…for now!   The last kit I have to share with you from the Yarns from the Plain/Agrarian Artisan Designs collaboration is Swirling Seas Scarf.

The yarn is Knutsford, a 4ply yarn which is 80% Falkland Merino and 20% Mulberry Silk.  There are 2 colours of kit available – each comes with 6 shades.  This is the green colourway:

 

There is also  a blue colourway, which is equally gorgeous!

Don’t forget, these kits have their first outing at the trunk show at Fluph tomorrow (25th May), 2pm til  8pm.

Happy crocheting xx

 

 

The second kit in the Yarns from the Plain/Agrarian Artisan collaboration is a design you may be familiar with.

Do you remember this post?

I designed the lovely Autumn Beaches scarf specifically for Mobberley DK, a luscious yarn made of a blend of 70% Exmoor Blueface and 30% British Alpaca.  One 100g skein of this yarn is enough to make a string of pretty motifs into a warm scarf.

Nic has put together some new colourways for this design, including a two colour version. Here’s a sample:

I love the strawberry colour and that blue/lime combo really zings!

Watch out tomorrow for another sneak peak at the 3rd kit in the range.

Happy crocheting xxx

It’s less than a week until Yarns from the Plain holds a trunk show at Fluph (25th May 2016) and I can now start to reveal the kits that Nic will be selling which combine her gorgeous hand-dyed British yarns with my designs.

There are 3 kits ready for the trunk show (more to come later this year), so I plan 3 separate blog posts to feature each one.

First is Sigrun Scarf.   Sigrun was designed originally as a weather wrap project using 2 strands of laceweight.  It is one of my favourite designs and I often thought it would translate well to a 4 ply scarf.  And that is what Nic and I did.  The Sigrun Scarf is a colourful interpretation of the original design in gorgeous 4 ply, in fact it is very colourful – the kit includes no less than 15 colours of yarn.  The yarn is Stanley Sock, an organically farmed Falkland Merino – so super soft.

One of the joys of working with so many colours is seeing how they work together, and the best way to do this is choose them totally randomly – throw them in a basket and select each new colour without looking!    It is scary to choose yarn colours this way but it really does work, and I’m sure Nic will agree as that is exactly how she made the Sigrun Scarf.

If you are in or around Dundee on 25th May please do pop into Fluph to see the trunk show, and grab your chance to buy  the first ever kit!

Happy crocheting xxx

…can you see him?   This is a regular spot for him, he loves to take a dust bath just behind the gooseberry bushes and in front of the asparagus patch!

I have two exciting things to tell you from my week.

First my Chevron Cowl was published in Inside Crochet magazine, this is one of my favourite makes and flew off the hook.   The yarn is lusciously soft – MillaMia Naturally Soft Aran and just 3 balls is all it takes, plus a few buttons as the cowl is adaptable.

As usual Claire and the team at Inside Crochet presented my design wonderfully – and there’s quite a nice selection of photos on the patten page on Ravelry.  This month’s Inside Crochet has a lovely free gift of a notebook.  I use notebooks a lot whilst designing and crocheting so it was well received by me.  In fact Inside Crochet has had some excellent quality free gifts these last few months – probably the best I’ve seen on a magazine for a long time.

I enjoyed the rest of the issue over a leisurely coffee – plenty to see and several items I want to make:

The second exciting news is to let you know that Yarns from the Plain will be doing a trunk show at fluph, a fabulous yarn shop in Dundee, on 25th May and at that trunk show the very first kits from our joint venture will be on sale!   Yes, for the first time you will see some of my crochet designs in Nic’s scrummy yarn!   Not all the kits will be ready by then, but it will give you a taste of what’s to come.   A lot of work has gone into producing these kits by both Nic and I, choosing the designs was the easy bit and choosing the colours was the fun bit!  But as well as that there was oodles of crocheting and then the photos and packaging, and yarn winding etc.    If you are anywhere near Dundee on the day please go and visit the trunk show, and if you do please let me know what you think of the kits..

As well as that, this week I’ve been doing more preparation for Cheshire Fibre Festival.  Hopefully there will be more to tell you on that soon.

Meanwhile…happy crocheting xxx

I made the Buxton Satchel as a crochet project that my fellow holidayers might enjoy on our annual knitaway in Buxton.  I now find I am using it a lot – it is a great size for taking magazines, files and patterns, as well as space for yarn and projects.

The satchel is based on granny squares and joined with a ‘gusset’ made of linen stitch.    I didn’t write a full pattern just a recipe giving basic components and steps.  Also, there are no photos showing steps, so rather a lot of words I’m afraid!  Here it is:

Materials
These are what I used, but quantities would vary depending on your tension, what type of yarn you use and how many colours you want.
Scheepjes Cotton 8, 50g/170m/186yds per ball. I used 9 colours, 1 ball of each (actual quantities shown also):
A – Light Purple (651) – 11g
B – Olive (669) – 12g
C – Light Pastel Green (663) – 16g
D – Moors (726) 17g
E – Purple (661) – 18g
F – Light Green (642) – 20g
G – Seagreen (723) – 24g
H – Violet (529) – 26g
I – Dark Green (713) – 50g
3mm crochet hook (US D/3)
4 lockable stitch markers
Tapestry needle for sewing ends
Press stud fastener
Lining material
Stiffening material

Abbreviations
English crochet terms are used.
St(s) = stitch(es)
Sp(s) = space(s)
Ch = chain
Ch-sp(s) = chain space(s)
Ss = slip stitch
Tr = treble
Dc = double crochet
RS = right side

Tension/gauge
This is not important, just aim for a finish you like.

Instructions
First make 2 granny squares approx. 14” square.:
Foundation:  Using Yarn A, make a 4ch foundation ch and join into a ring with a ss
Round 1: 5ch (counts as 1tr, 2ch), (3tr, 2ch) 3 times into the ring, 2tr into the ring, join to 3^rd st of starting 5ch with a ss. Break yarn and fasten off.
Round 2: Change to yarn B, ss into 2ch-sp, 5ch (counts as 1tr, 2ch), (3tr, 1ch) into the same 2ch-sp, (3tr, 2ch, 3tr, 1ch) into each of the next three 2ch-sps, 2tr into the first 2ch-sp, join to 3^rd st of starting 5ch with a ss. Break yarn and fasten off.
Round 3: Change to Yarn C, ss into 2ch-sp, 5ch (counts as 1tr, 2ch), (3tr, 1ch) into the same 2ch-sp, *(3tr, 1ch) into each 1ch-sp, (3tr, 2ch, 3tr, 1ch) into the next 2ch-sp; repeat from * another 2 times (3tr, 1ch) into each 1ch-sp, 2tr into the first 2ch-sp, join to 3^rd st of starting 5ch with a ss.  Break yarn and fasten off.
Repeat Round 3, changing yarn each round until you have your desired size of granny square.

Now make a granny triangle following the same colour scheme, as follows:
Foundation:  Using Yarn A, make a 4ch foundation ch and join into a ring with a ss.
Row 1 (RS): 3ch (counts as 1tr), 4tr in ring. Break yarn and fasten off.
Row 2: Change to Yarn B, ss into top of first st of last Row (note you always want to start on RS), 3ch (counts as 1tr), 3tr in same st, 1ch, miss 3 sts, 4tr in last st. Break yarn and fasten off.
Row 3: Change to Yarn C, ss into top of first st of last Row, 3ch (counts as 1tr), 3tr in same st, 1ch, (3tr, 1ch) in each 2ch-sp, 4tr in last st. Break yarn and fasten off.
Repeat Row 3, changing yarn each row until you have your desired size of granny triangle.

Now you are going to form the strap and gusset:

The photo above shows the base of the bag and the full width of the gusset.

The photo above shows the side gusset, it is narrow at the left (the strap end).

Round 1: Join yarn to any corner of a granny with a ss, make a chain the length of your strap, ss into next corner of the granny (going anti-clockwise), 1dc in each st and along the side, base and opposite side of the granny until you reach your chain, 1dc in each st of the ch, join to 1^st dc with a ss.  Break yarn and fasten off.
Round 2: Join next colour to any st with a ss, 1ch (does not count as st), 1dc in next st, 1ch, miss 1 st, (1dc, 1ch, miss 1 st) all around the strap and gusset, join to 1^st dc with a ss.  Break yarn and fasten off.. Note you may have to adjust if you find you are one st out at the end, I suggest you dc2tog in one place to make this adjustment.
Round 3: Join next colour to any 1ch-sp with a ss, 1ch (does not count as st), 1dc in same 1ch-sp, 1ch, (1dc, 1ch) in each 1ch-sp all around the strap and gusset, join to 1^st dc with a ss.  Break yarn and fasten off.
Round 3 is the pattern for the strap. Continue in this way and changing colour each round until the strap is half the desired width.  Then start short row shaping to create the gusset on the next round/row, starting first about an inch below the top edge of the bag, and moving down an inch each new round/row until your gusset is half the desired width.  Now start increasing the short rows to match the decreasing using the same colours.  Once your short row shaping is complete, continue the strap and gusset until it is your desired width.  Now do a final round using the same colour working dc into each st and 1ch-sp but also joining to the other granny square by working through both sts of the gusset and the granny square, work the dc all round the strap as well and one row along the top of the second granny.
Rejoin yarn to top of the first granny and work a round of dc all along that and around the strap.
Now work a round of dc around the whole of the granny triangle.
Finally join the granny triangle to the top of one side of the bag with a row of dc.
NOTE: when you started the gusset the join to the first granny was flat.  When you join the second granny you end up with a ridge.  If you want a matching ridge on the first join, then simple work over that join with a row of dc.

To finish
Line the bag, stiffening as necessary and use a press stud or other fastener to close it.

If you make a satchel, please do share photos of it either here or on Ravelry

Happy crocheting xxx