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!!!
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
