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mixedstitch crochet blanket

seasidestashbusting blanket…The End!

Published on October 9, 2018December 29, 2018 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin16 Comments

It’s done! I have made the last stitch and woven in the last end of my beautiful #seassidestashbusting blanket.

It’s huge and I simply love it!

Oh! what a journey this blanket has been…a beautiful, stitchy, vibrant and meandering journey of colour, crochet and community…not to mention stash busting too!

Thank you so much to Eleanora over at Coastal Crochet for hosting such a marvellous and well organised CAL (crochet-a-long) and to all the lovely people I have met a long the way; who have encouraged and inspired me with kind words or blankets of their own. I have really enjoyed scrolling through the IG feed #seasidestashbustingblanket and seeing so many wonderfully unique contributions.

I am keeping this blanket for myself because honestly, I just can’t bear to be parted from it. I have hooked in so many memories of my year…like the sunny glamping rows, the foot surgery rows, the world cup rows, the too hot to crochet rows and the snowy day bobbles and I can relate each memory to the specific rows. I will leave you with my photographic journey…

Love, love, love this blanket.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do without the weekly rows…

xxxxx

amigurumi unicorn

Amigurumi unicorn…

Published on October 6, 2018December 29, 2018 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin6 Comments

After dipping my crochet toe into the world of amigurumi with Abe, the delightful zebra dude I knew I had the bug and it wouldn’t be long before I started another little cutie. This time I fell for the magical charms of this sweet, sweet unicorn.

crochet blog — Unicorn ingredients…

I wanted her to be white and chose Sugar n Cream worsted weight cotton mix, which gives a lovely texture to her body and face. Her hooves were hooked in a soft lemon aran weight cotton yarn from The Women’s Institute and her mane and tail were created using a dk weight Ricorumi cotton in a baby pink.

I even managed to get everything the right way round this time! and felt much more confident than when I hooked my zebra.

amigurumi unicorn — getting her ears

The pattern is by the very talented Chiquipork and is called ‘William the Unicorn’. It is a beautifully written pattern and has lots of top tips for construction. The pattern is written very clearly and it was easy to follow as it is formatted into the different sections of construction. There are lots of photo’s too which I found helped me in the ‘putting together’ process.

Well worth the purchase!

I have named her Bella, but alas she is only staying with me for a few weeks, for she has been adopted by a little girl who will love and cherish her and who may well give her another name!

Bella…she is magical isn’t she?
xxxxx

mixed stitch blanket

Seasidestashbusting blanket weeks 29 – 32

Published on October 2, 2018December 29, 2018 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin13 Comments

Here’s the penultimate update on the gorgeous

#seasidestashbustingblanket …

These rows were finished a little while ago and I am onto the border now…but, I wanted to show you my progress in chronological order.

I didn’t think this blanket would match any décor in the nest, since it is just made up of stash I had hiding under Little Robin’s bed, but it is looking fine on my bed…

and in the lounge…but to be honest it is so flipping lovely it would look amazing anywhere.

So, I’m off to finish the border and I will be back soon with the final post for this beautiful blanket.

xxxxx

Vintage Market Tote

Vintage Market Tote…

Published on September 15, 2018 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin9 Comments

Autumn is creeping in and I can feel the joy rising in me. I adore the Autumn and all of her treasures; it awakens my soul and wraps me with comfort.

I know not everyone feels this way…Mr R mourns the Summer, but I am celebrating her arrival.

A great deal has gone on here at the nest over the Summer months and there is still much more to achieve. New windows and doors have been fitted, outdoor adventures have taken place, three weddings have been witnessed and celebrated (we still have two more to come), decorating has commenced, and children have been coming and going and then coming back again only to go off once more it seems!

I have taken great delight in my crochet time, which has been a little bitty. I wanted to share this Vintage Market Tote with you…pattern details and links can be found at the bottom of this post. I made it for my Mama’s birthday and it hooked up quickly.

The pattern is free and I found it to be well written with clear, concise instruction. I altered the length of the handle by about 20 stitches, making the straps a little longer, but that was just preference.

I used a lovely aran weight cotton blend yarn by The Women’s Institute, which flowed from my 5.5mm hook with ease. I crocheted using x2 strands to make my tote more sturdy, which meant I used just over 300g of yarn and finished with a chic black and white spot ribbon.

I will definitely return to this pattern…and my Mama loved it!

Pattern by Dorianna Rivelli – Vintage Market Tote

xxxxx

crochet amigurumi black and white zebra

Amigurumi zebra…

Published on July 21, 2018 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin15 Comments

I’ve been wanting to introduce this rather charming crochet zebra to you for a couple of weeks now, but I have been working overtime (urgh!!!).

This is Abe…isn’t he just a dude? I started hooking him a little while ago…my first foray into the world of amigurumi and most definitely not my last.

I really struggled to put him down, he was such a joy on my hook. I absolutely loved every paintbox cotton stitch. I have made a lot of mistakes and he certainly has taught me a lot and for this reason he is mine to keep…I am a bit like a 4 year old child at the moment, moving him from room to room so he is with me!!!

I think the hardest part for me was sewing him together…Not only was it a bit like a zebra horror show, he proved to be a little tricky.

To begin with I sewed his ears to his nose…I was extremely frustrated at this point and so I do not have the photo to show you. It was late in the evening and his ears were the first things I joined together for him. I was feeling rather chuft with myself and I didn’t make the sickening discovery until just before bedtime. I lay there trying to go to sleep, but it was no good. I had to get up and perform some late night intricate facial surgery. It was silly o’ clock when I finally got back into bed, but worth the midnight oil not to wake up to such a silly mistake.

If you look closely at that arm and you have a trained eye you will notice that it is actually inside out…another lesson learnt.

But I just love his cute little face and his stripy pyjamas.

His limbs have just the right amount of dangle.

Once he came to life it wasn’t long before his character began to shine through…posing zebra alert!

All in all I love this dude and I have found a suprising new love in amigurumi (crochet toys)… You can find the free pattern details at the bottom of this post.

pattern by amvabecreations

xxxxx

mixed stitch crochet blanket

Seasidestashbustingblanket weeks 20 – 24

Published on July 9, 2018July 9, 2018 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin10 Comments

Here’s just a little update on the lovely

#seasidestashbustingblanket …

I confess I have fallen a week behind with this CAL. I am laying the total blame for this at the feet of Gareth Southgate and the England world cup team for smashing history and those penalties…apologies if you are reading this in Columbia.

I am also totally going to blame the UK heatwave…the hottest and driest summer since 1976…which was also before I was born! It is glorious but it makes hooking blankets hot work. If you look closely at week 24’s photo you will see just what I have been hooking instead… but I will write a separate post all about that next time.

xxxxx

My Yarny Knitting Adventure part 6…

Published on June 12, 2018June 12, 2018 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin12 Comments

In which fire is involved!

Campfire that is and a little fizz of course. I am now feeling much more relaxed when I knit; well with this pattern anyway. I think it is because I know I can undo a mistake and put it right, the pressure of getting it right or starting over from the beginning is no longer a looming threat.

So, I took my knitting alfresco last weekend and enjoyed every single second of it!

I even managed some around the campfire…

I am so pleased with this little (BIG)project…I have made some more progress since these photo’s…I am now half way through the second pattern repeat, but still a long way to go before it even starts to feel blankety.

What do you think?

XXXXX

PATTERN DETAILS:

The pattern is this rather magnificent blanket... by Purl Soho inspired by Barbara Walker.

OTHER POSTS FROM MY KNITTING JOURNEY ARE JUST HERE:

part 1 of my knitting adventure is just here

part 2 of my knitting adventure is just here

part 3 of my knitting adventure is just here

part 4 of my knitting adventure is just here

part 5 of my knitting adventure is just here

crochet blanket cal

seaside stash busting blanket weeks 17- 20

Published on June 9, 2018 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin8 Comments

I thought you might like another little update on the slow CAL (crochet a long) I’m participating in which is being hosted by the lovely Eleanora over at coastal crochet. You can also find lots of other amazing blankets and makers participating in this CAL across social media by searching #seasidestashbustingblanket.

You can read about my weeks 1 – 4 just here

and weeks 5 – 8 just here

weeks 9 – 12 here

and weeks 13 – 16 here

Here is how it has been growing…

Now, I’m off to catch up with the rows for week 21!

xxxxx

My Yarny Knitting Adventure part 5…

Published on May 27, 2018May 27, 2018 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin9 Comments

In which Momma comes to the rescue!

After my last update about my knitty adventure, I continued for all of 2 more stitches before I noticed another dropped stitch and had to rip it all back again! I don’t have any photo evidence of this as I could not face taking the photo.

Now, I felt like stuffing the yarn into the bottom of a bag and just forgetting about the whole sorry thing, but deep down I knew I could do this if I just kept trying and waited for it to click. There is a point where things just click into place and whatever it is you are doing feels more natural.

Well, I recast and re knit the first three rows and then half way through the fourth row I realised that I was knitting quite quickly, my knitting action felt more fluid and I realised that the muscles in my face were actually relaxed and not contorted…and I was enjoying this knitting experience…finally!

And so I continued until I got to row 19 and realised I had knit a stitch instead of slipped it!

The four cream knit stitches in the middle of this photo should have been x3 knit stitches and a slipped stitch (or x3 cream stitches and x1 teal)

Now, I only know how to rip back and start again, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do that, but I also couldn’t work out how to unknit the stitch either. So I headed over to Mom’s who rescued the day and who also taught me how to unknit the stitch and fix the problem.

I am now on row 20 and am dancing the happy knitty dance!

The pattern is this rather magnificent blanket... by Purl Soho inspired by Barbara Walker.

This knitting adventure is finally becoming enjoyable!

xxxxx

part 1 of my knitting adventure is just here

part 2 of my knitting adventure is just here

part 3 of my knitting adventure is just here

part 4 of my knitting adventure is just here

My Yarny Knitting Adventure part 4…

Published on May 22, 2018 by Nicola Florence @ ayarnyrobin12 Comments

In which I make a giant leap!

You may well have thought ‘Well that didn’t last long!’ and for a wee while there I thought I may never knit again to. I have not knit since the last time we spoke of knitting just here. There are many reasons why but they could just be summed up in one word…’life!’ Yes, life has been busy and if I’m honest very, very sad at the nest, due to a very sudden and very untimely bereavement and so as such I have been unable to comprehend summoning up the fair amount of concentration knitting demands from me.

I have taken solace in my hook and hooked rows of simple half double crochet on my long forgotten Charming Harbour Blanket instead.

So, after a good while without knitting I spent an evening browsing patterns and decided I still may never knit again because they seemed so flipping difficult to read and to interpret. That was until I saw this rather magnificent blanket... by Purl Soho inspired by Barbara Walker. Advanced beginner it said…and I said ‘well then I can do this!’

I borrowed my Mom’s circular needles and tried to cast on. There lay my first problem, I had forgotten how to cast on and I thought yet again I may never learn to knit! That would have been an awful shame because my lovely brother had in the passing weeks gifted me these beautiful needles.

With a little perseverance and some minor cursing I remembered how to cast on and look…

I had managed 123 little stitches followed by one row of knit stitches. What this picture doesn’t tell you is that this took two attempts as I lost a stitch somehow on my first try.

So, you see my knitting adventure continues precariously but it does continue!

xxxxx

part 1 of my knitting adventure is just here

part 2 of my knitting adventure is just here

part 3 of my knitting adventure is just here