Tag: yarn

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Pixie Dust Crochet Along Blanket

PIXIE DUST (NOUN)

A substance or influence with an apparently magical effect that brings great success or luck.

Origin: 1950’s. From the magic dust that enabled humans to fly in J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan

We’re so excited to be announcing our very first Crochet Along! We will be officially launching for The Festival Of Quilts at Birmingham NEC from 10th – 13th August (we’re on Stand E3), but you can sign-up online now ready to receive your first installment on 15th August. When you buy the bundle at the special price of £20.00 you will receive a free pattern every following 2 weeks for 10 weeks. The end result is an adorable baby blanket or throw, use it in the pram, pushchair or car seat.

The blanket is made in the beautiful, soft Peter Pan Pixie yarn. The patterns are aimed at beginners and build each week on the skills you learnt the week before. However, this is a simple pleasure for the more experienced crocheter.

The pattern is utterly flexible, you could change the colours, increase the size, change the yarn. Make it for a friend, a child, a teenager, an elderly aunt…

You will need a 3.5mm crochet hook, scissors and a knitter’s needle, and the size of the finished throw is approximately 91.5 x 68.5 cm (36 x 27″).

Sign up and join in here: Pixie Dust CAL

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February Progress

Nothing much has changed, the weather is still dismal and grey.  Sad to say but I still haven’t finished my lovely big crocheted throw.  Nearly there, 180 rows done, just the edging to do.  Getting quite excited now the end is in sight.  It has been quite nice spending a little time each evening on the sofa in front of the TV with my ever-growing blanket keeping me warm.  Spent the day out with my son and 10 other 14 year olds over the weekend paint balling.  Well they were paintballing, I sat in the car and crocheted, jumped out into the rain, fed them, sent them off again, jumped back in the car, crochet and repeat.  They all had a brilliant time and were exhausted by 4 o’clock.  I had a marvellous time being able to crochet without feeling guilty that I wasn’t doing housework/ironing/vacuuming etc etc.

 

I have however also been working on a couple of my many UFOs.  Just a few…

 

Having finished this lovely little piece, I have rediscovered my love of handwork, I started this stumpwork piece in a class with Kathy Laurel Sage about 18 months ago and I completed it last week. Just waiting for a frame now.  And of course, I’ll have to find a home for it.  It has reminded me how much I enjoy cross stitch and embroidery.   And goldwork… and tapestry… and jewellery making in its various guises.

I’ve joined a monthly group starting next month here at Tudor Rose Patchwork with our new tutor Sue Stallard and I’m very excited about the projects we’ll be doing in class.  The samples for each class are lovely and I’ve had a wonderful day ordering in the beads and crystals we’ll need.

The shipment of Czech delicas arrived on Thursday.  Huge amount of work involved getting them ready for you all but actually thrilled about new projects that are ahead of us.  Not to mention a couple of UFOs too… along with a bracelet and a necklace that need attention.

Help!  There’s just too much to do and not enough time.  Maybe if I didn’t sleep, eat, work or have to do anything with the children.  And I keep finding more to do.  I belong to a couple of Facebook groups and every day there’s a new pattern I’d like to make or new products I’d like to try.  A good job I don’t belong to any other social media.  It’s just madness.  How do you decide which project, piece you’re going to work on next?  Do you try and finish something a section a week whilst working on several others at the same time or just wing it, work on what you feel like that day?

 

 

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January Update

So the new year has started after a wonderful but very busy Christmas with family and friends.  The weather is topsy turvy, sun shining brightly one day and frosty and cold the next.  Heating on, heating off.  Walk the dog, coat on, coat off.  Ride the horses – lightweight macs to keep them dry in the rain or thick, heavy beat the freeze rugs.  Just don’t know what to do or where we’re at.

 

Nothing changes for crafting for me though.  I’m addicted to crochet just now.  I’ve got UFOs at the sewing machine, UFOs in the jewellery-making and beading box, UFOs in the cross stitching bag.  But nothing pulls me away from my yarn and crochet hooks.  During 2016 I created 3 blankets which were given away as Christmas presents to family and special friends.   I made a dress, lovely to wear during the hot summer, and even crocheted a bag – currently a UFO at the sewing machine…

 

My wonderful husband treated me to some marvellous yarn for Christmas.  A 45% silk/55% mohair mix in a deep purple/maroon shade.  I’ve chosen to use it for another throw.  Two of last year’s blankets were crochetalong’s and the third was a very simple pattern.  This time I’ve chosen something more complicated to push me.  The first challenge being the chain of 177 stitches.  Never worked a chain so long before.  Found a tip online – create a chain in counts of five.  Worked well.  Got the right number of stitches first time.

 

I found that once I mastered the basics – a slip-knot and chain, a double crochet and a treble – anything is possible.  However complicated a pattern, stitches are all built around these basics.  So my new pattern with woven stitches, cables, arrows and celtic weave amongst others, are all just building on the basics.  And I have to say I’m enjoying learning and pushing myself with this.  I’m only on row 34 but loving every moment I am able to find half an hour in an evening to work on this.   There has been a certain amount of frogging but fortunately not too much.

 

“Frogging” I hear you ask.  What is frogging?  I had to google it too.  Quite simply, “to frog” is “to rip out stitches”.  It is a play on words alluding to amphibians and their chorus of “ribbit, ribbit, ribbit”.

 

Whatever your craft, I hope you have a wonderful 2017.

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FREE Angel Scarf Knitting Pattern

Once the new year starts, we all start to evaluate just how much fabric and yarn we have stashed around our house. This scarf is the ideal stash buster. Perfect for chilly spring mornings, it has pointed ends, and is nice and quick to knit. You can use any yarn and each scarf will be unique!

We recommend: 1 x 50g ball of Adriafil Sfumato

5mm needles.

Cast on loosely an even number of stitches depending on the width required – 50 stitches will produce a scarf approximately 25cm wide.
Knit 2 rows.
Pattern Row 1:
Knit 2 *Yarn over needle, knit 2 together, repeat from * until 2 stitches remain, knit 2.
Pattern Row 2:
Knit.
These 2 rows form the pattern. Repeat until the required length is achieved.
Knit 2 rows.
Cast off loosely.