The pre-Advent CAL 2020 starts today!

Just a reminder of what to expect:

The CAL includes 5 patterns – snowflake, coasters, washcloths, gift bag and cowl. These are all quick projects, ideal as small seasonal gifts. They will be published individually but will also be part of a collection/ebook called Advent CAL 2020 which will be on sale for a short time at the bargain price of £1.

Today the first pattern is published 2020 Snowflake

You know I love snowflakes, they are all unique and the hexagonal shape appeals to my mathematical mind! They are key decorations in my home but can be used in so many other ways

The pattern costs £2 and is available here, it includes UK and US crochet terms, a chart and photos of each completed round.

The ebook is available here and normally costs £5, but until midnight tomorrow (GMT) use coupon code CAL to get an 80% discount – that’s £1 for the 5 patterns.

The other 4 patterns will be added to the ebook as they are published on 17th, 21st, 24th and 28th November.

Please share your progress on Ravelry and Facebook – I really want to see a flurry of snowflakes!

Finally I must send out huge thanks to my small army of testers on this project – Tania, Louise, Sally, Maria and Helene. They have been fabulous and CALs like this would not happen without their testing skills – huge thanks to them all 🙂

Happy crocheting xxx

The first pattern of the 2020 (pre) Advent CAL will be published in 7 days. I hope your hooks are ready!

As I mentioned last week, the first pattern of the 5 in the CAL will be the 2020 Snowflake. To whet you appetite here are the snowflakes from the last 2 years

If you fancy a flurry of snowflakes before the CAL starts, these 2 are on sale on Ravelry at a discount of 50% until midnight GMT tomorrow (Sunday 8th November) if you use coupon code SNOWFLAKE on checkout, you can find them here: 2019 Snowflake and 2018 Snowflake

Happy crocheting xxx

Last year I ran my traditional Advent CAL a little early and this was much appreciated as it gave everyone more time to make some gifts, which is what the Advent CAL is all about.   So this year I’ve decided to run it early again as a “pre-Advent” CAL.  There will be 5 designs in this CAL, each can be made in a couple of evenings or less – so they are perfect for gift making.

The designs will be released two weeks before Advent – the first on Saturday 14th November, the second on Tuesday 17^th November, the third on Saturday 21^st November, the fourth on Tuesday 24^th November and the last on Saturday 28th November.   As well as individual patterns, which will be available to purchase on Ravelry and LoveCrafts, the 5 designs will be added to a collection/book on Ravelry and for one day only (first release day plus a few hours) the ebook will be on sale at a bargain £1.

Previously I’ve treated this CAL as a mystery CAL but this year I thought you’d like an idea of what to expect as I suspect this year we will want to make more gifts than usual whilst we are ‘grounded’ and there’s nothing like preparation!

I design a snowflake every year and this year is no exception – so Snowflake 2020 will be released as the first pattern of the CAL, this could be used as a decoration or as a gift tag or a small thank you present for those who have helped keep some normality for us this year.

The other 4 designs would all make fabulous gifts –

a cowl made in DK or worsted yarn with a quick and simple pattern and an interesting feature join

coasters – always quick to make; make a set or 4 or more as pretty gifts or to adorn your festive table

a set of 3 washcloths – in quick and simple seasonal designs and a lovely eco gift

and a gift/toiletry bag – made with beads for sparkle.

Want a sneak peek? Here are a few tempting close ups:

These designs use all the normal crochet stitches, but the snowflake also uses picot and the bag uses some back post stitches and some beaded stitches.

More details will be posted in my Ravelry group here.

Don’t forget there will be a Twixmas Mandala CAL from 26^th to 31^st December (in DK or 4ply yarn) and starting at the end of January a wrap/blanket CAL using broadly the same motifs but different yarns and colour schemes.  Just to whet your appetite here’s the yarn I’m using in the dual CAL:

Stylecraft Special Chunky for the blanket:

And some luscious 4ply for the wrap in some gorgeous muted colours:

So dust your hooks off and get ready for CAL season! It starts in two weeks!

Happy crocheting xxx

In my last post I told you of my seasonal CAL plans. This one is an update.

The pre-Advent CAL items are designed and the samples well progressed, there will be 4 or 5 items in this CAL and it will run from early November.

The Twixmas Mandala CAL is complete and ready for testing. Phew that was speedy for me!

After much deliberation the 2021 CAL is decided. It will use octagonal motifs and will be available as a scarf/wrap and as a blanket.

The designing is complete and yarn estimated. The blanket version will be a lap blanket around 1.2m square (that’s about 4ft square) using chunky yarn. I’ve chosen Stylecraft Special Chunky and just ordered plenty from Black Sheep Wools, my sample will be in shades of blue and green (yes, my favourite!) but I ordered more colours than I need so I can play with them 🙂

The scarf/wrap will be about 35cm wide by 170cm long and will be in 4ply yarn. I’m using yarn from my stash for this but will also provide estimates and colours of alternative yarns.

All I have to do now is start writing patterns, finish some samples and make the 2021 CAL samples. I’ll be busy for a while!

Happy crocheting xxxx

September is here already and my mind has turned to the CAL season. For anyone who doesn’t know what a CAL is – it is a crochet-a-long.

In the last few years I have run 3 regular CALs – an Advent CAL, a Twixmas mandala CAL and a Blanket CAL.

The Advent CAL is in design already. There will be 4 to 6 small patterns, each perfect for gifts. Last year I started it before Advent, so it was a pre-Advent CAL!

The Twixmas mandala is also in design. This will run from 26th to 31st December. Something colourful to brighten up our days under the dull skies in the northern hemisphere!

I have been pondering the Blanket CAL. I normally run this in February/March. These are the last ones:

These blanket patterns are now all available on Ravelry. The 5 above are Honeycomb Web, Down Memory Lane, Wrapped in Memories, Winter Blanket CAL 2015 and Spring Blossom.

I have started to design a blanket motif for 2021, which is octagonal, but I have far too many blankets and I think that maybe I could do a wrap CAL next spring instead. I have in my head 3 octagonal motifs and a joining motif, and even a border. This wrap would be beautiful in a light yarn such as 4ply/fingering/sock. There would be less work than in a blanket as a wrap will be smaller, despite the lighter yarn and smaller hook. The motifs would be suitable for a blanket as well, and I could do a small lap blanket to demonstrate this in a heavier yarn.

So what do you think? Blanket or Wrap or both? If you have any preferences or views please comment here, on facebook or on Ravelry.

Happy crocheting xx

In my last post I told you of my plans to launch 2 new square designs for Granny Square Day.   Well Granny Square Day is on Saturday and it wouldn’t be fair to launch them on the same day would it?  There will be so many squares to look at then that you won’t have time to make these as well!

So I am launching today.   The 2 new squares follow the style of Noughts and Crosses, but are simpler and less textured.  I’ve called the new squares Granny OX Square and   Granny OXS Square and they are available (free) on Ravelry now.  Here they are with Noughts and Crosses: 

One of the things I like with these squares is that you can mix and match the smaller squares.  Here’s all 4 small squares in one:

These are such fun to make and I can see more variations of them in future, so look out for more in the series.

Please share your makes on social media!

Happy crocheting xxx

 

Granny Square Day is on Saturday 15th August this year.  I have designed 2 new squares very recently, based on Noughts  and  Crosses.  In fact when I designed Noughts and Crosses I had these 2 other ones in mind (and a few more) but never finalised their design.   Like Noughts and Crosses they will be free.  As Granny Square Day is very close, I decided that would be a perfect time to publish them.  So look out for a bog post on 15th August.

Meanwhile I thought I’d share an old CAL I did in 2015 using traditional granny squares – the Spring Lifter Bag.  This was a free CAL on my blog in 3 parts – start reading here.  If you prefer the easier to read pattern there is a paid version on Ravelry here.

Will you make a Spring Lifter for Granny Square Day?  If you do please share your progress.

Happy crocheting xxx

During this month (July 2020) Drops has a cotton sale, a generous 40% off cotton and cotton blend yarns until the end of the month.   Despite my large stash and my aim to control it better I do give in to temptation from time to time and I have often been tempted to try Drops Bomull-Lin, a linen and cotton blend yarn.  Well it’s a cotton blend so it’s in the sale!  You’ve guessed – I bought some, rather a lot actually, with a view to making practical gifts.  But what to make?

The best thing was to start something straightforward and see how I liked the feel of the yarn.  So I decided on a tea towel and before long these dropped off my hook:

The tea towel is perfect for drying glassware as the cotton has absorbency and the linen is good with glass.  I had plenty of the brown left so added a simple glass polishing cloth.

These use only chain and double crochet (for US that is single crochet), have an easily memorised pattern and make up quickly.   The pattern is written and available on Ravelry here, but use coupon code SUMMERLINEN and you will get it free, valid until end of July (midnight GMT).

There are so many other practical uses for cotton and linen in homeware (this yarn would be good in summer garments as well) and now is the perfect time to use it during the warm weather in the Northern Hemisphere.  My thoughts will turn to warmer items in a few months and I have a couple of scarves languishing on the hook waiting for the opportunity.  Meanwhile I have a large quantity of linen/cotton yarn in my stash and plenty of summer hooking ideas!

Happy summer crocheting xxx

PS If you are struggling to find the yarn try Purple Sheep Yarns or Woolwarehouse, both based in the UK, I’ve bought Drops from them before and they usually have a good stock.   (And no – I’ve not been sponsored by them or paid to mention them!)

 

When the weather is warm it is good to choose yarns that work easily in the heat, for me that means cotton and linen.   So when we had a mini heatwave a few weeks ago I started on some cotton dishcloths for the Yarndale Community project.  I worked them on and off over the last few weeks using aran weight cotton yarn (because it makes up quickly in the heat!) until I ran out.  I ended up making 5 dishcloths which will be posted soon.

Three were simple and quick granny squares, with linen st borders and a hanging loop

One was a practice of my Tunisian crochet, based on (loosely in several meanings!) this lovely pattern.  And one I just made up from scraps.

It was only when I finished the square made of scraps that I realised it would be a good square for a blanket as well.  So I decided I should draft a pattern.  It is now available on Ravelry here and, whilst it costs £1 normally, if you use coupon code COMMUNITY on checkout you will receive it free, valid until the end of the year.

I’ve also been working on with some linen/cotton blend.  I could bore you with details now, but I suspect you want to have a go at the square, so I will publish details of that in a few days.

Happy crocheting xxx

 

We are living in strange times; across the world we are all suffering varying types of ‘lockdown’.  But some say that yarn crafters, in fact any crafters, are well prepared for lockdown as we all have tools and ability to make beautiful things without leaving our sofa!

Whilst this is true, at the start of this pandemic I suffered from a loss of my crafting mojo; I wanted to make thing but couldn’t find the enthusiasm to craft.  I started several new projects but nothing grabbed my attention, I just couldn’t concentrate.  This is unusual for me but I reflected and decided I should try some simple projects.   And I started several.  And big confession here:  as soon as I had a whiff of a lockdown I ordered yarn from a variety of suppliers!  My stash control work over the last 2 years was thrown out of the window because I felt I needed plenty of yarn to keep me occupied.   I may have ordered as many as 30 skeins of yarn – but I didn’t count!

One project I started was a large blanket and another a Tunisian crochet cowl, both were fairly simple designs but I stalled.  Then I ordered some luscious sock yarn from Find Me Knitting – Dragon Hill Studio Shebourne Sparkle Sock.  I bought a skein of this yarn when I visited last year and made some lovely socks.  So I thought maybe a bit of blingy sock yarn would do it.  Like many LYS, Find Me knitting is operating mail order only and I contacted Deb to check that she had it in stock first.  She did and the 2 cakes of sock yarn arrived pretty promptly (thank you Deb!) and before I knew it a pair of vanilla but very sparkly socks were made – some blingy simple socks worked their magic!    It was the process of using a single skein (not too big or daunting a project) and doing something simple but rhythmic that provided the magic I needed.

I have a lot of single skeins in my stash which need good projects.   Co-incidentally at one of my weekly knitgroups, which are now online via Houseparty and Zoom, a good friend showed me her book on one skein sock yarn projects.  I was tempted to buy the book but then I realised I have a few one skein designs of my own.  So I will choose one of those next, probably from these favourites:

There are 3 patterns here, each are ideal as one skein projects and each using 4ply/fingering/sock yarn:  One Es Es, Kitty (which has several variations) and Muriel (which has 2 variations).  They all have a gentle rhythm to the pattern which makes them quite relaxing to work through.   I think they would make a lovely collection of one skein makes and I think I could get a dozen different shawls from all the variations.  So I have popped them together in an ebook on Ravelry called Single Skein Shawls, at a bargain price of £5 (normally £12 if bought individually).  So if you fancy some single skein lockdown projects, this may be perfect for you.

I’d love to know what single skein projects you may be working on, whether they are shawls, socks, mitts, cowls – so please share your progress!

Happy crocheting xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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using our stash