Autumn/Winter Projects Update

I'm really enjoying crocheting this poncho.  I just love making the cables. Every time I come to the end of a row I can't put it down and have to do another row to see how it looks.

These pictures aren't showing the colour very well. The middle one is the best of the three.

My main problem with getting the poncho done is trying to unravel the coat that I had originally knit with the yarn. Well, it's not really the unravelling that's so hard but unpicking the seams before I can even start to unravel. The one good thing is that I don't think I'll need all the yarn from the coat to finish the poncho.

Anyway, at some point I wasn't getting too far with the seam-unpicking and knitting-unravelling so I started the Star Fruit Rug from my Boho Crochet book. I didn't use the yarn suggested in the pattern but substituted Drops Paris cotton instead.

The colours I used were as close as I could get to those used in the original design. My colours were red, orange, mustard, moss green, green, dark turquoise, denim blue, raspberry, petrol and dark purple. The Drops Paris yarn, which is Aran weight, is horrible to work with; it splits constantly. But I'm happy with the finished rug!

I like to have something to work on in the car too. This lap blanket was started using three 100g balls of chunky acrylic that I had in my stash. The black and the sort of grey looking one were Stylecraft but I'm not sure about the green yarn. I ended up buying another two 100g balls of Rico chunky to finish the blanket.

This one is going to the Rathfriland Manor Nursing Home where I think it would be suitable for an elderly gentleman to use.

It is certainly a very warm blanket, as I know from having it across my knees when I was making it.

Thanks for all your comments, as usual. I'm joining with Jennifer and her Winter Project Link Party.

A Lap Blanket

Here's a little lap blanket I made recently. I used some left over Aran weight yarn and a 5mm hook to make this. The pink is 50% wool and 50% acrylic and the yellow is a Stylecraft 100% acrylic. The pattern for the motif was in a Simply Crochet magazine a few months ago.

Can you see where I ran out the yellow yarn and had to use pink?

Each motif was started with a yellow circle and then the pink flower part was done. So that's two motifs that just about cross the middle of the picture below. I joined the motifs as I made them. There was a hole left where four motifs were joined. Yes, the blanket is full of holes, but this was a considerably big hole! So I made the yellow flower/star to fill in the gaps.

I'm really pleased with the results and hope that whichever elderly resident of the Manor Nursing Home gets to use it will also be happy with it.

Thank you so much for the very encouraging comments about my St. Petersburg blanket. Well, I'd better hurry on as this is just a quick post to let you see what I've been crocheting. Bye for now.

St. Petersburg Blanket - Finito

The St. Petersburg blanket was started last May when we were on our Baltic cruise, which included a two day visit to St. Petersburg. There have been many breaks from crocheting this blanket but I've always loved to get back to it and do a bit more. Now, finally, it is finished. Ready to put on our king sized bed just in time for the cooler weather.

The first mention of my cotton blanket was in my very first post. The yarn I chose was Sirdar Cotton DK and used two balls of each of the colours Vanilla, Seersucker, Light Taupe, Toasted, Sundance, Honeysuckle, Tranquil, Bluebird, Sailor Blue, French Navy, Darling Bud, Hot Pink, Black Violet, Larkin and Cottonfield. The plan was to make 144 different 6" squares from the 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws and Afghans book by Jan Eaton. I worked it all out in advance and drew up a chart with the number of each block and where it was to be placed. However, once I started crocheting, I quickly realised that I didn't like the mix of blocks worked round and round with blocks worked back and forth. So I changed to make all the blocks of the round and round type. Now there were also some of the blocks in the book that I just didn't like the look of so, in the end, I had to repeat some of the blocks but using different colours. I suppose it's a sort of sampler blanket.

Another thing that I changed in my plan was that I made the blanket with eleven rows of twelve squares rather than twelve by twelve.

The square below is called St. Petersburg. Well, I had to include it, didn't I? In fact, I crocheted it while we were docked in St. Petersburg! You can just spot a little bit of the border below the St. Petersburg square. I did eight rows of griddle stitch in different colours. Look at this post for an explanation of how to work griddle stitch.

Not all the colours were what I would call 'my colour' but, by using with other colours that I do like, each square really pleased me when it was finished.

The squares were all joined as-you-go which meant that, once the blanket got to about a third of it's final size, it was very heavy and hard to work with. By the time I was working on the last row I could hardly manage the joining! I'm not likely to do this again, but if I did, I would leave the joining to the end and crochet the squares together.

Please let me know what you think of my blanket; I hope you like it!

Here's a picture of our pet dog called Nonem. I tried to find one for my last post but couldn't. Then today, when I was looking for something else, I found this picture.

She looks like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth but she's crazy.

Thanks, as always, for your lovely comments.
(For new readers, if you want to see why I say finito, have a look at this post).

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Welcome back and a special welcome to some new followers. It's been a bit of a hectic week. Problems with broadband and problems with drains. All sorted now, thankfully.

I forgot to show you my second dishcloth that I made recently (pattern here). Here it is with our new, very miniature, rose. More about roses later.


Our neighbour does a bit of farming and for the past few weeks the field beside us has become the 'maternity field'. This was the first calf to be born. The picture was taken the day after it was born.

Mummy cow kept a close watch on her new baby.

In another field close by is the boy I would be pretty sure is the daddy!

Anyway, back to the garden now. The husband made this willow construction months ago (see here) for growing sweet pea. We've had such awful weather this summer with so much wind and rain. In fact, it is now official that we've had the coldest July in twenty years. The result is a slightly skewed willow frame and sweet peas that haven't quite reached their full potential. But they're not bad!

This is inside the frame where there are poppies growing as well.

This rose was planted last year and isn't doing too badly. A lot of the roses in the garden haven't done well at all this year.

This rose seems to do very well every year.

The first of the tomatoes this year. There is going to be a really big crop but that's because they're in the greenhouse. They are very slow to ripen so I pick them as soon as they show signs of starting to ripen and bring them into the house. For some reason they then ripen almost overnight.

Some of the blackcurrants that have been picked. I have washed and frozen over twenty two pounds so far and there's more to come! Later in the year I'll make blackcurrant cordial and probably some jelly too.

The strawberries weren't as good as we'd hoped because of the bad weather. We managed to get plenty to eat with ice-cream but not enough to freeze any.

I've finished crocheting the king sized blanket and have started sewing in the ends. It's therapeutic!

Did any of you spot my deliberate mistake in my last post about the sea glass shawl? I said the shawl is made up of three rows of motifs but it is actually constructed using four rows. The first has ten motifs, then nine, eight and finally seven, making a total of thirty four motifs. Also, I mentioned in the comments that I am using a 3.5 mm hook. Well, yes, I am. When I checked the pattern again (after having made fourteen motifs) I discovered that I should have been using a 3.25 mm hook. To be honest, I think the 3.5 mm hook is perfect so I'm glad I made that mistake! I've now finished the first two rows and am really loving it. Thanks for your lovely comments about the shawl, by the way.

Well, that's it for now. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. I have some news about giveaways that I've won but that will wait for another time.

Crochet Progress and Using Wool Warehouse Bags

It's hard to believe, but it's over a year since I started my king size crocheted cotton blanket. In fact, details about the yarn I'm using were in my very first post. There have been some updates on the progress since then, from the first squares at the end of this post, a whole row done at the end of this post, some more here (at the end) and great progress made here.

Of course, I've taken breaks from my blanket since it was started. Many breaks! To make lots of other things. Some big some small. Now, at last, the blanket end is in sight. It has never been a project that made me feel under pressure to get it finished. I have enjoyed working on it and then putting it away while I did something else. Now that is is nearing completion I'm really feeling the impetus to get it finished. How do you think it is looking?

More has been done since this picture was taken. I have nine more squares to crochet and that will make a total of 132 squares! Now, if you crochet (or knit), you will know that finishing the last square is not finishing the blanket. There are hundreds of ends to be sewn in. In fact, it's likely there are more than a thousand ends to sew in! There's also a border to be done; something which I still haven't decided on.

Do any of you order yarn from Wool Warehouse? If you do then you are bound to have noticed the way they now package the yarn in these lovely bags. I thought they were bound to be useful for something once the yarn had been used. So, I removed the Wool Warehouse ribbons and substituted some of my own for pulling the bag closed. You could use very colourful ribbons or ribbons with a message printed on them (like Happy Birthday or Hand Made with Love; you know the sort of thing). A very useful bag for all sorts of things. I have used some already to pack items I've made to give to someone else.

I might as well let you see one of the little makes that has kept me from blanket. This is a dishcloth made using King Cole Bamboo Cotton yarn. It's lovely to work with; very soft although a little bit splitty. It's 50% bamboo and 50% cotton so ideal for using to make washcloths and dishcloths. I used the full 50g ball for this dishcloth so it's a good, generous size. My dad was impressed with it! 

If anyone would like to know how the dishcloth is made I can write it up for you; there's not much to it. It's so easy I've made another one in blue.

Best wishes to all of you for now. I'm sorry that I haven't had much time for reading other blogs this week and for leaving comments. I've had technology problems but really it's just a case of not enough time.

Crocheted Bag Commission

My brother has asked me to crochet a bag for my sister-in-law's birthday! I'm really chuffed by the request. He wants it to be the same as my own crocheted bag but different colours.

The yarn has been purchased. The only brand that had all the colours I needed was Cascade; their Ultra Pima cotton. The yarn came in this bag. Seven skeins in all.

The colours show up better when the skeins are out of the bag. They have very sensibly named the colours! So, from left to right, we have Van Dyke Brown, Brick, Deep Coral, Butterscotch, Ginger, Blood Orange and Sepia.

I'm really looking forward to crocheting the bag. First I have to wind the skeins which, fortunately, is another job I love. I can wind the skeins myself without any sort of help or tools; a skill I learnt from my mother many years ago. Actually, today would have been her eighty eighth birthday. Unfortunately, due to illness, she didn't quite reach her sixty seventh birthday.

Would you like to see another little lap blanket that I finished recently? I'm sure you would!

This one has already gone to a resident in the local nursing home who will, I hope, get plenty of snuggling with it. It is amazingly warm I found while making it!

The hexagon pattern was taken from one of the recent Simply Crochet magazines. I joined the hexes as I went along and worked out my own pattern for the half hexagons. It was made using acrylic yarn from my stash and took exactly 300g. When I was making it, I didn't like the way the flower petals curled but once it was finished and the ends sewn in I really liked the way it looked.

Thanks for all your comments that you very kindly leave. I'm looking forward to reading what you think about the cotton for the new bag and the wee lap blanket.

Shall We Dance?

Let me just say, right away, that I can't dance. I'm totally useless. But this isn't really about dancing as you'll see when you read on.

All you knitters and crocheters will know that it's inevitable that, no matter how hard you try, you eventually amass a bit of a yarn stash. In an attempt to use up some of my stash I decided to crochet a blanket. This was also something that I wanted to be able to work on in the car (as a passenger!) even when the journey was done during the hours of darkness. 

It had to be something simple so I settled on doing a Granny stripe. Since I was just using up scraps of yarn, although for some of the colours I had almost a full 100g ball, I didn't make the stripes any particular number of rows. In fact, some of the rows have a colour change at some point along it.

The crocheting was therapeutic. Row after row of three treble groups. I always counted; one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three ... My mind wandered and I thought how the counting was like the timing for a waltz. Then it wandered further; to one of my favourite musicals; The King and I. It has to be the one with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr, of course. Then I was singing to myself 'Shall we Dance?' and the blanket was henceforth known as the 'Shall we Dance?' blanket. When I started crocheting it, I had no intention of giving it a name!

Right, I'd better stop talking about it and let you see it. This is it spread over the mattress on a double bed. It gives you an idea of the size.

This is slightly better colour though not quite the full size.

The rest of the photos were taken outside to try and get the colours to show up well. First, draped over the sweet pea frame.

Now spread out a bit over the sweet pea frame. I'm sure by this stage the neighbours were  well and truly convinced of my insanity.

Here's a close up of the border.

Spread over the summer seat.

Same again but from a different angle. Well, you know what it's like! You just keep taking photos.

Folded and sitting on the summer seat.

Then flipped over to show the other colours.

For something that was done just to use up left over yarn, and done mostly in the dark, I think it has turned out very well. In fact, I'm delighted with it. Really, really love it. Every time I catch a glimpse of it, it makes me smile.

The facts:

The blanket weighs 1.45 kg. That means it took fourteen and a half 100g balls. I actually had to buy six of those in order to have enough.

The yarn is mainly Stylecraft Special DK with some Robin DK so it is entirely made from acrylic yarn.

And look! This is all I had left. 

Let me hasten to add that this is not all that is left in my stash. It's all that is left of the yarn that was suitable for this blanket.

The blanket will soon be going to my son. That is who I crocheted it for because he wants to make his house more homely. He doesn't know yet that he's getting it; it will be a surprise. I hope he'll be pleased with it. After all, there's nothing more homely than a Granny striped blanket, is there?

Thanks for all the lovely comments you leave. Please let me know what you think of the blanket. Bye for now.