This is the second and final week of the Cloud CAL.   Here’s a recap of part 1.

The first stage of this part is to finish the end with a beaded edge.

Beading with crochet can be done several ways, one way is to thread the beads onto the yarn and then keep pushing them down the yarn as you work, bringing them up to the hook when needed.  This design has beads only at the very ends of the scarf, so I thought it much better to just add them when needed, because I would have found it a bit of a faff to keep pushing beads down the yarn for so long so I am sure you would too!

The beaded edge is simple – a set of 6 loops with 5 beads on each.  You could make these loops longer if you like, but I found 5 beads sufficient.  If you don’t want to use beads then you can miss out some of the work – maybe just do a picot instead of the 5 beaded sts.

Are you ready?  Well here we go:

Beaded row: 1ch (does not count as a st), 1dc in st at base of ch, 1dc in next tr, 1dc in next 1ch-sp….now the fun bit, we are going to do 5 ch with beads on them, as follows:

Slip a few beads on the small crochet hook:

Now remove the working hook from the loop, place the small hook on the loop and slide one bead down over the hook and onto the loop, remove the small hook and replace the working hook on the loop, make 1ch.  You have trapped one bead in the ch.  These photos show the technique:

Now repeat this process, removing the working hook, placing a bead on the loop and then completing the ch.

Do this until you have 5 beads trapped on the ch loop.

*Now work 1dc in the same 1ch-sp as the last dc, 1dc in each of next 2 tr, 1dc in the next 1ch-sp.

And repeat the 5 ch of beads.

Repeat from * until you have 6 loops of beads, then end with 1dc in last 1ch-sp and 1dc in the last st.  Break yarn and fasten off.

You now have half a scarf!

To make the second half, re-join the yarn to the underside of your original starting ch (this is now the centre of the scarf), and then complete the second half to be identical to the first half.

Set up row: (this is basically the same as Row 2 from the first part) 2ch, (1tr, 1ch, 1tr) in first 1ch-sp, (1tr, 1ch, 1tr) in each of next four 1ch-sps,  in the last 1ch-sp you do something slightly different: (1tr, 1ch, tr2tog placing first part in 1ch-sp and last part in last st on the Row), turn.

The first 2ch and 1tr together count as a tr2tog – so you start and end the row with a tr2tog which helps give a firm edge.

Next row: 2ch, *(1tr, 1ch, 1tr) in 1ch-sp; repeat from * to last 1ch-sp, in this last 1ch-sp you do something slightly different: (1tr, 1ch) in last 1ch-sp, now tr2tog placing first part in last 1ch-sp and second part in last st on the Row, turn.  This is the pattern row and is repeated until the second half of the scarf is the same length as the first half, and then finish with the same beaded edge described above.  And voila!  You have a skinny summer scarf, light as a feather!

If you have any questions please ask on Ravelry or Facebook, and please share photos 🙂

I am working on my second scarf and hope to finish this weekend.  So I will share a photo when it is done, until then Happy Crocheting!  xxx

Earlier this year I ran my annual blanket CAL using the Wrapped in Memories blanket design.  As part of my designing process I made 2 blankets – one in Stylecraft DK and one in 4 ply leftovers/scraps (which was the theme for the blanket).

Here’s the Stylecraft blanket:

I love my scraps blanket because of all the memories hooked into it, and I love the Stylecraft blanket because of the colours!  But I have so many blankets at home that I decided I needed to find a good cause for the Stylecraft blanket.   And I am so pleased to say that I found that cause through my friend Kathy.  She supports many good causes through auctions and other fundraisers, and she was more than happy to find a way of raising funds from my blanket, in fact I think she was a bit gobsmacked that I could give away such a beautiful blanket!  But I was so pleased that Kathy could help me 🙂

If you want a chance to win this blanket (hooked by me!) then hop along to the ‘I love crafting – Friends and supporters’ group on Facebook – you will need to join the group but that will give you the chance to help the fundraising and maybe win the blanket!

Good luck! xxx

I promised you details of the kidsilk CAL a few days ago and here they are!

This is the introduction to the Cloud CAL, a skinny summer scarf made from kidsilk yarn – that is a laceweight yarn which is approx 70% kid mohair and 30% silk.  It is light and fluffy, much like a cloud 🙂

This is a fun CAL and will come in 2 parts – part 1 will be published next Friday (18th  May 2018) and part 2 the Friday afterwards (25th May 2018).  Today I’m giving you details of the materials; hopefully a week is long enough for you to gather these.

What you will need:

The essentials:

1 x 25g ball of kidsilk yarn, about 200m long.   There are many yarns available of this variety – Rowan Kidsilk Haze, Debbie Bliss Angel, Willow & Lark Plume to name a few. I used a ball of Rowan Kidsilk Haze that I have had in my stash for AGES – so long that the shade number is no longer available and I can’t even find a name from the shade by trawling through Ravelry!  It is number 591 and is a lovely pale grey which is neutral enough to go with anything.

4.0mm (US G/6) crochet hook, I like Clover Amour

Weighing scales, I use Salter scales because they have a handy weighing tray which doubles up as a cover, but any good small weight kitchen scales will do – ideally ones that weigh in 0.1g or 0.05g measures and with a weighing tray that will take a ball or skein of yarn (some of them are a bit too small for this)

Also useful:

6 lockable stitch markers, the ones I used are like little safety pins and very lightweight so ideal for the yarn

And optionally:

Beads plus a small hook (small enough to go through the centre of the bead),  I used 60 size 8 beads and a Clover Amour 0.6mm crochet hook. Whilst beads are optional, I think they really set this scarf off well.

This is a very simple CAL, aiming to be a relaxing make rather than a challenge as many people find using kidsilk yarn is a challenge anyway.

Just one last thing, I can’t set you off on a CAL unless I give you a sneak peek!

This is skinny and simple, and may even convert some of you to kidsilk yarn!  Of course, you don’t have to use kidsilk yarn – any yarn will do as this pattern will work with anything, but of you want to use beads then 4ply would be best.

If you want to chat about this CAL, you can ask questions or comment on this blog, or on my Facebook page or on Ravelry.

Until part 1 next week…………..

Happy crocheting xxx

I have mentioned before that I am following Lynne Rowe’s Use it or Lose it campaign.  It has been very much like a spring clean of my yarn stash – I have been through all of it thoroughly and if I could see no use for it then it was given to a worthy cause.  I have also refrained from buying new yarn, which has proved extremely difficult and I have to confess to a couple of lapses.  The first was to buy some red yarn to make poppies for our knitgroup’s annual poppy display (which increases every year) and the other to buy some double knit sock yarn (most of which has been used).

One of the joys of reviewing all my stash is finding yarn I haven’t looked at or used for a long time.  I have found some fabulous yarn bases and glorious colours, and it has made me want to find good uses for it.   So I decided to log it all, and that is what I have been doing this last weekend.

I have 7 tubs of yarn now (much reduced from before) and my logging has resulted in some interesting statistics.  Of course, I could just keep these to myself as I do find the amount of yarn I still have rather embarassing,  But if I confess then maybe it will inspire me (or embarass me) into making sure I use it!  So here goes:

My 7 tubs hold 153 skeins/balls of yarn, a total of almost 12kg in weight and almost 50km in length.  My logic told me I should use the aran and chunky yarn first, as it is thicker and will make up quickly – but I have less than 1km of that and it really is too warm here right now to knit or crochet heavy items.   So I have decided to look at the laceweight, which does amount to over 21km!   Amongst this is some kidsilk yarn – and that is what I have been playing with.   Here’s a small selection from my stash:

I have some lovely colours and I really enjoy working with it but it is like marmite – some people hate it and some people love it.  I love the cloud-like quality that I achieve when crocheting it, it is so light that it is perfect from summer wear (but not next to my sensitive skin!).  If you love it then maybe I can entice you to join in a CAL here on the blog.  This is a one ball CAL, meaning 1 x 25g or about 200m of yarn.  There are lots of brands you could use – such as Rowan Kidsilk Haze, Debbie Bliss Angel and Willow & Lark Plume, so if you don’t have any in your stash you have plenty of choice if you want to buy some.   The CAL is for a skinny scarf and is very simple, and it could be used with any yarn so if you don’t like or have any kidsilk yarn then you could join in using something else.

I will publish more details in a few days, so watch this space.   Oh, and if you like a bit of sparkle then you could add a simple beaded edge 🙂

Happy crocheting xxx