials,reviews and amazing photography too.

This is the link to the blanket: http://boysandbunting.blogspot.co.uk/p/according-to-matt-archives-japanese.html

From there I got redirected to Lucy ‘s at Attic24, as she used the pattern for the Japanese flower on a lovely wrap in 2011! ( good patterns never get old)

Http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2011/03/japanese-flower-scarf-ta-dah.htmlo,

So , well, I had to make one too!!

Mine is all green, made with a lot of left overs , great for your stash and really easy to do too. The pattern I used is the same that Lucy used on the original entry and it is from a Japanese book , that I believe it might be still available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/MOTIF-BOOK-VOL-Japanese-Crochet/dp/4529044424

But don’t worry if you can’t get your hands on the book , it is not that crucial as there are so many very similar versions of the pattern on pin-interest so just put Japanese crochet flower on your search engine and see which one you like best .

That is all for today,

2017 is going to be the GREEN YEAR so TRY SOME GREENS!

Lucia x

P.S. The sample is made with Stylecraft special dk in : bottle,meadow,cypress and pistachio.

ANATOMY OF A BLANKET…OR TWO

Lucia & Francesca / December 9, 2016November 5, 2020 / Lifestyle, Patterns, Stories

ANATOMY OF A BLANKET…OR TWO

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you might have seen snippets of the two new blankets I made.

Do you know that each blanket tells a unique story? A story about you, about what you like, about materials, journey to the shops, endless rummaging in your stash or afternoons on the laptop looking for a magic shade, they also tell about your love and caring because often they are made as a gift.

So no pressure!

I keep journals of my blankets, some sort of record where I can note down sources, patterns, observations, colour swatches primarily mood boards.

These are a few pages of my journal with the most recent blankets I made; they might look a bit chaotic as they are just meant for me but they can still give you an idea so you can create your own.

You might already keep records of images and virtual mood boards for your projects, but I found the process to make a ‘real’ one very useful as I like to see the shades and patterns in real life.

I start with a few questions:

-Who the blanket is for?

-Time schedule?

-Budget?

The answers to the above will determine, size, material, pattern,

Then comes the mood…

This is my favourite part of making a blanket as it is the creative one! And that is where the journal come indispensable for me because allows me to create different scenarios without committing to a final one.

I start with collecting pictures, images anything that attracts my attention then I select what I like best, and I print them, I also start to narrow down colours ‘s possibilities with pencils, crayons, little bits of paper, Leafs anything that can be glued on a page!

Colours for me are the most important part because you can be an amazing crocheter, or having an amazing pattern but if you mess up your colours, you mess up the all thing.

Colours are also a huge topic and I will get to it in more depth with a few entries I m planning for the new year, with details on COLOURS WHEEL, HUES, SATURATION and VALUE.

It sounds complicated but it is not at all once you get the basic you will be able to make your own combinations easy-peasy.

The fact that colours are so important you can see it in those 2 blankets, both similar size, same pattern, same material, VERY DIFFERENT LOOK and FEEL because of the colours choice.

The bright one is for a colleague of mine that had a baby recently. I know she likes bright strong hues and , I hope, the blanket will reflect her taste and her heritage with loads of red for good luck.

The border is bold and strong n the joining is virtually invisible because what matters is the colours.

The second blanket is for another little girl, this mum loves pastels, muted colours and she has chosen neutral shades for the nursery . so I introduced more traditional baby hues, with a hint of colours to create some interest.

The joining is a flat braid because I like the lacy delicate effect that compliments the border and the colour choice.

Did it helps? I hope so.

Some technical details if you are interested:

For my journals I use a moleskine A4 watercolour folio, landscape, 200 gr paper. Shop around because the price can vary between suppliers. It is perfect size to be transported, has an elastic band so it can keep everything inside, the paper is heavy so you can use watercolours crayon markers, whatever also it holds swatches, bits of yarns and anything you want to stuck down.

I also use double sided tape for the ‘yarny bits’, Glue, pencils, pastels, stickers , buttons anything really.

BRIGHT BLANKET DETAILS:

YARN: STYLECRAFT SPECIAL DK

COLOURS: emperor,petrol,turquoise,meadow,mustard,claret,lipstick,fuchsia purple,shrimp, magenta and clematis.

The border is done in lipstick. The pattern is adjusted from something I found in the internet sorry I have just the print on the journal and a swatch.

PATTERN :

it is the small square from @Catherine Blight’s Demelza CAL

PASTEL VERSION

YARN: STYLECRAFT SPECIAL DK

COLOURS:

Stone, pistachio,saffron,spice,duck egg,apricot

BORDER: Echkman: ‘crochet borders’ n.27

Joining as you go flat braid.

Lucia xx