Colour in crochet

On February 1, 2014February 1, 2014 By agrarianartisan1 Comment

I‘ve been thinking a lot about colour recently. Perhaps because I’ve been making colourful hexagons for a few weeks ahead of the launch of The Hexagon Project 2014 which I blogged about yesterday here: https://agrarianartisan.com/2014/01/31/the-hexagon-project-2014/

I like to think I use a subtle colour palette in what I do. If you saw my home youwould see it is fairly modern with plenty of oak and neutral shades everywhere – just odd splashes of colour for accent. But I do love colour in many things, just as long as it isn’t glaring out at me from every corner. So I am not afraid to use colour provided it fits in my world.

You won’t find much multi colours in anything I make or design – just look at my Ravelry project and design pages to see how I use colour!

However, my thoughts have made me reflect on the blankets I have made over the years.

The first blanket I ever made was a granny in shades of blue, mainly pale blue. It served me well at uni. It was thrown out years ago – so I don’t have a photo of it. Believe me when I say it was subtle, not glaring.

The second blanket I made was a small knitted hap blanket – beige with red highlights.

Then came Starry Night by Amanda Perkins, I made it in grey, silver and 2 shades of dark blue.

The fourth blanket I made was another design by Amanda Perkins called Lily. This time I started to use more colour – I wanted lots of red – and that is what I got!

The next blanket (knitted) was back to my neutral shades.

Then no 6 was a baby blanket in ice cream colours

And then a small lap blanket in soft blue, green, cream.

Then I made a granny style blanket in lots of colour – quite a change for me! It is confined to the spare bed and is very practical. But I do quite like the colour pick-me-up as I walk in that room.

The first blanket for this year is very colourful, it is another Amanda Perkins’ design and I blogged about it here: https://agrarianartisan.com/2014/01/25/kaleidoscope/

I have also made 2 other blankets recently, I’m not going to tell you about them yet, other than to say one is ‘nicely’ colourful and the other is back to my more subtle colour palette.

Now all of this has made me think about the world of crochet. There are so many fields of crochet in the world from the delicate old Irish crochet used frequently in crisp white doillies to the bright colourful world of simple but effective granny squares, with a myriad of styles, taste and colour inbetween. The recent growth in the crochet world has been predominantly in the colourful granny area – after all it is easy to see the impact of colour and grannies are quite quick and easy to make when you are just getting going.

Just recently I have started to sense a slow change in that colourful granny world, maybe, just maybe, it is growing closer to my preferences of subtlety. I think it is about time it should.

Personally, in the world of colourful crochet my preference is always in the direction of Amanda Perkins, her use of colour is exceptional. It is so much more sophisticated than the granny world. If we are to use colour in the world of crochet it is much better to do with sophistication don’t you think?

Yes, I would dearly love to know what you think, so please share your thoughts with me.

Happy crocheting xx

Edit: just after pushing the ‘publish’ button, I read the latest blog by Lucy of Attic 24 which only served to confirm my sense of colour shift! http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2014/02/colour-play.html

Seasons greetings!

On December 23, 2013 By agrarianartisan3 Comments

I am sure everyone has been very busy preparing for the Christmas time holiday. But if any of you are still keen to squeeze in one last make before it’s too late here are a few ideas.

If you fancy one last minute decoration make hop over to Kerry’s blog to get the pattern for this:

On Kerry’s blog here:

Crochet Tutorial – Christmas Snowflake/Star

Make a curvy star for decoration or as a coaster

On the blog here:

Curvy Star Hexagon

Make a few small lavender sachets

Pattern on Ravelry here:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/simple-crochet-sachet

And some very quick knitted fingerless mitts

Pattern on Ravelry here:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/easy-peasy-fingerless-mitts-3

But don’t forget to find some time to put your feet up and just relax!

Seasons greetings and Happy New Year to all my readers xxxxx

A little bit Bohemian…….

On December 8, 2013 By agrarianartisan7 Comments

It started on 2nd May 2013 with this:

Bohemian Rhapsody - the kit — Bohemian Rhapsody – the kit

Bohemian Rhapsody; a kit with 144 squares to make. I bought it because of the colours – 75 different colours. For me it was an experiment in colour.

I find squares boring (I’m a hexagon girl) so I decided to do a little every so often rather than bore myself with 144 squares. So I set a deadline – 8 squares every 2 weeks. Last week I decided to speed up – I had only 16 squares to go, the end was in sight – so I just raced away, worked fast so the squares didn’t bore me.

And this is the result:

Do I like it? Yes, I love it – the colours are quite spectacular.
Did I learn from it? Yes, I will be more daring with colour in future!
Did I enjoy it? Yes and no, like I say – I’m a hexagon girl! But now I do feel a little bohemian….

Happy knitting and crocheting xx

Getting Festive

On November 17, 2013 By agrarianartisanLeave a comment

I am sure you are wondering if I met the WIP challenge I mentioned in my last blog. Well I am pleased to say I did – but only just! So for the last 10 days I have had the luxury of starting some new projects.

This year I have not made many Christmas presents, I decided it would be good to take a year off making them and I am sure it will be a relief to my family and friends as they have already received hat, mitts and scarves over the last 3 years! But I still feel the need to make something for Christmas. So my new projects have been festive – I have thoroughly enjoyed making some decorations to adorn the parcels I will wrap:

These use some of my festive snowflakes. Pattern here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/festive-snowflakes

And some new bunting to adorn the house:

Festive Bunting - Granny Style — Festive Bunting – Granny Style

Which I absolutely love! Pattern here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/christmas-bunting—granny-style

I also found time to design a new snowflake for Kerry. I am calling it Snowflake 2013 and I think I may have set myself a new challenge – to design a new snowflake each year! This snowflake features on Kerry’s blog. You will find the chart for it there as well as a video tutorial – and it’s free. So pop over and have a look, I am sure you’ll be crocheting your own snowflakes soon!

Crochet Tutorial – Christmas Snowflake/Star

Happy Knitting and Crocheting xxx

An Anniversary…..

On August 23, 2013August 27, 2013 By agrarianartisanLeave a comment

An Anniversary

In my last blog, I mentioned the special date of 27th August being the 1st anniversary of my Ravelry forum. I can now disclose the 2 designs made for that anniversary.

The Anniversary Sharf (knitting):

And the Simple Circles Scarf/Wrap (crochet):

If you are a member of Raverly, join my forum on there (Agrarian Artisan Designs), establish a project linked to one of the 2 designs above and tag it properly before 1st September 2013, I will gift the pattern to you via Ravelry….and then you can join in the fun, knitting or crocheting with other like minded folk 🙂

Happy knitting and crocheting xx

The Granny Square Blog Tour

On August 1, 2013 By agrarianartisan5 Comments

If you have ever attended one of my workshops you will have heard me say ‘granny squares are like marmite’ because you either love ‘em or loathe ‘em. But whatever your views it seems granny squares are firmly embedded in the crochet world. Some people have very strong feelings about them, and some could not care less. So which are you?

I confess I used to hate them and I mean really hate them. Why? Well I think squares can be quite boring and I think the repetition of the design is, frankly, unexciting. And I had this view for many years.

In my teens I made a granny square blanket, it went to university with me part finished and I finished it in my first year. It came in very useful! But then I moved right on. And, I’m sorry to say, so did the blanket.

When formulating this blog I decided to have a look at what granny squares I had made recently and I was a little surprised. It seems in the last few months I have been making quite a few grannies:

Flower power cushion:

Pin cushion:

Granny purse:

Perhaps age has mellowed my views, but now I can see they have their uses and to me their primary use is, to put it simply, colour! Perhaps it is the regularity of the design, but they certainly enable everyone to experiment with colour and somehow bring out the rainbow in all of us. My current experimenting with colour is via Bohemian Rhapsody, perhaps not a true granny but lots of granny elements:

Now you can experiment with colour in lots of way with crochet, and I absolutely adore the beautiful motif designs by Amanda Perkins – I think they enable more alluring colour experimentation and her blankets are just exquisite, to me so much more pleasing to my eyes than any granny square could be. Have a look at her blog here: http://amandascrochetblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/granny-squares.html she shows how beautiful crochet motifs can be.

The secondary use of granny squares is that they are simple, and thus they enable beginner crocheters to experiment with colour and make useful items with confidence. No-one is a beginner forever, so in time most crocheters do move on from grannies. However, I recognise that some do not – they love grannies so much they just keep making them! So be it – the world is big enough for everyone.

So I no longer hate grannies, I see they have their place in the crochet world. So this blog is part of a celebration of them – the ‘granny square blog tour’, which enables crocheting bloggers the world over to join in and have their say. If you have a blog and want to join in, then please comment on this discussion thread on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/agrarian-artisan-designs/2646102/1-25#11

Next on the tour is the talented Tracey Todhunter, look out for her blog early next week: http://bakingandmaking.com/

Happy knitting and crocheting xxx

Bohemian Rhapsody

On July 5, 2013July 5, 2013 By agrarianartisan2 Comments

Did anyone watch The Great British Sewing Bee? Well if you did you may have spotted Ann (the winner and my heroine!) wearing a fabulous crochet scarf in the penultimate episode, it was so light some people even thought it was printed on fabric. The scarf is a design by Marylene Lynx called Bohemian Rhapsody, you can see it here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bohemian-rhapsody-2

Now I am not a huge fan of granny squares. You should know by now that I am a hexagon girl! However, what I do like about granny squares is the opportunity you have to experiment with colour, and there are so many amazing colour experts out there who create the most fabulous grannies. Marylene Lynx did just that with Bohemian Rhapsody, there are 75 colours in the design – the complete colour range in the very fine lace weight merino wool by Renaissance Dyeing http://www.renaissancedyeing.com/en/

I just had to make one!

First I purchased the kit, which is available only from Renaissance Dyeing and comes from France. It arrived in double quick time and I laid out all the colours on the table – they looked so beautiful I didn’t want to start!

Then I had to sort them into 3 groups

Then I started the long laborious task of winding them into usable balls. At first I did this on bits of paper as I was so impatient I wanted to start making the scarf.

Within a few days I had used 25 colours and made the first 8 squares – only another 136 to go!

In the top left of the photo you will see the yarn on bits of paper.

After talking to a friend, who was tempted like me and has bought the kit, I very quickly realised it would be better to use embroidery cards and organise them into an embroidery box, so I had to rewind most of them!

But it has been worth it. I set a plan to do 8 squares a fortnight and I am a little ahead of that plan – here it is now, 48 squares complete – so a third of the way through.

Look closely in the top right and you will see my yarns, now properly organised in a box!

It should be finished in time for Christmas!

Happy knitting and crocheting

Curvy Star Hexagon

On July 2, 2013December 7, 2013 By agrarianartisan6 Comments

I talked about my hexagon project yesterday and I’ve been pondering ever since. Maybe you won’t understand my love of hexagons…or will you? So I thought I would share another small hexagon design with you just to see if it whet’s your appetite! Please do tell me what you think of it.

As I made it I was thinking of a star but, as so often happens when I get a hook in my hand, it took on a life of its own – and this little curvy star was born.

Do you like it? Subconsciously I must have thought of the blanket I want to make, which I want to be ‘open’ but snug, because I think it is perfect for what I want in that blanket and that’s what I will make with it. It is 3 rounds and really not too difficult to make if you can crochet in the round. Here’s the pattern:

This is written in English crochet terms and uses standard abbreviations.

st = stitch

ss = slip stitch

sp = space

dc = double crochet

tr = treble

htr = half treble

dtr = double treble.

I used a 5mm hook (US H/8) and some aran weight yarn, but you can use any yarn as long as you use a suitable hook.

Foundation – make 6 ch and join into a ring with a ss

Round 1 – 3 ch (counts as 1 tr), 1 tr, 1 ch, (2 tr, 1 ch) 5 times, join to 3^rd ch from start of round with a ss

Round 2 – ss into gap between first 2 tr from last round (if you are changing colour join your new colour here), into this gap crochet (3 ch (counts as 1 tr), 1 tr, 1 ch, 2 tr, [into next 1 ch-sp, crochet 1 dc, into the gap between next 2 tr from last round crochet (2 tr, 1 ch, 2 tr)] five times, into next 1 ch-sp, crochet 1 dc, join to 3^rd ch from start of round with a ss

Round 3 – ss into top of 3 ch from start of last round (if you are changing colour join your new colour here), [(1 htr, 1 tr, 2 dtr, 1, tr, 1 htr) in 1 ch-sp, ss into 2^nd tr along, ss into next tr along] five times, (1 htr, 1 tr, 2 dtr, 1, tr, 1 htr) all in 1 ch-sp, ss into 2^nd tr along, ss to first ss to complete the round. Break yarn and fasten off.

If you want to join the motifs together, join between the 2 dtr at the tip of each curve on the last round.

For those who like charts, here’s one for you (this uses standard symbols)But please note this is copyright – do not repost/pin this or you will be in breach of that copyright:

Now for the legal stuff – I designed this today, it’s all my own work and is copyright. Please feel free to make as many as you like, but not for commercial purposes, and please credit me with the design. Thank you!

I am human (yes, I am!) so I am perfectly capable of making mistakes! So if you spot any errors in the pattern please just tell me and I’ll correct it.

Happy knitting and crocheting

PS For those who are interested, I use Stitchworks software to chart.

The Hexagon Project 2013

On July 1, 2013July 4, 2013 By agrarianartisanLeave a comment

Hot news – I have just published Motif no 4 from the Hexagon Project 2013

Do you want to know more about it? Well here goes………

What is the hexagon project? A collection of 7 hexagon motif designs (afghan designs)published from April to October. On 1st April the first design was published, the other 6 are published at monthly intervals. So today design number 4 was published.

Why hexagons? I have a thing about hexagons, there is something more organic about them compared to squares and I love the way they sit together.

Where are the patterns? They are published on Ravelry.com So look under my designs there. Here’s a link http://www.ravelry.com/designers/agrarian-artisan

Are they free? Only to ‘hexagon club’ members. The first design was free for the month of April and people were invited to join the club to receive the next designs free.

How do you become a member? All it takes is a few simple steps.

1. Join my forum on Ravelry, Agrarian Artisan Designs. Here’s a link: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/agrarian-artisan-designs

2. Establish a project on Ravelry for your hexagons

3. Tag the project 2013hexagon

4. Link the project to one of the The Hexagon Project 2013 designs.

If you are a member on the day I publish each design, then you will receive that design.

Are they easy to make? The motifs are suitable for those fairly new to crochet who can crochet in the round, there are no complex stitches used.

Can I get help? Of course! There is a discussion group on my forum on Ravelry and everyone in the club shares progress and questions there. And of course you can always ask me!

There’ll be more on the project as I publish the next designs, meanwhile here’s some photos of the first 4 hexagons.

Happy knitting and crocheting

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