blanket – Page 7 – Crochet blog

Bluebells, bulldog and crochet…

Published on May 2, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin3 Comments

Well lets start with the bluebells shall we! It is fair to say that the weather around these parts has been bizarre. We have literally had four seasons in a few hours. Rain, followed by blue spring skies and then a few moments later hail or snow and thunder. This is what fell from the sky during little ones football training

It was absolutely freezing needless to say, and totally out of the blue, as the start of the training session had been sunny. Any way, I promised you bluebells, which the crazy weather does not seem to have hindered. Here they are…

These little delicate flowers make my heart very happy and I just love climbing to the top of the hill, where the tall trees stand grandly, graciously carpeted beneath with this blue hue of lovliness.

starting the climb to bluebell wood

the grand trees — the grand trees leading to bluebell wood

emerging out of bluebell wood

Once through the wood and out the other side, the boys played and climbed and we took the long path back to the van. Stopping only to watch a kestrel hunt and to watch miss Jess and a rather handsome springer run rings around each other….oh and to play a game of bulldog. Of which I do not have any photos as in the first instance I was too mesmerised, in the second instance miss Jess was way to fast for me to photograph and lastly an out of breath me isn’t for photographing!

So to the crochet…

mostly hooked at the skate park, whilst the not so little Robin practised ‘jumping the box’ and ‘airs’ on his bmx.

xxxxx

Linen cherry baby bar blanket

Published on April 30, 2016April 30, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin9 Comments

I have had such a lovely slow Saturday; a stark contrast from recent weekends which have been so hectic with essays and research.

I’ve played with colour ways finally deciding upon this colour way I’ve called ‘cherry stripe’. The yarn being Drops Paris 100% cotton in:

green

rusty red

light old pink

dark beige

off white and

moss green

Then I hit you tube to learn a new stitch and opted for ‘linen stitch’. It is actually a very simple double crochet (single crochet), chain stitch combo. I like it because it hooks quickly, is economical with yardage, gives a lovely solid reversible fabric and is just perfect for my new baby blanket design…’Linen cherry baby bar blanket’.

So, that’s a sneeky peek, I’m off to hook some more.

xxxxx

Saturday…

Published on April 2, 2016April 2, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin4 Comments

The Robins nest squares are blocking…

The artfully simple angled scarf is finished.

And the neighbour just dropped these round…

perfect.

xxxxx

joining with a double crochet

Published on March 8, 2016March 22, 2016 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin13 Comments

I’ve been asked several times to put together a tutorial about how I joined my 100 patch granny square blanket… so here it is…

I love joining squares with a double crochet (dc) English terminology that is…single crochet if you use American speak! The reason is that lovely little ridge which just frames each square.

The hard, but fun part is deciding upon the placement of each tiny square, but once you have made your mind up the joining together is quick and easy.

To download the pdf version click here, otherwise full instructions are below:

To join two rows take 2 squares, and place them together so that the corners align. The front of squares should be facing outwards….(the back of one square should be facing the back of the other square)

With the joining yarn, pull through a loop. Leave a long tail (for weaving in later!) and for now just hold securely behind your work, until you have made a few stitches.

Ch1, then dc in the same space. Taking the hook through both squares, as shown.

taking the hook through both squares stitches; dc in each of the next 4sts, then dc in space,

dc in next 4sts, then dc in space.

your squares are now joined, but do not fasten off. If you open your squares out you will notice that there is a little ridge along the one side….this is the front side of your work.

The back of your work will look like this.

Top tip, always note the front and back of your work…it is soul destroying to find out that you have some ridges on the front and some on the back of your work; then spending ages having to unpick all that hard work!!

Taking two more squares, align corners as before… front sides facing out, and ridge of previous squares facing up! Dc in corner space, then dc in next 4sts, dc in space, dc in next 4 sts.

Repeat this process until you have joined two rows of squares. Fasten off at the end and leave a long tail again!

For the 100 patch granny blanket there were 10 squares per row.

As you can see, the squares are just joined along one side.

Put to one side and repeat the process x 4 more times, so that you end up with x5 lots of joined double rows.

Next lay out the double rows adjacent to each other. The next stage is to join the double rows together horizontally. With right sides facing up (ridge side up), align the squares adjacent to one another.

On the right edge, pull through a loop in the corner space with your joining yarn, ch1, dc in same space. Dc in next 4sts, dc in space, dc in next 4 sts.

Continue along the row, making sure 1dc is placed in each st and in each space. Fasten off as before at the end of the row, remembering to leave a long tail for weaving in purposes. Repeat until all 10 rows are joined horizontally.

You should now have a 100 squares all joined horizontally.

Your next task is to join the squares vertically. I found this easier to do by flipping the work around and hooking the verticals, horizontally…if that makes sense!! As in the picture above… the completed joining ridge you can see is the horizontal join previously completed.

The process is the same… with chosen joining yarn (leaving a long tail, ch1 in edge corner space, dc in same space, 1dc in next 4 sts, dc in space, 1 dc in next 4sts, dc in corner space…as above.

Taking hook over the top of horizontal ridge, dc in next corner space as shown and repeat. Making a dc in each space and in each st along. Making sure to take the hook over any horizontal ridges before placing a dc in the following corner space.

Repeat process for each vertical run.

Then weave in those ends, ready to border.

xxxxx

The smallest achievement is better than the greatest intention…

Published on October 18, 2015October 18, 2015 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin23 Comments

Here it is all complete… and I

love, love, love it.

Made from scraps, excluding the edging, this little blanket has provided me with the hooky colour therapy that I so needed. I had made many of these charming squares at the end of other projects, not really being sure of their final purpose.

mini squares made from scraps

Perhaps a cushion or a giant blanket I thought, big enough for all the robins to snuggle under…yes! that is what I decided upon, a large endeavour of love made from these little, beautiful components and so I started. And so it has remained, unloved at times or loved from afar, but most certainly unfinished and alas my latest commitments made the hooky pleasure of this project impossible.

I love a simple granny!

No, a king sized blanket out of tiny granny squares became a lingering burden…and so with some considerable heaviness, the white yarn was carefully frogged. I felt a sense of failure as I unravelled those stitches and was once again left with a glut of granny’s

a glut of granny's — a glut of granny’s

So, I counted my granny’s out….97….and thought on a smaller scale…hooked 3 more little ones and decided on this 100 granny patch baby blanket.

little beauties…

and as I hooked them back together, in a different way and with a different yarn and with a different purpose, the feeling of failure ebbed away and a new joy arose.

and I discovered that the smallest achievement is always better than the greatest intention… and this little blanket still conveys a large endeavour of love.

xxxxx

weaving in the ends and life….

Published on April 10, 2015 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin21 Comments

A couple of days ago…after 3 weeks of working shifts on placement as well as working my regular job and juggling Easter holidays with the robins and studying until the wee small hours…..crazy, absolute crazy…. I had the day off!

this is what sanity looks like!

Who would have thought that weaving in ends (millions of the things) could be so therapeutic… but it was. The warmth of the spring sunshine and the peacefulness of being by myself…the boys went off making all sorts of dens with big branches…close enough so that their laughter made my heart smile, but far enough to just allow me to breathe and weave in ends.

I love these colors — I love these colours

all done....just like my placement! — and the view

A busy few weeks, which explains, my absence here…it is so good to have a hook back in my hand. This giant granny is a long over due gift for a very special lady…who is patiently waiting. The colour way is delicate and pretty and of course it’s good old stylecraft special dk.

So, I need to get this wrapped and mailed, before the second wave of study hits…

xxx

Another busy week…

Published on March 15, 2015 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin12 Comments

It’s been another busy week at the Robins Nest…but we have still found time to get together and just be together…and I love that!

through the gate and down the path...

through the gate and down the path…

enjoying the very new spring sunshine

enjoying the very new spring sunshine

a birds eye view from the top

a birds eye view from the top

whose home could this be?

whose home could this be?

grape hyacinths

grape hyacinths

and tete a tetes

and tete a tetes

looking very spring like in my kitchen windowbox

looking very spring like in my kitchen windowbox

with University and work and the boys, life is taking over somewhat and not much hooking has been done. I have one blanket that is almost done and that I really want to get finished and sent off before I start my placement at the hospital in a couple of weeks. It’s just a simple granny and I am so near to finishing…

Alpine Nanna

Since this photo I have added a 3″ border of the base colour, which has given it a more finished edge…just deciding whether to fringe or not…What do you think?

A Bobbly Baby Blanket

Published on March 6, 2015 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin8 Comments

Simply classic

This is my latest finish and to be honest it has been uplifting to have a quick win with this one. It has been a a joy to hook and because the yarn was aran weight and I could use a larger hook, it grew at a pace.

warm and soft

warm and soft

chunky and drapes well

chunky and drapes well

a no fuss edge

a no fuss edge

crochet baby blanket, popcorn stitch

rows of popcorn stitches

The yarn is of course my trusted Stylecraft Special Aran in cream and I did not get to choose the colour this time, as this is an order… I have really enjoyed working in one tone, and the pattern lends itself beautifully to a block of one colour. I will most certainly be returning to this pattern, details of which can be found below. The really fabulous part of this blanket is that the back looks just as pretty as the front …

the back

perfect for any new born.

Pattern details:

Lullaby Luvie by Tiffany Krucek in ‘Crocheting’

published by Company’s Coming Publishing Limited. 2013

A meander through my mind….

Published on January 25, 2015January 26, 2015 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin8 Comments

This is just a quick update for a year of projects, or YOP as I have being referring to it through out my posts. We are actually about half way through this year long project…yes it started in Summer 2014!

just had to stop the car the other day for this cheeky chappy! — I just had to stop the car the other day for this cheeky chappy!

I have not submitted a YOP post for a while, mainly as I had been working on these cosy blankets …and I have not much else to offer, in terms of started or completed projects on my YOP list. I have however, had a few sleepless nights, during which my mind has been turning over plans and patterns and I have been honing my skills over this last couple of weeks, learning new stitches and techniques, which I will take great joy in sharing with you over the coming days and weeks.

I am preparing a new pattern for you too, which will use some free form crochet and maybe even some felting and use of texture…which, I hope in turn will feed into a crochet wall hanging, which I plan and that does feature on my YOP list. So for now that is my YOP update…just in case you were thinking I had fallen off the face of the Earth all together. If you are not participating in YOP, but would like to, you can still join in… check it out just here.

xxxxx

The End of my Cosy Journey

Published on January 19, 2015 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin27 Comments

: The ‘His and Her’s cosy blanket

As promised, here are the pictures of the ‘His and Her’s Cosy blanket’ set. This most enjoyable hooky adventure started back in November 2014, when I fell upon this oh so easy and yet oh so fulfilling pattern, details of which I will list at the end of this post, so you too can embark on your very own cosy escapade.

'her's' — ‘her’s’

The colour way is simply delicious and has the romance of femininity, which just flounces through the overall blanket, making it just perfect for wrapping up in. For details of yarn and colours, please see below.

‘his’

The colour way of the ‘his’ blanket was inspired by the Eastern Bluebird, both blankets incorporate 15 different colours, 7 of which are common in both, and have identical row placement, giving them the same overall tone and therefore linking them as a set.

the blankets share 7 common colours and row placement

Each blanket is bordered with 4 rows of colour, the first 2 rows being shared by each blanket

denim, camel, plum and rose

denim, camel, turquoise, and petrol

If the truth be told, I’m missing hooking these beautiful blankets… I really have enjoyed my journey and I will definitely be returning to this pattern again and again. I will leave you with some more pictures and the links below.

Cosycattage blanket, ayarnyrobin, crochet blankets

Cosy Cottage Blanket by Attic 24

DSC_0094 (1)

Pattern

Yarn

her colour way

his colour way

xxx