Welcome to week 2 and the second motif in the Spring Blossom Blanket CAL.

Whilst motif 1 was simple and helped you to get your tension/gauge right and practice the join as you go technique, motif 2 is most definitely floral!

I used 2 colours in the floral centres but you could use 3 if you like.

This motif has been included in the pattern and the update is ready for you to download from Ravelry if you have purchased it, the layout has also been updated to show where motif 2 fits in.  I have also included an alternative layout which you may follow if you choose.

Please share your progress  🙂

Happy crocheting xxx

PS If you have not yet bought the pattern it is available here.

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to day 1 of the Spring Blossom Blanket CAL.

Today Part 1 of the CAL pattern is published, the first of 4 hexagonal motif designs.  If you have purchased the pattern through Ravelry you should go to your Ravelry library and download the updated pattern (Ravelry will have sent you a link as well so you can access it easily).

It took me a long time to decide which motif to publish first.  Should I give you the prettiest motif first?  I was very tempted, but then the practical side took hold and I decided on the simplest of the hexagonal designs.  This will allow you to have a good play with your colour combos, to test your tension/gauge and to learn the join as you go technique.

It includes a layout showing where Motif 1 sits in the design and details of what I did with my colours (but this is for information as I want you to try your own combinations!), as well as a photo tutorial of how to join these motifs as you go.  Oh, and it includes the first half hexagonal motif!

I hope you enjoy it 🙂  Please share your colours and progress here, on Facebook and on Ravelry, sharing makes the CAL so much fun!

Part 2 will be published in a week, and that will be a lot more floral looking than part 1!

Happy crocheting xxx

If you haven’t yet purchased the pattern it can be found here.  And if you use the coupon code BLOSSOM on checkout on Ravelry you will get it at a £3 discount – coupon code only available until midnight GMT tonight!

Are you ready for the Spring Blossom CAL?   It starts a week today ……  I’m getting excited!

Some of you may watch Facebook and Ravelry, but for those who don’t here is my latest design:It is named after my mother Muriel.   Ok, it looks odd in the photo, that is because it shows 2 shawlettes.  Each made from one skein of sock yarn. The one on the left is the ‘solid’ version and is slightly smaller overall than the ‘open’ version on the right.

For me this is the perfect one skein shawlette for that favourite skein of yarn.  You want to see the yarn and not have the colour compete with a ‘fussy’ pattern, simplicity works best and that is what this shawlette provides in 2 variations and 2 different borders.

You can find the pattern here.  And until midnight tonight (or until 20 people have purchased, whichever is sooner) you can buy it on Ravelry at 50% off the purchase price if you use coupon code BEQUICK at checkout.

Happy crocheting xxx

 

 

 

So you have almost 2 weeks until the Spring Blossom CAL starts, plenty of time to sort out your yarn.  But what if your hook is itching and you have a huge stash and want to use it?  Well make some big blocks and make a quick blanket!

By ‘big blocks’ I mean crochet squares that are at least 30cm/12” square and preferably in one colour so there are no stops to change colour and fewer ends to sew in (this makes it even quicker).  For my tension this means a granny square of 9 rounds in aran weight yarn or about 12 rounds in dk yarn.   But everyone’s tension varies, so you may find a 9 round aran granny is 11” or even 13” – if you’re making a blanket using scrap yarn then the tension doesn’t really matter.  What does matter is that 9 rounds (or 12) are pretty quick to hook – so the squares make up quickly.  And you won’t need many for a blanket, so you’ll soon have one.  But why stop at just grannies?   This quick blanket includes 4 of my designs, all roughly same size, they look good in one colour but can be adapted to more than one colour.  Using these you’ll soon have a blanket!

There are lots of these types of square available free on the internet if you look.  In fact have a look at the Friends Around the World CAL here.  The first 2 squares are the 2 that I designed as my contribution to the Friends Around the World CAL, so some of you may find them familiar!

My blanket was made of 16 squares – 4 by 4, and it has a narrow border, so the finished size was 1.2m (4ft) square.  If you want to make a blanket before the CAL starts then  you just need to make 8 squares a week – can you manage that?    Here it is:

Yarn:  Each square used roughly 85m of aran weight yarn – I used Drops Nepal at 50g/85m per ball and I used 8 colours – 2 balls each of 6 colours and 3 balls each of 2 colours (the ones in the border).  You could use as many colours as you like, but for a blanket of similar size you will need at least 18x50g balls of aran weight.

Hook: 5.0mm (US H/8) crochet hook

The first 2 squares are called Octoghan and Flower Compass, these were used in the CAL last summer.  I made 4 of each and used all 8 colours.  You can find the patterns here and here.  Of course, you could just use a simple granny or some of the other designs from the FATW CAL

Again I made 4 each of the last 2 squares and used all 8 of my colours.  The patterns for these use standard English crochet terms.

The first is Large Agathi. This is based on a square I designed for a CAL over last winter – it has been extended by one round.

Rounds 1 to 6 are the same as the original Agathi which can be found here 

Round 7: ss into 2ch-sp, 5ch (counts as 1tr, 2ch), 1tr into the same 2ch-sp, 1ch, *(1tr in next st, 1ch, miss 1ch-sp) twice, 1tr in each of next 3 sts, 1ch, miss 1 st, (1tr in next st, 1ch, miss 1ch-sp) 3 times, 1tr in next st, 1ch, miss 1 st, 1tr in each of next 3 sts, (1ch, miss 1ch-sp, 1tr in next st) twice, 1ch**, (1tr, 2ch, 1tr, 1ch) into the next 2ch-sp; repeat from * another 2 times, then from * to ** once, join to 3^rd st of starting 5ch with a ss.

Round 8: ss into 2ch-sp, 5ch (counts as 1tr, 2ch), 1tr into the same 2ch-sp, 1ch, (1tr, 1ch) in each tr along each side (missing all the 1ch-sps and the centre tr of each group of 3tr) and (1tr, 2ch, 1tr, 1ch) in each 2ch-sp on the corner, join to 3^rd st of starting 5ch with a ss.

Round 9: ss into 2ch-sp, 5ch (counts as 1tr, 2ch), 2tr into the same 2ch-sp, 1tr into each st and 1ch-sp around, (2tr, 2ch, 2tr) into each 2ch-sp, and work a final 1tr into the first 2ch-sp, join to 3^rd st of starting 5ch with a ss.  Break yarn and fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing or crocheting together later.  You should have 35tr along each side and a 2ch-sp at each corner.

And the last one:

Foundation:  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.

Round 2: ss into 2ch-sp, (note for this and each subsequent round: this ss is to position the start of the round in the right place) 5ch (counts as 1tr, 2ch), 1tr into the same 2ch-sp, 1ch, *1tr in next st, 1ch, miss 1 st, 1tr in next st, 1ch, (1tr, 2ch, 1tr, 1ch) in next 2ch-sp; repeat from * another 2 times, 1tr in next st, 1ch, miss 1 st, 1 tr in next st, 1ch, 1tr into the first 2ch-sp, join to 3^rd st of starting 5ch with a ss.

Round 3: ss into 2ch-sp, 5ch (counts as 1tr, 2ch), 2tr into the same 2ch-sp, 1tr into each st and 1ch-sp around, (2tr, 2ch, 2tr) into each 2ch-sp, and work a final 1tr into the first 2ch-sp, join to 3^rd st of starting 5ch with a ss.

Round 4: ss into 2ch-sp, 5ch (counts as 1tr, 2ch), 1tr into the same 2ch-sp, 1ch, *(1tr in next st, 1ch, miss 1 st) repeated until next 2ch-sp, (1tr, 2ch, 1tr, 1ch) in next 2ch-sp; repeat from * another 2 times, (1tr in next st, 1ch, miss 1 st) repeated until first 2ch-sp, 1tr into the first 2ch-sp, join to 3^rd st of starting 5ch with a ss.

Round 5: as Round 3
Round 6: as Round 4
Round 7: as Round 3
Round 8: as Round 4
Round 9: as Round 3.  Break yarn and fasten off, leaving a long tail of about 6m for sewing or crocheting together later.  You should have 35tr along each side and a 2ch-sp at each corner.

Joining the squares:  You can join your squares in any way you choose.  For my sample, I opted for joining through back loops only using slip stitch from the reverse of the blanket.

I had limited yarn left, so I opted for a simple 2 round border.  The first round was slip stitch into back loop all the way around.  The second round was (1dc, 1ch, miss 1 st) repeated around.  Whilst simple this also gives a nice finish.

So there you have it – a quick blanket with big blocks, and very rewarding.  You have just enough time to make one before the Spring Blossom CAL starts!

Happy crocheting xxx

 

Happy New Year!  I wish you all health, happiness and prosperity in 2017.

The turn of the year means spring is on the way, so today is a good time to introduce you to the Spring Blossom CAL, which is a blanket CAL starting on 21st January 2017.

What does it look like?  Well, there’s a bit of mystery in it, but here’s a sneak preview:

The name Spring Blossom comes from the scattering of pale colours, some of a floral design, over the whole blanket.   It is made of hexagonal motifs in 4 designs with a finished size, including border, of approx 165cm by 150cm.

The introduction to the pattern is available now here.  The full price is £4.50 but there is a discount code available until the start of the CAL (21st January), use code BLOSSOM at checkout to get £3 off the full price.

If you want to join in the CAL you’ll find the following information on construction, colour and yarn useful:

The motifs are designed to be made in 3 colours: the central section in 2 colours and a wide border in 1 colour, which I used as a main colour.  I used only 3 colours for the central sections and one colour for the wide border, because I wanted a pale and simple design. However, you could use many more colours if you wish – I would love to see this in lots of colours!  My main colour was cream and the centres are pale pink, blue and lavender.    But imagine what this would be like with a green background and lots of floral colours, or a sky blue background, or an autumnal sky background with autumn colours – the possibilities are endless.

The motifs are join-as-you-go, which I think gives a neat finish, but you could opt to join later by other methods (although this will need more yarn). The pattern includes details of my layout but you do not have to follow my layout or make all the styles of motif. In fact, if you don’t like one style just swap it with another. The border is simple but be aware that it requires 120m of each of the 3 contrast colours – so if you decided to use more than 3 colours you must ensure you will have sufficient of 3 of them to complete the border.

Yarn: I used Stylecraft Malabar Aran, 78% cotton/22% silk, 100g/165m per ball:
11 balls in Buttermilk 2520 (Main colour M)
3 balls in Petal Pink 2528 (Contrast A)
3 balls in Powder Blue 2525 (Contrast B)
3 balls in Lavender 2529 (Contrast C)
Unfortunately this yarn is being discontinued so an alternative is:
Stylecraft Special Aran, 100% acrylic, 100g/196m per ball.
Background requires 10 balls
Colours require 3 balls each in 3 colours of your choice (9 balls in total).
Hook: 5.0mm (US H/8) crochet hook

If you prefer you could make the blanket in a DK yarn using a 4.0mm (US G/6) crochet hook. The motif size using DK yarn is smaller and the finished size is estimated to be approx. 125cm by 140cm.
Recommended yarn quantities using Stylecraft Special DK, 100% acrylic, 100g/294m per ball.
6 balls in main background colour
2 balls in each of the 3 contrast colours (6 balls total)

There’s already discussion and a little excitement building on my Ravelry forum.  So please join in the fun.

Happy crocheting xxx