Woodland Trails and Puff Stitch Bees…

A three day weekend…this should be made compulsory. 

Oh, if only I could have a bank holiday every weekend. 

We have taken walks along woodland trails,

Explored caves

and enjoyed some down time

  I have made slow progress on my hotel of bees shawl #hobcal

but, I am enjoying the pattern, even if I do have to concentrate really hard.  I really enjoyed hooking those sweet little bees. 

I have also been finishing up my Baby Wilmer blanket, I just have a few more rows to add now before I border.

 

I hope what ever you have been doing has been just as fun.

xxxxx

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Chain Reaction Necklace Scarf…

Here is a quick pattern for a necklace scarf.

A simple but stunning item that you can make if you are new to crochet, or have an odd 50g ball of chunky yarn that your not sure what to do with, or if you need to hand make a present emergency style!

Yep, this beauty takes about an hour to make at most and the pattern (if you can call it that!) is just below. 

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You will need  50g of chunky yarn and a large hook. I used

wp_20161023_11_48_37_prowp_20161023_11_48_50_proand a 6mm hook.

 

So you have probably guessed it….begin making chains and don’t stop until  you have about 50cms of yarn  left. 

Randomly tie the first part of a bow to form a loose knot in your chains at random sections down its length.

Chain reaction necklace scarf
Chain reaction necklace scarf

 

Now join with a slip stitch into the very first chain to make an enormous loop. 

It may be a good idea to secure the stitch with a stitch marker or safety pin so that your chains do not unravel during the next part.

Now find something to put your enormous loop of chains around… I used the stair post at the bottom of the stairs. 

Start to make the loop smaller by crossing over the chains and hooking back over the post…or whatever you are using.  Repeat the process until you have a handful of loops; that  when placed around your neck fall just at the top of your tummy. 

Next, you need to secure your loops together.  To do this

remove the stitch marker / safety pin and reinsert your hook.

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Pull the loop onto your hook to make the yarn looser.  Now complete a giant double crochet (single crochet – American terms)… to do this take your hook under the handful of looped chains, yarn round hook and pull through, yarn round hook and pull through 2 loops on hook.  Repeat x 9 more times.  Fasten off and weave in any loose ends. 

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Told you it hooked up quick!

xxxxx

 

I’ve Caught the Virus

The Virus Shawl bug, that is. 

top secret hooking!
top secret hooking! that can now be revealed…

The yarn is Scheepjes Invicta Colour – 972, a 4 ply fingering weight yarn that is 75% wool and 25% polyamide.  The colour way is just gorgeous and the yarn was easy to hook with.  Occasionally the length of yarn withered  thin, but remained usable nonetheless.

a perfect size shawl to snuggle with...
a perfect size shawl to snuggle with…

I adored the long colour repeats from turquoise blue into chocolate brown and sage green and couldn’t help get excited each time the colour change slipped over my hook…I don’t think I will ever get bored with the delight a colour changing yarn gives.

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A perfect Christmas present for my Mom…

The eyelets that form in sequenced linear fashion amazed me.  I couldn’t quite believe that a few trebles could create such a beautiful drape and fabric.  They reminded me so much of a peacocks tail feather that I had to name this virus shawl The Chocolate Peacock!

wp_20161224_14_47_44_prowp_20161224_14_48_53_proAll in all a beautiful hook up made all the more simple by following a youtube tutorial of which there are several, I really liked this one though

This pattern is all over the internet, I used this one on Ravelry as a free download. 

As for the yarn would I use it again…

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 yes, to make another virus shawl of course, but this time in beautiful sunset shades (colourway 959). 

I may possibly have developed a shawl addiction.

xxxxx

A little something…a long time in the making!

Do you remember a little while back, in the summer I was lucky enough to win this gorgeous hank of yarn courtesy of Joey of littleblackdogsa all the way from South Africa…WP_20160519_19_02_05_ProWell, this yarn is a dream to hook with and let me tell you I have hooked with it! 

I have hooked and frogged and hooked and frogged, because I wanted this little hank of yumminess to become something special.

WP_20160519_19_01_06_ProYou see this little hank has travelled some miles, all the way from South Africa to the Midlands of England.  Then it wasn’t long before it was travelling again, this time back south to Devonshire. Where it was hooked almost everywhere

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poolside… 

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seaside…

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and even at the farm.  But, I just didn’t feel the pattern I had chosen was special enough for this beautiful yarn.

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The yarn as you can see is a 4 ply cotton organic yarn, which slipped over my hook effortlessly.  Its twist meant that it did not split once during all of its hooking and frogging and it also maintained its tension throughout.  But, the best thing about this yarn from One of a Kind Yarns is the amazing and unique  colourway throughout.  My heart swelled each time the delicate colour  blended into the next gentle tone, non so much as when the lemon hues began to merge with the deep lavender…mmm it is still making me smile now! 

Anyway, let me show you what I finally made…

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 A little something just for me. 

Thanks to Joey.

xxxxx

waiting…walking and a wooly dilemma…

As I have been waiting extremely patiently for the postman to bring me a yarn shaped parcel; walking has featured as a daily pass time since the weather has been so cheery.

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We have stomped over fields in the sunshine,

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rambled down pathways

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and climbed over gates.

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We have wandered through woodlands and I have admired the dappled sunshine dancing on the ground.  In the evenings I have been hooking this…

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a light weight artfully simple angled scarf (designed by the very talented Tamara over at Moogly) in a 4 ply Sirdar country style yarn.  The colour is 0392….meh!  I do so dislike it when a colour just has a number and not a name.  It is a beautiful old pastel pink, which now I have started, I cant put down.

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Still waiting…we have visited orchards

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and  walled gardens

WP_20160330_12_39_49_Proand stumbled across these little guys (very cute indeed).

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Finally, a yarn shaped parcel arrived and a dilemma.

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Well, I just couldn’t resist this gorgeous wool alpaca blend in (0519) or charcoal grey.

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Nor this beautiful compilation of cotton.  So, now I have the Robins nest squares to finish, my artfully simple angled scarf and new yarn screaming “hook me, hook me!”  What a fabulously fantastic woolly dilemma to be in. xxxxx

lacy obsession

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This week has seen this glorious baby alpaca wool

glorious alpaca yarn
glorious alpaca yarn

hook up into a fabulous lightweight cowl… that is mine for keeps!

lightweight glamour...
lightweight glamour…

I love it’s geometric pattern and love even more that it was sooo simple to follow the pattern, made up of just chains, doubles and trebles.  The pattern called for x20 pattern repeats, but I stopped at 10 as I didn’t want a bulky double wrap cowl… I wanted a delicate, just now piece.

infinity cowl
infinity cowl

 This means I have wool left over to make some pretty little mitts…

mine for keeps!

 The pattern is called Lacy Infinity Cowl by Anniken Allis, the Queen of lace, and the yarn is

alpaca yarn
in “Lichen”

Click here for more project details

I’ve also done a little blog hoppin!  which was fun, and I have been teaching the not so little Robins how to French knit…

french knitting
french knitting
mission completed!
mission completed!

Next project on the hook, a basket weave baby blanket called Chilli Pepper…which was not on my original list, so has been added…

chilli pepper baby blanket
chilli pepper baby blanket

For a brand new arrival…. “Jackson Richard”

My list is looking quite healthy and I am ticking off the FO’s with satisfying regularity.  To check it out for yourself then take a look and if you are not YOPing yet, it’s never to late to join, just get your list together and head on over here!

xxx

 

Alpaca All the Way

yearofblogsshortbanner[1]Week 5 

So if you are a regular here you will know that I didn’t have much to show you in terms of photo’s of progress last week, but had things in the pipeline as it were.  Well, this week has seen the completion of the Happy Ripple which I was really pleased with… and actually had a hard time parting with it, but part with it I did on Thursday, when I gifted it to my friend who had been made redundant.  My friend immediately burst in to tears and said that she would cherish it forever and would cuddle under it even when she was 80 years old, to which I replied that she would be the envy of the nursing home!

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I also completed my first ever tutorial, the bobble edge tutorial which is a step by step photo heavy, how to.  I do not know who to attribute the technique to, I wish I was that clever to have come up with the design myself, I had so much fun hooking it though, that I just had to show you guys how to hook it to!  If you have a go, let me know what you think of the tutorial, as I say it’s my first… On my original list I wanted to make a tutorial for broomstick crochet and now I have completed 1 tutorial, I am feeling more confident about the process… so watch out for that in the near future!

alpaca yarn - Louisa Harding yarns - Orielle
alpaca yarn – Louisa Harding yarns – Orielle

I took the alpaca yarn down from my bed post and started my summer scarf… a rare project that I’m making just for me and one that I think will occupy me for the rest of August.   The yarn is divine and has little flecks of gold metallic running through it, which gives it a very subtle shimmer

 

glorious alpaca yarn
glorious alpaca yarn

Here is my progress so far

infinity cowl
infinity cowl

 This gorgeous  8 row repeat geometric pattern is working up with an almost Argyle look.  The pattern is by the Queen of lace… Anniken Allis.

So, that’s my progress… slow but steady.

xxx