Week 40: CAL Blocks #169 #173 #177

Posted on June 7, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

I crocheted this one in September! It was week 2 of the CAL (crochet along) and I wanted to check my colours and see how they looked. I decided there and then, at the end of the block, that I was missing an element and bought the yellow. Since then I’ve had serious doubts about my colour combination, but have yet to dig all my blocks out and place them together. My plan is to do this at the end of the crochet part of the CAL. They’ll probably go together far better than I expect, but there’s still always the option to separate them and make a couple of smaller items if my teeth start tingling.

#173 Big Round

5 1/2″ square

I like the middle lots!

#177 Trio

After using the box colour I let the wool hang down behind the block as I worked with it facing me, I found this was a neater finish than my usual method of bringing it to the front ready for the return row with jacquard crochet, like I used for the Union Jack cushion front (still waiting to be crocheted together with buttons sewn on…oops.) I worked over the main colour as I double crocheted the boxes and you can see the strands a bit on the yellow boxes because of the colour difference. I know if I stranded them across the back of the block I’d fiddle with them all the time and eventually break them off if it was in a blanket I was snuggled beneath.

I have to be honest and say that I’m a bit fed up about this one. It’s not just not neatly straight at the side of the trio like the book’s and like Rainbow Junkie’s perfecto block. I’m not altogether sure where I’ve gone askew. Is it the yarn do you think? Being baby cashmerino it’s thinner than the DK that most others are using for the CAL. Shall we blame the yarn?!!?!!
I finished the last stitch before the first of the box with the new colour, and my Union Jack is pretty neat using Styelcraft special DK in this way. So really, it IS the YARN!?*?!!!Week 40! Wooo!

I’ve been on a bit of a crochet bent lately and SO…….drum roll please: I only have 3 more blocks to crochet. Yes!

THREE!

I shall not deviate from my path as your leader and will keep on with my posting three blocks a week blog schedule, but I am on the penultimate-penultimate block now which is exciting. Someone says that term doesn’t work and doesn’t make sense. We all know it does. :-D

Thanks for your feedback, it seems that my suggestion to pause at the end of the crochet part of the CAL for a long summer break is a good one. I’m glad you agree. We can begin sharing blocking and joining methods, maybe asking for placement advice and generally talking borders and blankets etc from September. I’m looking forward to thinking about other things in the meantime and know that I’ll be feeling refreshed and ready to take on the mammoth blocking and joining part. Also as Manty from A Little Patch of Heaven says it will give her, and the others who came to the CAL later. a chance to catch up.

Have a very happy weekend all.

Steaming along

Posted on June 6, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’ve crocheted my contribution to the Yarndale bunting. The only thing left to do was to steam block them. I’ve only ever steamed bits of the Paintbox blanket so this was a first time event, with me poised with pins and my ruler!
006

007

Before and after the steam blocking method. Magical hey?!

I went in to see Somebody and waved the two blocks in front of his face, lifting them one at a time saying “Before…After…Before….After!” with a bit of an I’ve-blocked-these-at-last kind of flourish.

And the response?

“Wow! It’s changed the colours too, that’s really clever!”

I kissed him. Really it seemed the best thing to do. 016

Some could be pulled out straighter and pointier but then they would have been more than Lucy’s specified 7″ across. My tension’s quite relaxed and happy, like I feel at the moment.

017

Hurray! I’m not really a bag of half finished items kind of person; so it’s great to have these neatly stacked and ready to go.

Week 39 CAL Blocks #157 #161 #165

Posted on May 31, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#157 Boxed Square

Here it is in all its wibbly mid-joins ‘glory’! I did seriously consider redoing this but decided it’s going to be the ‘eccentric looking’ block in whatever it becomes. It can stand as a testament to an afternoon of good conversation, and no crochet stitch counting (!), with a friend.

#161 Daisy Chain

R5: There seems to be a ch3 instruction missing

R8: I trebled into the chain spaces as I prefer the way it looks, and let’s face it – it’s far less fiddly! It looks fine to me.

#165 Coffee and Cream

R4: Ignore the instruction to treble into 2 stitches, I’m sure this is another typo and should be dcs as for the rest of the round.

All three are 5 1/2″ square.

Are you a bit fed up with these CAL posts? I’m over it really, or feel so this week, BUT I’ve only got ten more blocks to crochet and that’s it….HuRraY!

JOINING MATTERS…….I was wondering if it’s better to continue on after the last CAL post and set about joining blocks, or shall we have a bit of a CAL holiday and save the joining for the autumn evenings? We could aim for a September start (ie a year after the CAL began…..!!!!!) Let me know what you reckon here or on the Ravelry CAL group thread.

Here’s Lynne’s Knits giveaway prize which arrived when I was here in the Little Room waffling at the end of last week’s CAL post.

I was delighted to win this book because it’s by THE Debbie Bliss, but also because I won it from Lynne. It was her patterns I found I kept gravitating to in Let’s Get Crafting Knitting & Crochet magazines as a newbie crocheter in 2011.

Come and say hi on my Facebook page!

Have a great weekend all :-D

Buttercups & Bunting

Posted on May 27, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

Sunshine, blue clouds and lush green fields of buttercups, fringed with cow parsley. Rural England is beautiful in the Spring.

This was a very steep walk back up the hill from the river but taking a few photos always gives the perfect excuse for a quick rest.

Home to eat some delicious local produce from the farm shop and continue with the Yarndale bunting. As you see it’s really fast to crochet. I forgot to ask if any of you are planning to go? I’m thinking of going on the Sunday.

Bunting for Yarndale

Posted on May 26, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

When Lucy asked for Granny bunting for Yarndale I was delighted because I’d already offered to contribute something towards the yarn walk that is planned for the route from Skipton station to the venue. It’s a great way to use up a stash of yarn and I had crinkly bags full of Let’s Get Crafting Knitting and Crochet magazine stuff. It squeaks as you use it. Yeuch. BUT it’s very pretty colours and is perfect for bunting since you won’t be wearing it, and wouldn’t never know how plastic it feels to the touch.

I wanted a large pretty pottery bowl to hold my wool, or a wicker basket lined with beautiful material but sadly I own no such thing. Someone winces and pulls me away when I head towards wicker, or Tupperware or stationery. I’ve foiled him with the latter two, but not the wicker so much. Then I remembered my herb bucket (bought last May bank holiday – I see) It’s been serving as a waste paper basket in The Little Room for ages.

The colours are perfect, don’t you think?

I hate waste so have bags of unused, half used balls and tiny scraps of yarn. I crocheted tons of middles with the teeny scraps while we watched Forest Gump the other night. I’d forgotten about the film’s great music, so really enjoyed watching it again. It’s sunny HURRAY! So there’s going to be some outdoor crochet happening too.

I see my granny bunting has Lucy’s seal of approval as she’s left a lovely comment on my BrANd NEw The Little Room of Rachell Facebook page.

Thank you to Hannah of Not Your Average Crochet for my new media buttons! She’s such a whizz and now I’m all linked up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday we went to Cotswold Needlecraft at Evesham Country Park as I’d seen on the Mollie Makes blog that they were having a warehouse sale. It’s on till 2nd June and if you want to buy a pack of discounted yarn I’d recommend you go there sharpish. There’s a nice walk down to the river, a farm shop selling gorgeous produce and all sorts of lovely places to shop and browse.

I couldn’t resist buying some more embroidery thread. I’ve never used metallic before.

Please come and ‘like’ my Facebook Page and say hi :-) I’m hoping it will be a good place to chat and share links about craft events or anything inspiring.

Week 38: CAL Blocks #145 #149 #153

Posted on May 22, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#145 Chocolate Box

5 1/2″ sq.

As I find for some of my middles this is a bit skew-whiff (as I type this it occurs to me that it’s probably one of our very eccentric English expressions?!), but the blocking should adjust this issue.

#149 Solid Square

5 1/2″ sq.

Fast to make though I’m not keen on the mid-round joins as usual – they show in the book’s block too.

#153 Candy Stripe Bobbles

More bobbles! I think for many of us bobbles have turned out to be the star stitch of the CAL. They’re so cute and give a nice texture to the crocheted fabric.

As you might have guessed this is the last of the batch of blocks I made ahead and photographed when England still knew what the word sun meant, when we weren’t velcroed into our raincoats, clutching mugs of hot chocolate.

I’d also already made #157 Boxed Square, part of next week’s batch of three, but might redo it as the mid-round joins are so wobbly. We’ll blame my very chatty friend for the wobbliness, honestly she gives me a run for money, which is saying something. Then I’m back to crocheting the blocks as I go, week by week.

It’s been about a week and a half since I last crocheted anything. After I’d made the two striped backs for the Union Jack cushion (which needs buttons, I’ll buy some at a craft sale I’m going to tomorrow) I moved onto a bit of a sewing jag with the Puffy Dog bag as I can’t help calling it. Now I’m doing a bit of X stitch, but after seeing that Lucy off Attic 24 and the planned autumn craft event Yarndale are requesting Granny Square bunting and feeling that I should get on and make some mice for the Mile of Mice KAL/CAL I’m getting itchy fingers to take out my hook again over the bank holiday weekend.

I’ve won this Jane Mean’s ribbon from a giveaway hosted by the shop All the Fun of the Fair. Isn’t it preeetty?

I’ve gone from never winning anything, ever, to a few things in the last year. This week I won another giveaway! According to Jill of Nice Piece of Work I am a “lucky flipping fish.” Well, ok then. I hope it carries on! And, I think my latest win just landed on the doormat, along with the new Simply Crochet magazine. Ooooooooh! I’ll show you next time I pop into The Little Room.

Are you planning on crocheting, sewing or …. this weekend? Whatever you do have a relaxing one.

Week 37: CAL Blocks #133 #137 #141

Posted on May 16, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

This turned out to be the week of some very dodgy colour combinations….

#133 Sunshine Stripes

5 – 5 1/2″ but easy enough to stretch out I think (hope.)

It’s beginning to dawn on me that I’ve referred to future block-blocking so many times that now I have 37+ weeks of it ahead of me. How about we have a BAL next? 3 blocks a week and we post about how successful we are finding it, plus share any tips and techniques? No? Ok.

#137 Criss Cross

5 1/2″ sq.

#141 Quartet

5 1/2″ W, 5 1/4″ H. Can be stretched out pretty easily as there’s lot of give.

I took these photos a few weeks ago, but actually the sun is shining today and all feels well with the world. It is funny how so many bloggers refer to the weather; I suppose it’s inevitable because of how it affects our activities and moods. I’ve been longingly looking at Aussie and Kiwi bloggers’ pics all winter: sunshine, beach picnics and cooling drinks. But now it’s all hot chocolate and hot water bottle covers! Speaking of which, have you seen Kate’s HWBC of Greedy for Colour? And this one.

I’ve been checking out the other block maker’s blogs this week, after getting a bit behind on my reading (BlogLovin said I had 95 unread posts the other day!) There are a band of us still plodding onwards. I can’t believe we’ve been going since September. Well done everyone!

Yesterday a bloggy good friend sent me a link to crochet workshops at Loop, London. Looking at the skills they teach I realised how much I’ve learnt and practiced things like changing colours, following patterns, trying new stitches and just gaining confidence with crochet through doing the CAL with you guys. If little and often is a good way to learn and hone something new then a CAL is definitely a good, sociable, way to do so. If you’re newish to crochet then I’d consider starting a CAL (or joining an existing one on the Ravelry website.) You could always buy the Jan Eaton 200 Crochet Blocks book and start another round of this CAL.

Talking of sociable I crocheted #157 Boxed Square with a friend last Friday afternoon. She knitted a sock while I hooked away. It was a really nice time but when I’d darned in the ends, still chatting merrily away, I looked at my mid-block joins and honestly, they are like a wave. Lack of counting, lots of chatting!!!!! I should probably redo it, but it’s one of those dc dc dc dc dc dc blocks. Argh!

What have you learnt doing the CAL? If you’re not CALing with us, has it inspired you in any way?

Hip Hurray!

Posted on May 14, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’ve been working on a cushion front from the Hip Crochet book I won in a giveaway last week. It’s been quite funny because it was impossible to keep the balls of yarn organised. It all begins well, then of course you turn the piece at the end of rows and the balls are on the wrong side and you’re gradually wrapped up like a fly in a spider’s web. I’ve missed a couple of ‘phone calls over the last week trying to untangle myself!

This is a jacquard pattern, unlike intarsia where you have separate bobbins or small balls of colours for each section, you strand the yarn across. I like this method. You have to be careful with your tension, leave too little yarn stranded across and you’d have a very scrunched flag.

This needs to be blocked, there’s plenty of give in the strands so I’m not worried. I haven’t blocked a thing yet, to be honest it’s going to be more like ‘stretch gently as I crochet the front and back together.’ Acrylic doesn’t wet block well I’ve read as the fibres just go back to the way they were before. Maybe steam and tugging would be the way to go, if I was going to….?

The colour chart pattern is easy enough to follow though the technique of changing multiple colours (and not choking yourself in a ‘death by yarn wrapping’ manner) is probably middling to boffin level of crochet. I used a post it note stuck above the row I was currently working on to keep my place in the pattern. A Pony row counter ensured I was on track too. Like others, who’ve reviewed the book, I feel the omission of a skill indicator required for each project is a shame and would be a useful guide for newer crocheters.

Next I need to make the stripey back cover which is worked in two parts that button together. It’s a little disappointing that there’s two pages showing the front of the cushion, but no photo of the back. However you’ll have nothing to compare mine to, so it might be in my favour!

I like Natalie’s notes at the end of the pattern: ‘The Union Jack is not a symmetrical pattern, the bottom corners are the reverse of the top opposite corners. Purists will point out that this flag is upside down. Popular culture in the 1960s saw the motif used as clothing and even on the mini car.’ No purists here.

Have you tried the intarsia or jacquard technique?

Week 36: CAL Blocks #121 #125 #129

Posted on May 10, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#121 Coral Seas

5 1/4″ -5 1/2″ but should even to 5 1/2″ with a good blocking.

I crocheted the first 3 rows then started again with 4 ch as couldn’t see the point of the 2 extra ch hanging down. Is this a pattern error or did I miss a point?

My notebook bluntly says ‘Dislike. Floppy. Should try with a 3,5mm hook.’ !

#125 Triple Stripes

5 1/4″ sq but am sure can be eased to 5 1/2″ under steam or water torture!

Another one of those ‘bit of a swizz to increase the block count’ stripey dc one IMHO.

#129 Anemone

5 1/2″ square

Pretty isn’t it? But a bit scrunched up at the moment, so to complete the triple – will be improved with blocking!

They all look a bit unruly this week, don’t they?!

If you’re in the UK you’ll realise that this photo was not taken in the last few days. After all the sunshine of the past weekend (Britons were in full force wearing their sandals and freshly ironed t-shirts) we now have news of ferries not running due to windy conditions and trampolines blowing away! I admit that I am actually quite a few weeks ahead with the CAL and this is one of a batch of photos of blocks. I decided to forge ahead and then concentrate on other things for a while.

This week I’ve started a project from the Hip Crochet book I won. I’ve also been doing some embroidery. I’m now very dubious about the design, or placement of what I’ve chosen, but I’m assured that it’s fine. Ho hum. I’ll complete and then show you.

Hello to all my new followers by the way! I’ve noticed a steady increase lately. It’s a nice way to check out new-to-me blogs and look around. There are so many of us sending photos into the void and chatting away, it’s amazing what jewels you can find.

Anyway, it’s your turn to talk. How are you? Are you busy with craft or have other aspects of life taken over at the moment?

Week 35: CAL Blocks #109 #113 #117

Posted on May 3, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#109 Four Square

It’s big one – 6″ sq.

There is something about the different way that this pattern is written which makes me wonder if it’s by Jan Eaton. All in all it’s tedious to crochet and I don’t like the feel of the fabric; it’s too dense. My mid block joins are a bit messy. I prefer them on the corners generally.

On a more positive note I like my colour combination!

#113 Wisteria

5 1/2″ sq.

Pretty, I like the cross effect that the chain spaces create.

#117 Granny in the Middle

5 1/2″ sq.

This week I’ve used a sewing machine for the first time in at least ten years, maybe fifteen. I went slowly. So slowly I think my cousin might have wondered if the repair shop had put a speed limiter on the machine! I sewed into thin air and rucked up the fabric, unpicked and tried again more successfully, forgot to go around a corner and plodded in a straight line, unpicked and resewed. In the end I did it; I sewed a simple lining for my knitted first-time-I’ve-cabled bag. I’ve got to hand-sew the handles around two lengths of piping cord, and finish slip stitching the lining to the cabled panels of my bag then I’ll show you. Proudly, with a bit (lots) of the 5 year old “Look! Look at what I’ve made!”

Have a great bank holiday weekend all in the UK, and enjoy your ~~measily~~ two days the rest of you! :-D

Week 34: CAL Blocks #100 #101 #105

Posted on April 26, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#100 Pastel Delight / Block 100 delight!

5 1/2″ sq

I like this, it adds extra interest to the Granny Square middle

#101 Into the Blue

5 1/2″ sq

Bit boring to crochet if you made a whole blanket from these blocks – according to my CAL notebook.

#105 Double Stripes

5 1/2″ sq (3/3 this week!)

These dc stripey blocks are a bit of a swizz – a filler for the book’s block count. I’ve photographed this upside down! If I rotate the pic the angle makes me feel vertigo-ish so I’ve left it.

Confession: I’ve also crocheted next week’s blocks this week because I haven’t got anything else in progress at the moment. I fancy doing some hand sewing so will do a bit next week as I’m ahead with the blocklets. I won’t post them early though, I don’t want people to feel they’re behind when they’re not.

I’ve got a pack of felt, some threads and ribbons so will see what I can come up with. Oooh speaking of ribbons – guess what? I WON five rolls of three metre ribbons this week. :-D I’ll post a pic when they arrive.

I’m in declutter and scrape the dust off the surfaces mode at the moment. It must be bad because at one stage I stopped singing along to Louis Armstrong and found myself doing an “Oh myyyyyy god” at the billowing clouds of dust that were between some of my folders. Shameful.

Have a creative weekend, if you can, everyone!

Week 33: CAL Blocks #97 #98 #99

Posted on April 19, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#97 Eyelet Lace

5 1/2″

I ran out of apricot (I’m using every last scrap of my baby cashmerino) so there are 3 rows of sienna to finish at the top.

R4: ‘Break off yarn A’ ?!

R5: Repeat row 1 but note that you’re going to ch3 then 1 tr into the next 2 ch, not 2 tr.

R8: At the end of this row I was confused dot com, why did I only have 1 tr? I looked at the book’s photo – it’s all back to front compared to mine! I guess if a leftie wanted to create something identical then you’d need to reverse the pattern, starting from R4 > 1. Are you wondering what I’m waffling about? Well, basically left handers crochet rows from left to right, rather than righties who go right to left. This is why my holes go up to the left and yours will go to up to the right as in the book.

I quite like being different to most, it suites my sometimes contrary character. At school once out of a huge group of sixty, during lacrosse training, there were only two of us left-handers who needed to learn a different technique. This resulted in one very grumpy teacher.

#98 Old Vienna

5 3/4″ I turned R6 into a ‘tr into every tr of the previous round and ch sp as my block was a measly 5″.

R3 & 4: Crochet 1 tr not 1 dc mid round! You’ll always use the book’s photos to check if you’re switched on and thinking about what you’re doing. I wasn’t, so ended up with a funny scrunched up triangle. Bah!

This reminds me of #10 Openwork Square, which is not a good thing.

#99 Baby Bow

5 1/2″

I see I squashed some of the bobbles down a little trying to stop the curling for this photo, but gave up for the group photo below and used pens to anchor the corners, though some bobbles still look rather subdued. They’ve perked up and are all nippley looking again now.

It was very apt crocheting this block today, as the baby for whom the Baby Jewel blanket was crocheted was born this morning! I can’t wait to see her in hospital and pass on the blanket tomorrow.

So, the next block is the big 100, wooooo! And, the beginning of the cheaty ones: ‘Look you can make them in all kinds of colour combinations and this book can be legally called 200 Blocks, when it’s really far fewer.’

Happy weekend everyone! Have fun and stay safe wherever you are. ♥

Mouse crazy

Posted on April 18, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

Gerald.

Someone rather silly says he looks like a mouse wearing a jumper.

Charlie

The gang

I might have gone a little mouse crazy because this morning I found ~~myself~~ Charlie mouse sending an email to a friend, wishing her a fun time away in Sweden over the weekend!

I’ve always winced a bit when toy makers state each “have their own character” or authors insist “the characters tell the story, I just write it down. ” But these mice? They definitely have their own characters (one is excellent at flying) and each seems to come ready-made with their own name.

If you’re interested in knitting or crocheting a mouse, or ten, to raise funds for The Alzheimer’s Society and to set a World Record, for a mile of mice around a football ground in October, please see the Mile of Mice Facebook page for more info. Alternatively you can join the Mile of Mice Ravelry KAL (knit along) group I’ve started.

There are many knitters/crocheters taking part around the world who are sending their mice to England. If you simply want to make a donation the organiser Libby is currently in the process of setting up a ‘Just Giving’ page.

Weeks 31 & 32: CAL Blocks #91 #92 #93 #94 #95 #96

Posted on April 15, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#91 Terraces

6 1/2″ W x 5 1/2″ H

I added 4 more rows at the top to bring the dimensions a little more into line, but stopped at completely squaring it; I might make this into something else. It’s not going to fit with the squarer blocks. Maybe it would be good doubled in width for a scarf? I reckon small fingers might pick at the loops of the dtr if it was a blanket.

#92 Victorian Lace

5 1/2″ sq.

Definitely needs blocking to see the detail and straighten it out! At the moment the middle is slightly bunched up.

I’m really glad to have more of this mauve wool, it’s such an earthy colour for the garden theme. It should tone down some of the brighter blocks if I make a huge blanket at the end.

#93 Sequenced Stripes

5 1/2″ sq.

“Row 6: 1 ch into each of the next 2dc, turn.” ?!?!

#94 Gothic Square

5 1/2″ sq.

Not so much a gothic square in these colours as a full-on summer cottage garden. I’m picturing a flower growing against a blue trellis.

This has a really pretty middle. It also needs blocking to straighten out, but it’s sweet.

#95 Kingcup

5 1/2″ sq.

Kingcup has a 3 hook – challenging – level of crochet rating, but I found it easy. This was very pleasing!

My overall favourite of the Easter fortnight’s blocks.

#96 Light and Shade

5 1/2″ sq.

This was a block where I wished there was also a symbol pattern to go with the written version. I used the book’s photograph to check mine was on track.

I notice there are many blocks with a 1 hook – easy – level of crochet coming up, which is good since I feel I want to zip through the next few weeks worth of blocks. I’ve got my Mile of Mice bodies to sew up, tails to attach and features to stitch (rude comments about the linked post will not be approved Jill & Trish.) Also, I’ve knitted another cable piece for my first-time-I’ve-ever-cabled bag. I need to sew them up and attach the handles. My cousin’s going to help me sew a lining for it over the next few weeks.

Thanks for all your likes and comments about my Wool Money post. I’ve had a few more items arrive in the post after I spent some more of the winnings (JD as he should now be known, short for Jammy Dodger, has ordered an expensive fishing jacket and there’s still lots of loot left. Woo hoo!)

I had reluctantly taken the Knitting & Crochet Bible back to the library, so it seemed sensible to buy my own copy. I found a brand new one for a little over £11 on Amazon, which compared to the RRP of £26.99 is an absolute bargain. I can imagine using it as a reference guide, particularly for knitting stitches, for years.

What are you making at the moment? Do you also have a list of items to complete before you start any more projects?

Wool Money

Posted on April 9, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

There are those who are completely anti-gambling, others who’d never place a bet because they wouldn’t know the first way to go about it, and many who wouldn’t bother because they never win anything; even a church raffle. And then there are two who tend to place a small bet on the same sporting event once a year, namely The Grand National last Saturday.

One of these picks horses based purely on their names (food & drink themed this time.) The other chose their two horses partly for their name, but also checking details such as odds and track record.

One of the four lost its rider quite early on and the others came FIRST, SECOND & THIRD…..!

So now I’m able to resume the CAL with a lovely new supply of wool. :-D

Baby Jewel Blanket – FINISHED!

Posted on April 7, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

I started this (mostly) Jewel Baby Blanket straight after Christmas for a baby who was due to be born in the middle of this week. As the Mum-to-be was at a wedding yesterday, dancing and scoffing wedding cake, I’d say there’s probably no new-born baby yet!

It took a while to complete this because I got a bit bored with darning the ends. I’m wondering if next time I could carry the yarn up the side and continue using them with no cutting, then crochet in the ‘floats’ when I do the border? I’ve learnt that with some projects it’s pointless resolving to darn-as-you-go; it’s not going to happen as you enjoy picking the next colour and zipping along the rows with a smoking hot hook.

Details:

Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK

1. Meadow

2. Plum

3. Sherbert

4. Pomegranate

5. Aster

6. Lipstick

7. Turquoise

Hook: 4mm

Stitches: trebles, half trebles, doubles (UK)

Pattern/Design: My own

Length: 37″ Width: 33″

Weight: 448g

I’m not entirely convinced about the side edges. As there was a mix of stitches adding the htr around the first stitches for the FR of the border left some gaps. I think this was where the first stitch was a turning chain on treble rows. After a bit of consultation I went into the space after the second stitch. It adds a rather rustic look to the sides whereas the top and bottom (see the edge on the right in the above photo) are very much neater. I like the 2 tr, 2ch, 2 tr holey corners, that’s the look of a proper crocheted blanket!

Overall I’m pleased with this blanket; the colours are bright as I aimed to avoid the pastel-yuck palate that is used for so many baby items. The turquoise border seems to bring it all together. I’m going to have a think about alternative ways to deal with the initial row of a border going down the side edges of a multi-stitch blanket. I know some published crochet and knitting designers follow this blog – so if you have any advice it is welcome. :-)

As you see we now have sunshine! Hurray! Have a good Sunday, wherever you are in the world. (CAL post to follow, umm errr when I’ve crocheted this week’s blocks.)

Shell Scarf

Posted on April 1, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

I finished this warm woolly scarf for Mum yesterday.

Here are the details:

4mm hook

Lang Tosca Light DK 55% wool, 45% acrylic yarn

Weighs 149g

76″ long & 81/4″ wide

Pattern Vogue Stitchionary or here *NB: pattern is in US terms, if you use UK terms you’ll be crocheting trebles*

I chained 48.

Week 29: CAL Blocks #85 #86 #87

Posted on March 25, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#85 Lemon stripe

5 1/2″ square

There was some talk amongst some of the CAL block makers that the pattern was wrong and should say to make 4ch in the corners of R5&6, not 3, but I stuck to the pattern and mine’s fine. But then my tension’s not tight at the best of times, you can try it both ways and see what works best for you.

This is not an attractive looking block, in any combination of colours in my opinion. In fact if the BBC Dr Who production team are looking for a fabric covering for aliens then I suggest they look no further.

Nope, still not a fan of the ole popcorns!

#86 Sunray

5 1/2″ square

I crocheted this a few weeks ago, along with the other blocks of week 28, as it looked straightforward to make while watching something good on telly. I just can’t remember what it was now.

#87 Peony

5 3/4″ square

After trying once with my usual 4mm hook I used a 5mm for the 2ch foundation chain, then carried on with the 4mm. It was much easier, far far less fiddly and as you’re going to darn in the end nice and neatly, which always tightens up the initial ring, it doesn’t really matter if it’s a bit loose to begin.

There are a few ‘ss into the first of the 3ch’ instructions at the end of some rounds – but you haven’t begun with 3chains. Oops yet again.

None of these blocks make my heart go pitter patter, but the top Sunray block is probably my favourite. Lots of these in nice colour combinations would be a fun throw; I’m thinking rusts, browns and autumnal colours.

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Mile of Mice News: There are now 40 mice knitters in my KAL group on Ravelry. Just look for the Mile of Mice KAL group and come knit a mouse or two along with us. It’s for a very good cause to raise money for The Alzheimer’s Society, and the project will also attempt to set a Guinness World Record in October here in the UK.

The organiser Libby is sorting out a crochet pattern at the moment. If you’re on Facebook and have a mouse crochet pattern, which will make an approximate 9″ mouse from nose to tail, please get in touch with her via the Mile of Mice group.

I’m so embarrassed about my mice bodies pictures (thanks for pointing out why I should be Patch) I’m not even going to link to the post, and you know how much I love linking things. I’ve knitted 7 bodies now. I must knit some ears soon as I already need 14 of the fiddly little things!

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The other day I was watching The Gilmore Girls season 7 and there’s an episode about Stars Hollow holding a knitathon to raise money for local bridge repairs. Just try to see that episode and tell me how many of the actors can actually knit, or look as if they’ve ever held a pair of needles and yarn in their lives?!

I’m new to the lovely Gilmores, it crept up on me slowly from the 5th series or so. At first I thought they gabbled on all the time talking soo fast and were a bit too slick but I’m now watching to the end of the series. I record episodes shown on the Freeview 5* channel which shows one a day at 4pm on weekdays; if you’re also in the UK and want to see what I’m talking about. I then plan to rent the series from 1-4 and see Rory grow up. It’s a bit like Benjamin Button (terrible film!) going from OAP-baby.

Enough waffle! I’m off to heat up the River Cottage parsnip & ginger soup I made earlier and cook some lamb kebabs for dinner. :-D

Lazy Sunday, happy Sunday

Posted on March 24, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

What a lovely Sunday, eating Thai food then browsing for spices, exotic drinks and foods at the Asian Supermarket next door. Then home for a bit of cosy crochet and to read my new Mollie Makes mag. It’s -1 degrees here today, with some snow covering the hills after the snow-storm yesterday. It’s hard to believe we had brown grass in the garden from the dry, warm start to Spring this time last year! (Isn’t it funny how every blogger will, at some point, mention their local weather wherever in the world they are; I always thought this was a purely British obsessive topic of conversation.)

There’s been much rain and snow that there’s even flooding in parts of the city now.

I think most are staying warm at home as this is usually a buzzing restaurant.

Mum has asked me to crochet her a scarf. I like the circularity of this as I grew up wearing and using home-made knitted, crocheted and sewed scarves, hats, mittens, gloves, cardies, jumpers, dresses, gym bags for my plimsolls and much more.

I chose shell pattern 2 from the Vogue Crochet Stitchionary I won in a giveaway last year.

I trebled the stitch count and hey presto it’s just right for a scarf. The scalloped sides are really pretty, I like the pattern a lot.

I’m using Lang’s Tosca Light which is 55% new wool with 45% acrylic, a really warm and soft mixture. I can vouch for this yarn as I used it to knit myself a lacy purple scarf a couple of years ago, and wear all the time. I also knit a green one for my sister-in-law which she loves. I’m using a 4mm hook, though think a 3.5mm would also work nicely.

I hope you’ve had a lovely Sunday too.

Week 28: CAL Blocks #82 #83 #84

Posted on March 18, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#82 Webbed Lace

This is the runty one of the litter this week, I’ve crocheted it with a 4mm and 3.5mm hook. Both are rectangular, nowhere near square. Guess what I’m going to say about this pattern? (Prizes if you get it.)

This would make a nice Springtime scarf in the right kind of yarn! (Did you win?)

4mm=6″W x 5″ H

3.5mm=5 3/4″W x 4 1/4″H

#83 Diamond in a Square

3.5mm=5 1/4″ but then I added two more R8 to enlarge the block so it’s 5 3/4″. I just fancied using my pink 3.5mm hook for a change from the blue 4mm, so I did.

Now tell me is there a mistake in the instructions for R6? There don’t seem to be enough instructions before the corner space stitches. I just trebled along until the last 3htr, surely it should specify 14tr then 3htr? There’s always the photo in the book to check; but I think of how confused I’d have been if this particular block was the first I tried as a newbie.

#84 Combination Stripes

5 3/4″ – 5 1/2″ depending on if you’re measuring the fat or thinner end!

I thought this was less wonky than my usual (unblocked) corner squares, but looking at this photo I’m not so sure. Generally the corners where you increase, rather than decrease, come out less wibbly for me. It’s probably all about the tension.

Week 28! Wow I can’t believe we’ve been going since 1st September crocheting and posting pics! WELL DONE if you’ve been with me since the beginning and are still crocheting along. I could post a list of links to current block-makers’ blogs in my CAL week 29 post to make it easy for readers to click to yours so they can have a peep. Just send me a link to your last CAL post here if you fancy.

I’ve heard from Jen of The Eclectic Stitch to say she’s rejoining the CAL which is cool. I’m really looking forward to seeing more of her blocks.

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I’m thinking of taking part in A Mile of Mice which according to the Make & Craft website involves: ‘knitting a mile of knitted mice to raise funds for The Alzheimer’s Society. 7600 mice need to be joined nose to tail and measured at Altrincham Football Ground in October 2013 to gain a Guinness World Record and gain publicity for The Alzheimer Society. Knitters can be sponsored and the mice will be sold off after the Big Measure to raise more money for them. Donations of money, wool or stuffing most welcome from people who don’t want to knit themselves.’

I thought I could make a pink alpaca mouse, or two, from my Knitting and Stitching Show workshop wool. Every mile of mice needs a pink alpaca family.

Shall we get involved and do a mini KAL? (Knit-along) but with no fixed schedule? I’m happy to post links to blogs/photos showing completed mice. It could be squeaking good fun. What do you reckon?

The Spring Knitting & Stitching Show, London

Posted on March 16, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

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I’ve had a very good day. Very good indeed. I tried not to take hundreds of photos but did bear in mind that quite a few readers have said they are looking forward to hearing about the day.

On the tube journeys to Kensington Olympia I played a little game to guess who would be going to the knitting and stitch show. It wasn’t too hard. Do they have a: knitted/crocheted hat? Knitted/crocheted scarf? Handmade item(s) of clothing? Colourful bag? Flowery rucsac? Anything Cath Kidson? All were complete give-aways. I followed a couple of women for two parts of the journey and then bumped into them by the ribbon and button stall where we had a chat, as you do. I tend to chat to people wherever I am, whatever I’m doing and there were some very friendly people at the show.

In case you’re wondering; I wore my knitted lacy purple scarf, it’s warm but I also had a feeling it’s de rigueur at crafty events to wear something handmade. I was right. I saw a divine cabled top, really nice chunky wool, it just fit and suited the wearer so well. I had to stop myself from rushing up to ask for the yarn details, pattern and needle size. 019 021

The lady in purple is Lara (mid cough, oops) the editor of Mollie Makes who was later running a VERY popular crochet flower workshop throughout the day. I tried to find a spare chair, but each time I passed they were all occupied, with spectators standing around too! I’m so glad crochet is so popular. When I said I really like MM Lara seemed genuinely delighted, she seems very sweet. 024 Wow. Just wow! A lady and I joked that you’d have one very muscly arm from using these hooks!

025 Perhaps knitting would give you an equally balanced upper arm workout? 027 This is where I made my resolution, yet again, to relearn to sew. Aren’t the fabrics beautiful?

028 029 The next two photos really, really made me want to visit the Mrs Moon shop which speaks volumes for the beautiful layout of the wools, patterns and samples. The women looked so elegant as well.

032

Rowan Big Wool. Mmmmm I feel a snood or scarf coming on sometime, in a berry red or grey perhaps. 033

The next two pictures were part of an area with a table of free-form crocheters who, I think, were making pieces to decorate costumes. There were some women in huge dresses, painted faces and high-high-high-up hair, or wigs, like the aristocrats during the French Revolution. The area was labelled The Garden of England Royal Museums Greenwich.The show is turning into a good way to check out new places and visit other exhibitions, rather like following a trail of bread crumbs. 035 039

I was forbidden to take a photograph of the felting and silk artist Yulia Badian in her Woodland Boudoir fetchingly dressed as a woodland fairy, but drinking a can of red bull. She was quite attention grabbing I can tell you. 041 042

Deebie Hall’s ‘Lady Spring‘

I’m always partial to willow art. 044

Sue Stratford’s The Knitting Hut was also one of my favourites. Just look at those chicken kits! Several were purchased as I browsed. I took a photo of her knitted meerkats but sadly it’s a fuzzy one. 047

Just when I was beginning to flag I spotted a spare chair at The Knitter/Simply Knitting table, opposite the full to bursting MM crochet area. Half an hour knitting alongside friendly people felt equal to a session of meditation. I can’t describe how relaxed I felt after that pit-stop. I liked that you could take the whole ball of wool, needles and pattern away all for free.

Something funny happened during the session. Eight of us knitters sat around a circular table and I noticed that seven were ‘throwing’ the wool. The eighth was an older woman who knit sliding her hand up and along the needle. The rest not. One of the magazine editor demonstrators complimented the neatness of mine which led to discussing techniques and the feeling that persists which says I’m ‘not doing it right’. All agreed it’s an individual thing; there are many ways to accomplish the same end. All good, all rosy. I’m feeling pretty confident showing off my technique in public while hoards flow around the area, some taking photos of us (eek!) THEN a group of Grannies come along and make quite a deal of the throwing technique and actually take one woman’s knitting away to show her how to ‘do it properly.’

“Look, you wrap the wool round your fingers like this, see? You hold the needle under and do NOT take your hand off…blah blah.” The lady took it quite well but I’m just so glad it wasn’t me.

050

This was my favourite quilt from the exhibition, it’s so country home in style. 052

On the tube home I heard fragments of people’s conversation:

‘I spend my limit then I stop. Do you remember last year when I didn’t have enough money left for a cup of coffee?”

“He’s expecting me home later than this but will come to get us when I tell him what time the train gets in. Umm NO! I haven’t told him how much I’ve spent!”

“Next time I’m gonna take a wheelie bag to fill, and probably get right in people’s way.”

“Bugger! I’ve got me wool stuck in my zip aint I?!”

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I’m very pleased with my Clover crochet hook, bought from Jane Crowfoot. She’d sold out of 4mm but this was one that was lurking in an under the counter box. She did say she might be in trouble with her Mr for selling too many and not having enough for online customers, but they’ll just have to wait eh? Lucky me!

I’m off to drink a large glass of red wine, finish my bunting with my beautiful alpaca wool, or maybe unravel it to crochet something with my NEW HOOK!

Happy weekend everyone.

Week 27: CAL Blocks #79 #80 #81

Posted on March 9, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#79 Baltic Square

5 1/4″ square

Urgh! I dislike popcorns in baby cashmerino. I just think they look better in a proper DK thickness of yarn. I used a 3.5mm hook to see if they’d look tighter and sexier etc, but not. Alternatively, it might just be me and my inability to do them properly?

#80 Blocks and Shells

6 1/2″ W with my usual 4mm hook, so I changed to a 3.5mm hook (refreshing change actually) but it’s still a widey at 6″ w x 5 1/2″ h like the previous blocks #76 and #75.

This would be another good scarf pattern though there’s something a bit irritating about the multiple trebling into one treble, you might find it fiddly and not very fast to whip-up like scarves often can be (should this be re-christened MAL-CAL today? Moan along crochet along?! Sorry. I will pep it up with the next block.)#81 Sunshine and Showers

5 3/4″ (4mm hook)

My favourite in a long time, I like the flowery middle and it’s a sturdy block because you go around previous treble rounds in double crochet. This would be an excellent blanket block. A little darnarama and not speedy to crochet, but overall well worth the effort of making. Sometimes the things that take the longest time to create are the things most worth having.

S was working in Oslo for a week, came home for the equivalent of a long weekend and then shot off on a ten day trip to work in Hong Kong. He came home last night – hurray! (Though I really hate it when he texts me before take-off showing a photo of his two windows with a wooden windowsill with a pretake-off glass of Krug, from the First class cabin, and the ottoman that has room for someone else to sit at the table for dinner opposite and which later converts to a bed. Plus knowing there are only 5 other passengers in the cabin when I’m used to being packed into economy on long flights. It might be time for me to consider a career change? These messages are especially galling when I’m sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea and a ham sandwich feeling a bit lil Orphan Annie!!!!!)

Anyway, I had to show you this Japanese ‘delicacy’ that he takes great glee in buying as a gift for my poor brother. S instructs me that you have use the Banzai voice to say its name. If you’re not familiar then don’t worry, it’s really not that funny!

Here are a couple of gifts S gave me after last year’s business trip to HK. At the time I was definitely a beginner crocheter but now I reckon I could dust them off and follow the symbol patterns.

What are you doing this weekend? Any fun plans for Mothers’ Day?

Week 26: CAL BLocks #76 #77 #78

Posted on March 2, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#76 Granny Stripes

6 1/4″ W 5 1/4″ H with a 3.5mm hook. AND I added an extra stripe at the top. So, that concludes the brief experiment using a different sized hook. I also redid #75 with a 3.5mm hook and it was still rectangular (6″ W 5 1/4″ H) So I’m going back to my original plan of using the same 4mm hook and just crocheting the patterns. If I change them by adding rows or extra stitches then it’s not Jan Eaton’s 200 Blocks, they’re mine. I know I’m probably going to be struggling with the fixing them together but that’s for later, not stressing at the moment.

The good thing about doing this CAL is that in the future I can look back to my weekly posts, when planning blankets etc, and choose my favourite similar sized blocks.

#77 Raspberries and Cream

Hmmm, as usual for a corner square it’s very squiffy measuring between 5 1/4″ – 5 3/4″ at various points of the block.

I enjoy these decrease to 3 stitches blocks, they’re very relaxing to crochet because you’re not staring at the pattern every row.

#78 Briar Rose

5 1/2″ square

Very bright and Spring-like with the yellow and green. I like the colour combo this week.

I’ve been slack about my darning this week but I will keep up with my CAL resolution and do the ends before I crochet the next set.

This week we have another new block maker, check out her first CAL blog post here. It really made me grin to have someone so enthused about the project, especially when we’re now 6 months into the Crochet Along and I was definitely feeling a bit jaded last week (about the blog posting, not the crochet!) Admittedly that might have been down to lethargy from a cake overload?!

Check out the Ravelry group too, we are still gaining members, there are now 100+ which surprises me as the forum is practically silent. It’s great that newbies are still signing up to the CAL. If you fancy playing the TPBM game pop in to the forum. I love silly games!

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In other news: I dropped my iphone into a cup of coffee this week! It slid straight down out of my hand and plopped into my mug. It all works apart from the wifi, which is pretty vital.

Wahhh!

It’s going away by post to my mobile operator –Y’know, the company who I pay a lot of pounds to every month — and is guaranteed to be back within 4 working days. In the meantime what will I do without a mobile?!

Week 25: CAL BLocks #73 #74 #75

Posted on February 25, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#73 Catherine Wheel

5 3/4″ square

R4 has a missing instruction. It should say ch3 at the beginning (which counts as a tr) If you picked up the book as a beginner, or not so experienced, this is the detail you need to know.

I’m not sure about the colour combo, but then I’ve said this quite often. I’d probably choose different colour combinations, and not all in a rush just before the shop closed next time! Or, maybe the yellow was a mistake and the colours were sound before I added more?

#74 Seville

5 3/4″ square

Another editing issue: R7 should say [1 tr into next tr, 1 ch] lazy proofing, or like many companies perhaps they’ve sacked the proof editors thinking that computer programmes alone can pick up errors. When you read have you noticed how many mistakes have crept into contemporary novels? But, having said this please don’t judge me by all my mistakes; this is just another little crochet blog.

This needs blocking sooo badly, I know.

#75 Half and Half

6 x 5 1/2 ” rectangular! If I want to use this (and I do, it’s posh wool £££) I’ll have to redo it, but for now it’s shoved in one of my block boxes. It needs either fewer trebles or a smaller hook. I haven’t gone down the using different sized hooks route for different blocks because frankly I don’t want to fanny about here essentially making samples checking for measurements. Yah-boo for number 75!

The lateness of my posting (it’s usually around Friday/Saturday at the end of the CAL week) is due to having FUN! A girlies long weekend in Cardiff, Wales stalking the places where Gavin and Stacey was filmed (look it up and watch!!!) and generally mooching, talking and eating a lot of cakey type things.

I must admit that the CAL is beginning now to feel a bit like homework, or at least after a very fun weekend away when I know I’ve got to unpack, do washing and write this update. I’m also starting to wonder how the hell I can fix together blocks which differ in size as much as 3/4″. You might be sat smugly reading this thinking you’re not surprised and you expected a similar comment sooner or later, but it’s not really surprising to me either. I knew all along I’d feel like this at some point.

This is the plan: I’m finishing the blocks and then will sort out blocking, sizing, coordinating and joining issues…….later!

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I’ve just heard a huge thump as my new knitting and Tunisian crochet books land on the door mat. YAY!

Have a good week blogettes.

A long weekend

Posted on February 19, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

A long weekend away, the other week, in Lincolnshire meant that we were able to do the seaside hat-trick: Skegness, Mablethorpe and (very rainy and blustery so no photos) Cleethorpes.

There was something so forlorn and run-down about Skegness which is basically shut for the winter that I wished I’d taken the posh big camera to capture more. I really like books like Roundabouts of Great Britain and Goats in Trees and….I can’t find it but it’s a series of books of photos you often see in gallery and museum bookshops. They are called something like Unseen Britain, The other side of England or similar though I can’t find them on Amazon. Anyway, isn’t a rundown seaside town in the winter wonderful for these type of photographs?

I was chatting to the owner of M&G Designs in Louth with my cousin wondering how they clean the water slide in the Spring, and apparently children are sent down with sponges attached to their bottoms. Ingenious. ;-0

M&G Designs is definitely worth a visit if you’re anywhere near Louth. It’s owned by a husband and wife and is crammed with needlework, knitting, crochet and many crafty treasures. I found it hard not to spend all my pocket money in one go!

A few doors along is Chilli Peppers a delightful cook shop with pretty home-wares in a further room at the back of the shop. The new owner is the former Saturday Girl who decided to buy the business, with the help of her parents, when the owner put it up for sale last Autumn. I love this story!

A lovely bonus of visiting Chilli Pepper is that you’re offered a cup of Nespresso coffee to drink while you browse. This friendly welcome is what marks independent shops from chains. When was the last time you went to Cargo and were given a cup of coffee and had a friendly chat?

I’d thoroughly recommend a visit to Louth, go on a Saturday and stroll around the small market, go to Millie May’s for lunch (Bacon, brie and cranberry panini yum!) pop into the charity shop with rows and rows of books upstairs, Serendipity which is a home-ware and gift shop and many, many more independent shops. Unlike most English towns now you don’t see the same chain shops everywhere, it’s so refreshing. Louth is also an attractive looking market town. I didn’t take photos – too busy shopping and chatting! In the evening go for a big curry accompanied by lots of Indian lager, or another option as there’s a fair range of restaurants.

We love a good walk at Mablethorpe and admired the beach huts from the Bathing Beauties Festival (see the gin and tonic hut which is my fave?) Next we always go and play in the arcades. You too could win teddy brooches, a hUgE emerald (yes, I have a jewel….sort of) and lots of tickets for prizes like we did.

On the way home we saw a little snow! Leading up to the weekend there had been so many severe weather warnings I admit I wondered if we were wise to visit. In the end the little snow that fell didn’t settle at all. We drove across the county to Lincoln on the way to the M1 and saw only a bare sprinkling on the Lincolnshire wolds. The most was in Northants as far as we could see, but still nowhere near the amount predicted. Jolly good!

Inspired by my cousin reminding me about my round and round Granny ‘square’ Yorkshire blanket I came home to do something about my odd and ends of Stylecraft. I started this while watching tv (one eye on the hook and stitch and the other on the prog anyway.) After I saw this photo I undid it all and the odds and ends are back in a stash. Asymmetric just looks a mess!

I’m back to working on the jewel baby blanket again. What are you making this week?

Week 23: CAL Blocks #67 #68 #69

Posted on February 7, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#67 American Beauty

I really like all of this week’s blocks, isn’t this lovely?

6″ square – A big one!

It lies beautifully flat and even when pinned, it just needs blocking.

#68 Red, White and Blue (Pink, Blue and Green!)
5 1/4″-5 3/4″ ho hum. These corner blocks are really uneven though I do like the way you make them; either increasing from bottom to top, or decreasing from the top to bottom.

#69 Fudge
5 1/2 “square
I didn’t like the brown colour combo in the book and think this is prettier. :-)

I’m not looking forward to the zig zag block which is next. I just don’t think the colour changes will look very good in thinner baby cashmerino than as it would using ‘proper’ DK. We’ll see how it turns out next week.

Which is your favourite this week? Mine’s the first.

Lucy’s right

Posted on February 4, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

…the roses are very addictive! So easy and so effective. Now I need to buy a ring to make a garland or something because I feel some more coming on.

PS: I can’t WAIT for Spring brightness and lightness, none of my photos lately are looking anything but fuzzy. Sorry.

Rosy hearts

Posted on February 3, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’m having such a nice play with colours and yarn. This has to be the one of easiest rose patterns. Thank you Lucy! And thanks to BeaG for the lovely heart pattern.

Next I’m going to try adapting it to make larger roses.

Hope you’re enjoying your weekend too.

Week 22: CAL Blocks #64 #65 #66

Posted on February 2, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#64 Sunshine Lace
5 1/2 ” square

#65 Patriotic Sunburst
Nearly 5 1/2″ square
I’m not sure about the rounded corners on this one, perhaps it just needs stretching out flat…

#66 Abstract
5 1/2″ square
I laughed a bit when I read that one blogger has decided she mustn’t watch tv and crochet at the same time. It made me think that I must be way more accomplished and had really mastered this crochet thing. Ha ha ha Rachel…

I crocheted these blocks last weekend during writing breaks. This one was ‘completed’ during Saturday Morning Kitchen, then half undone and re-crocheted during the week when watching The Gilmore Girls. Then, finally half redone this morning during Saturday Morning Kitchen (very, very gritted teeth.) I just kept making the section above the splodge too wide. I don’t know why really; I blame the gorgeous James Martin (A Yorkshire chef & presenter on SMK. Phoar!!!)
The splodge looks like a splodge in the book too. This one’s darnarama also. Needless to say I WILL NOT be making this one again.

Curly twirly corners ;-)

Just after I posted here yesters a beautiful bouquet arrived! :-D
I’ve had such lovely messages from friends and family too. My favourite text was from my friend Sarah when she saw my two bound dissertations – ‘Holy Sh**!!! Well Done!!!!!!!’ She’s working hard on hers at the moment and I know exactly how she’s feeling. It’s so good to be at the end of a lot of hard work. I’ve got that school’s out for summer feeling now.

The icing on the cake is while I’ve been writing this the postie has just brought me:

I took advantage of the first 3 issues for £5 offer. I did the same with The Simple Things mag, but really didn’t like it much. I have high hopes for this one…I’ll let you know my thoughts if you like?

What are your plans this lovely weekend? Tell me what you’re up to. :-)

Week 21: CAL Blocks #61 #62 #63

Posted on January 26, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#61 Nine Patch Granny
5 1/2″ square
To join I slip stitched into the 2 outer loops so the edges sat side by side, this was rather than ss through all four loops as the book instructs. I chained 2 over the first seam when going across the first set of seams. I always use a smaller hook when joining crochet (3mm hook instead of the usual 4mm.)
Oh and for the final round the book says to 1ch, 1 dc into each tr and ch round edge; I ignored this and just did 1 ch to begin then dcs around. There was a similar mistake for one of the previous blocks I think?

#62 Edged Square
5 – 5 1/2″ ‘square’ urgh! This puts me off the corner blocks.

#63 Random Patches
5 1/2″ square
Oh gawd! On the last colour change I realised I was working with 26 stitches not 28. Oh la! (But I was never starting again.)
Darnarama too!

I love my curly edged group pictures, there’s something that appeals to me maybe because they’re non-conformist?! ;-)

I think my fave is the Random Patches block this week.

How are you getting on? Which block are you working on?

Jewel baby blanket

Posted on January 15, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

I started this after Christmas. The plan after making four full-sized blankets was to have a lonnnng blanket-making holiday. But you probably know better than me how it happens; you look at the amount of yarn you’ve managed to accrue over a year, someone you know announces she’s preggers and you’re off!

It’s my own design. I’m doing a random mix of rows of trebles, half trebles and double crochet (sometimes single rows, sometimes more.) Mostly I’m turning at the end of rows, sometimes I don’t as I like the variety of textures and height of stitches this gives. It will have a border around it. There’s no huge hurry to complete this as the baby’s not due for a few more months.

The Mum-to-be doesn’t know if the baby is a boy or girl but is quite rightly in my opinion “all for colour equality” so there’s my favourite Stylecraft Special DK pomegranate in the mix. I’ve used a few yarns which aren’t jewel colours (meadow and sherbert) and love the combination. :-D

What are you making at the moment? Did you get sucked into a project when you’d planned another?

Weeks 19 & 20 CAL Blocks #55 #56 #57 #58 #59 #60 #72

Posted on January 13, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#55 Centred square
5 1/2 ” square

#56 Plain Granny
5 3/4″ square

#57 Arrowhead bobbles
5 1/2″ square. These blocks used to be all around 5 3/4″ on average, as I’m using baby cashmerino, but seem to be getting smaller….

And, because I was in a go get ’em mood at the very beginning of a new year (and if I’m honest avoiding work) and the first two blocks were so straightforward to crochet; I then crocheted four more blocks. I won’t post next week, it’s going to be a very busy one anyway.

#58 Peach Rose
5 1/2″ square (but wibbily at the moment obviously!)

#59 Coral quartet (or not!)
5 1/2 x 5 3/4″ oh dear. These kind of blocks always seem to come out narrower than the length. I’ve been speculating that this is why the book is called 200 Blocks not Squares again! Unless it’s me and yours come out perfectly….

Oops it’s upside down, I must have rotated the photo without thinking.

#60 Popcorn corners
5 3/4″ square (but a bit rounded not pointy as in square. I’ll have to see if others’ come out similarly.)
One of the middle pc looks a bit flat, it’s got squashed in the pile of blocks I reckon. We thought this “alright” nothing special after I made it, but it’s quite pretty I suppose.

It took 2 hours from beginning to darning the ends in! I know because the morning news was on, then the whole of Saturday Morning Kitchen yesterday. S made the spiced lamb shanks with pomegranate tubbouleh for dinner after seeing it made on the programme. Yum yum yum. The recipe is online, it’s one of James Martin’s recipes.

#72 Ribbed square
5 1/2″ square
I know this is way ahead…
This and #52 Lemon peel were the two blocks I tried a long time ago when I bought the book. The other day I just fancied randomly picking any block to make. I told you I felt keen!

The colours have come out looking so different in the shifting light this morning, but you know what they really look like by now. I’m still thinking about making two items with my blocks since my initial Cottage Garden colour scheme really feels like it’s evolved into two sets, but I’m not making any firm decisions till I stop making blocks.

How many unique designs are there? I count 126 but my maths can be pretty unpredictable.

Week 18: CAL Blocks #53 #54

Posted on January 6, 2013 by The Little Room of Rachell

#53 Mesh Fantasy
5 1/2″ square

#54 Framed Flower

Getting the hook into the 7ch from the hook (ie: the last) and making a treble without the whole thing twisting around and around is the initial challenge of this block. From then on it’s pretty straightforward, even when you think it’s curly and pulled up in all directions, after R4, it does end up flat and quite square.

5 3/4″ square

I’m looking forward to the next two blocks which both have a 1 hook ‘beginner’ rating, it will be nice to whizz around without too much thought.

How are you getting on with the CAL? Are you still with me? If you are please put up your hand now. (Trish aka Made by Patch & Jane aka Rainbow Junkie, I know you are so you can relax and wear your gold star stickers with pride.)

2012

Posted on December 31, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

HWB cover end

It’s my blog birthday today !

A year of crochet, a little knitting and embroidery, people, places, food and quite a lot of chat. I’ve enjoyed making bloggy contacts, having a peep at what you’re making, reading about your favourite things and getting to know your part of the world.

I look forward to maybe meeting some more of you in person next year for some social crochet-knitting-sewing-whatever get togethers. :-D

birthday cake

HaPpy NEw YEaR EvERyOnE!

Week 17: CAL Blocks #49 #50 #51 #52

Posted on December 29, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Otherwise known as the week of wonky photographed blocks! Honestly now I look at the uploaded photos I think they look like kids who’ve had to run for the school bus with shirts hanging out, hair unbrushed and clutching pieces of toast. Ah well, you get a rough idea of what they look like….

#49 Rainbow stripes
These corner blocks are quite fun to do especially when you start with 58 ch and decrease down to 3st, but they are going to take some straightening out. I think I’m beginning to repeat myself as I have a feeling of deja vu!
5 1/4″ – 5 3/4″ ‘square’

#50 Seminole
I got really engrossed in an audio book on Boxing Day, and as you see the maroon stripe carries on for another row. Due to being a leftie and not ;reversing the instructions the stripes are the other side, but it’s quite effective either way so I’m not worried.
5 3/4″ square

#51 Bright flower
I probably need to do this one again practising crocheting the initial stitches tighter behind the petals, or maybe just easing them around the foundation ring as I go; they’re a little uneven in shape.
You can see who’s a leftie and who is a rightie if you look at the way the petals lie over each other, I just noticed when comparing mine to the book. When righties go round to the left, we go round to the right! Confused?
This would make a really nice blanket, mixed with plain blocks for the contrast.
5 3/4″ square

#52 Lemon peel
I crocheted this when I first got the book ; (last year?) ; and found it quite challenging as I was a crochet newbie. Now? Easy peasy lemon squeezy! I think it’s pictured WS up but I like both sides of this block.
6″ square

I’m only going to crochet blocks #53 and #54 next week to give others who are crocheting along with me a chance to catch up.

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It’s that funny limbo time of the season where home is still decked out for Christmas, you’re full of food and drink playing with new presents and the New Year is looming. This is usually when I feel I should go back to being productive and busy, but don’t. I have started a new crochet project though, under the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree with the films Pretty Woman then Bombay Beach playing on the tv. Lazy days!

I must have been a good girl at some point as Father Christmas gave me a dozen balls of Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino!

What have you been doing during the last few days?

Blooming Flower cushion #2 finished

Posted on December 24, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I finished this on Saturday. I took the next two photos when it was dark so they’re not the sharpest, sorry.

Here’s the first Blooming Flower cushion I made back in the summer.

They’re really quite fast to crochet and you can use up lots of odds and ends of yarn. The pattern is one that Lucy adapted, if you fancy making one too you can find the pattern here on her Attic 24 blog.

Week 16: CAL Blocks #46 #47 #48

Posted on December 22, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Today it’s very grey and damp again after a beautifully bright and lovely day yesterday. I don’t use a flash because it makes the colours look odd, so put the blocks in the brightest space I could find near the kitchen window.

#46 Meadow

There was a bit of counting to check this one was on track.
Nearly 6″ square

#47 Queen Anne’s Lace

I like the middle of this, it’s quite a pretty block. refreshing not to have to change colour and only two ends to darn.
The disadvantage is it’s one of the smallest blocks at 5 1/4 ” squarish. I think nearer the time to making up the blanket(s) this one might need an extra border or two to increase the overall size. I don’t think blocking will quite do it this time. I’m interested to see how this comes out size-wise for other Crochet Along (CAL)ers!

#48 Danish square

R2: I didn’t ss into the first of 9ch as I thought it too wibbly looking, I went into a dc I think.
R5: the pattern’s not specific about where to join yarn c, I went into the first of the 2dc of R4
I had to alter the yarn combination as I’m low on some colours now. I hope Father Christmas thinks I’ve been good this year. ;-)
6″ squarish

See the difference in size?
The Danish square is my favourite this week. I like the petal shape of the 4 middle holes.

I’m planning to carry on and do my usual 3 blocks next week, but will have to see how it pans out. My motivation is to get to the end of the CAL in good time and not stretch it out to next Christmas. Also I’m still enjoying the pattern reading and stitch practise, and when I look back to the crochet I was doing, very unconfidently as a beginner, this time last year it’s a great boost to my crochet confidence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

This afternoon I have more presents to wrap, fruit to soak in Armagnac, baubles to thread with gold ribbon and some reading/notes to do as I’m steadily plodding on with my studies.

I’m looking forward to King prawns in garlic and chilli with a crunchy winter salad and a baguette from the local French bakery for dinner tonight. Yum.

Where are you up to with your Christmas prep and what are you looking forward to eating this weekend?

Little Christmas Stockings

Posted on December 16, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Hello again,

I’ve been crocheting these sweet sparkly little Christmas stockings for a while, filling them with mini candy canes to give as little gifts and maybe I’ll hang some on the Christmas tree next weekend too. When they catch the light they’re all glinty and pretty.

You can find the pattern on Le monde de Sucrette’s blog.

It’s a really easy pattern and I can whip up a stocking from start to finish in less than an hour.

Week 15: CAL Blocks #43 #44 #45 & #42 reworked

Posted on December 16, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#43 Four Patch Granny

Retro crochet! This one is fiddly; all those ends to darn! Imagine making a whole blanket and all the joining you’d need to do. This block took me far longer than any of the others (apart from the hideous block #11)

6″ square

#44 Subtle Stripes

‘The turning chain in a row of dc is not counted’ I chanted to myself at the beginning of this block. For some reason I needed to remind myself.

This looks like cottage garden in the Autumn. I like it.

6″ square

#45 Steps

This could make an interesting design if the blocks were turned different ways, so the steps were going in various directions on a blanket. Maybe?

5 3/4″ square

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After reading good ole Rainbow Junkie’s CAL post I realised that I hadn’t been thinking, and of course there is a mistake in the pattern for rounds 6 & 7 namely that it should be trebles and not doubles around the edges of the block. No wonder my #42 block looked all pulled in at the sides.

Gah!

I undid those rounds and re-crocheted them. Isn’t it typical that you realise your mistake (with RJ’s help) after the one week you diligently darned in those blighty little ends?! (And darned in very well, so in the end I snipped in the middle of the outer round and wasted a length of posh wool. Double gah!)

Here it is reworked:#42 Lacy Wheel

Now 5 1/2 ” square, will be larger with blocking.

NB: If you’re using the USA version of the 200 blocks book check here for a correction to the patterns for #47 & #48 on the interweave website

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I hope your Christmas prep is going well. I’ve bought 95% of my presents, wrapped 20% and have been crocheting little sparkly Christmas things. Fun, fun, fun.

Today I’m going to crochet the picot edge of the granny stripe #2 and that’s finished too. Yay!

I’ve also got to write and post Christmas cards. I’d better do them next…

Stay warm and have some mulled wine! (Or ice-cream if you’re in a hot place!) :-)

Week 14: CAL Blocks #40 #41 #42

Posted on December 8, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#40 Granny with a Twist
5 3/4 ” square

#41 Bobble Triangle
5 3/4″ square

#42 Lacy Wheel
Can be blocked to 5 3/4″ square
As I’ve said before – these lacy blocks are not my faves but this has a very pretty centre.

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This week, apart from the 3 blocks above, I’ve finished the main body of Granny Stripe #2 and have (much) darning of ends to do before starting on the edging. uh-oh.

I’ve crocheted another dishcloth too. My cousin’s been buying and sending me the dishcloth string for ages but when I checked that I’d made her one, she said “Ironically, no.” Ooops! (Actually, WoW, look at this post it’s staggering that it’s nearly a year ago! It’s my 1 year blog birthday on 31st December.)

What have you completed this week?

I’m glad I made this chunky seashell scarf during warmer weather, it’s needed now!

Have a good weekend, stay warm! :-D

Week 13: CAL Blocks #37 #38 #39

Posted on December 1, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#37 Pin Stripes
What a nifty way to make a circle into a square in just two rounds!
5 3/4″ square
The mid-row joins are untidy but they look about the same in the book, I must be improving. Hurrah!

#38 Dahlia
I’m not too keen on the look of this one though S said it’s ‘sweet’. Good popcorn practice, I think I’m getting better at them.
Also 5 3/4″ square

#39 Gavin’s Stripes
Who the hell is Gavin? Maybe Mr Eaton?
I really like the texture of the stitches but wouldn’t want to make a big item as the repetition would get boring.
6″ square

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I’ll lay out the blocks I’ve made so far one day, and take a piccy, it just needs to be a bright and sunny day.

I’ve asked for more baby cashmerino in the brighter colours for Christmas. I’ve run out of apricot, am low on sienna, hot pink, rusty red and purple. I’m glad I chose to use posh wool for the CAL; it would be extremely expensive to buy all the wool in one hit for a project, but a few balls as you go are not going to break the bank (especially if you ask others to buy it for you!)

I can’t show you what else I’m crocheting, it’s Christmas themed but I’m not saying any more because certain people pop here and read. Other than that I’m on the last 6 stripes of the Granny Stripe #2 blanket, and carrying on with these CAL blocks week by week. I tend to make them over a few days then leave them so it doesn’t feel like the CAL is taking over, it’s a doable pace and I’m not bored.

What are you making at the moment?

Have a relaxing weekend and stay warm if you’re in the UK. It’s a few degrees here today with a hard white frost everywhere. Brrrrr!!!!!

:-D

Week 12: CAL Blocks #34 #35 #36

Posted on November 25, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#34 Band of Bobbles
6″ square
“I’m not sure about this one”
“Yeah, why does it stop?”

#35 Tricolour Square
5 1/2″ square but it needs flattening out
Another version of this using only trebles would be interesting (still not bothered about dtr to be honest)

#36 ‘Pink’ Stripe
5 3/4″ square
Using htr made a refreshing change, plus it’s fast growing which made it one of the speediest blocks to crochet.

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Reading Patch’s blog post this week made me laugh because its not CAL posts that makes you a geek; it’s blogging about crochet in the first place! As a crochet blogger and the instigator of the CAL I totally accept my inner geek ;-)

What are you making at the moment? Full on with Christmas crafts or ?

Playing with new stitches

Posted on November 18, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

S: “It’s a fine example of skill, I’m just not sure it’s a fine example of scarf”

M: “That’s really different, I like it! The green is lovely”

R: “But is it a bit court jester?”

M: “No!”

S: “A bit”

Court jester and lack of style aside, this is actually not the softest scarf you would want against your face, especially when it’s mostly double crochet as it makes a dense fabric. It feels slightly scratchy. Stylecraft works well for blankets, hats and probably gloves too but perhaps not scarves? (Shame as I have another Stylecraft scarf on the go, but it’s not a dc heavy pattern so might be ok.) I need a gorgeously soft merino type wool to make another version of this bobble scarf. I’ve written down what I did so that’s not a problem, but the purse jangling with coppers might hold the making back a while.

In the meantime I made a cover for my iphone yesterday, using my new found knowledge of spike stitch. It’s my own pattern, which means that it might be a bit dodgy, but for me it’s very early days of designing my own things and you have to start somewhere. Let me know if you try it and if you find a glitch.

Gadget cover

(DC Spike stitch: put the hook into the row below the next dc, yo and pull through, yo and pull through the two loops on the hook. Easy!)

>Chain 13
>Dc into the 2nd ch from the hook and to the end of the chain. (12 dc)
>Ch1 then dc into each dc – repeat this row three times
>Change colour (I didn’t cut off the yarn, I just carried it up the side and picked up the colour as I figured the strands carried up the side wouldn’t show when it was made, and they don’t, so there wouldn’t be huge lots of darning) and work alternating spike stitch then a dc along the row
>Dc into each st of the previous row – repeat this row three times
>Change colour and do another row of spikes, I alternated mine so they are staggered with the previous row’s spikes but you could do them above the others
Carry on the pattern until the strip is long enough to fold over your gadget, I did 14 stripes
>SS across one top edge to make it a bit thicker then dc the sides together with the ws together (I like the dcs on the outside, but you could sew yours up inside out or, or dc it rs together if you don’t want to see them)
>Turn the cover inside out, cut the wool to leave a long tail to use to dc the other sides together, thread a needle and weave the end through stitches at the bottom of the cover
>Turn it back the right side out and dc the other two edges together
>SS along the other top edge, fasten off and darn the ends in.

Finito!

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What are you making this weekend? Crochet, sewing, knitting, cooking etc etc? I love to know as I’m basically a very nosy person.

Week 11: CAL Blocks #31 #32 #33

Posted on November 16, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#31 Primrose Square
Another of my favourites so far. This would look really pretty in pinks (doesn’t have to be called a primrose square, could be a ‘dog rose’?)
6″ square

#32 Oblique Stripe
This took me back to block #1 with all the counting at the end of each row to make sure I’d gone into all the right stitches, there was no redoing this time so things must have improved!
I have to admit that even I’m half closing my eyes and sucking my breath in when I look at the colour combination I chose, so don’t worry if you are too!
This is a big un – 6 1/4″ square

#33 Pretty in Pink
Not so much pink, but I do think this is pretty.
5 3/4″ square – in my CAL notebook I’ve written ‘not very (square) ish’!

I’m sticking to my CAl Resolution and darning the ends of the blocks before starting the next set each time. I couldn’t bear to leave it until the end. What a job that would be!

The weather is so overcast that I’ve been taking photos of the blocks on one of our back doorsteps each Friday morning. Flash photos inside make the colours look odd.

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*~*~*Which are your favourite blocks so far? *~*~*
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PS:: If you have an American copy of the 200 blocks book then check the interweave site for a correction to the pattern for #35 Tricolour Square

Week 10: CAL Blocks #28 #29 #30

Posted on November 9, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#28 Christmas Rose
6″ square – Hurray!
Easy enough to make, but when I got to round 7 the note at the end saying it should be 9 tr along each side of the sqaure threw me as it was hard to see this and mine looked like more petals. I undid the round and tried again to the same result; so I carried on with round 8 and it was fine. If you’re also finding this carry on, it all comes together although at the time you can’t see how it will end up being square.
#29 Bobble Stripe
I love, love, love this one! I’ve been rummaging in my stash cube this morning and have found a nice combination of colours of Stylecraft special DK so I can get busy making something with bobbles. It’s my favourite tip top block of CAL so far.

#30 Shell Lace
Super easy and satisfying to crochet as it grows so fast. Another 6″ square block! (I’m not sure about the bobbley one as I didn’t note a measurement down.)
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There are now 100 members in my Ravelry CAL group! The ironic thing is that although there are now many more members the threads are quieter than they’ve ever been…. tee hee. It doesn’t matter, the threads are there if people want to share an SOS moment or have a chat.

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I’ve had a trying couple of weeks as I’m not well and have been told to rest by the Doctor. I can crochet (hurrah!) read and watch TV but I have so much work to do that it’s really frustrating. I’ve also developed an (un?)healthy addiction to Loose Women and The Gilmore Girls. Uh-oh, but the plus side is I’m up on Rod Stewart’s new album, what all his children are up to, Sienna Miller’s controversial photo portrait, the goings on of Ken and Deidre, who is going into the jungle on Sunday and that Stars Hollow is now clear of rotten Easter eggs.

Anyone got the Gilmore Girls 7 series box-set I can borrow so I can watch from the beginning???? Please. PlEAsE… ;-)

I hope you’re well and getting on with whatever it is you have to do, as well as the other stuff that you enjoy. Have a good weekend!

Week 9: CAL Blocks #24 #25 #26 #27

Posted on November 2, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#24 Italian Cross

Baby cashmerino (being slightly thinner than dk) is just a bit too thin to show off this stitch, like I thought for the popcorn stitch it needs a bulkier wool to show it off. I probably should have pulled the chain a bit tighter as the top of the stitches look a bit loose. But it’s my first ever go at the puff stitch. Darning the ends will make it a bit less saggy looking in places.

In my CAL notebook I’ve written that the Harmony Guide to Crochet says ” A puff stitch is a cluster of half treble stitches (usually 3-5) worked in the same place to make a soft lump.” Ha! I’ve created soft lumps.

#25 Tannenbaumn

I used the new colour to finish off the last stitch in the background colour when starting the tree stitches each time, and swapped to the background colour to finish off the last stitch of the tree design. It seems to work.

I’m kicking myself that I didn’t think of using two balls of background colour instead of carrying all that yarn, but I wanted to avoid darning and didn’t think of the third way. D’oh!

At 5 3/4 ” square this is turning out to be the average size of my blocks.

#26 Snowflake

This, of course, needs blocking to straighten it out but it’s ok. I’m not a fan of very holey blocks but it’s good to try new stitches.

One of the rare blocks that is 6″ square

#27 Snowy Stripes

I think there’s a mistake in the notes for spike stitch at the top of the pattern. I checked the notes at the back of the book, then went to my trusty Harmony Guide to check too. Basically don’t go into the top of the next stitch after going below the next stitch, yo and pulling through, just yo again and draw through the stitch as you would a normal dc. I tried it the way the note said and the spikes were almost diagonal.

6 1/4 ” wide 5 1/4″ high. Oh!

Lots of darning too, would it work to carry yarn up the sides? What did you do?

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I’m definitely learning new skills and picking up tips from other people doing this CAL, it’s good learning new techniques. It’s made me want to move my knitting on and try something new (harder!) sometime.

Did you see what a commenter wrote on my last CAL post?

”…….I met Jan Eaton a couple of weeks ago and she said every block in the book is blocked and steamed to within an inch of its life!” I think this is regarding the different sized blocks (which is why I reckon the book is not called 200 Crochet Squares, there would be too much hassle from crocheters!)

Puff Stitch

Posted on October 29, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Argh!!!!!!!

I keep losing the working loop when pulling it through the 1000 loops on the hook. Bring back the bobble stitch I say…

Whose idea was this stupid CAL anyway?!

Week 8: CAL Blocks #21 #22 #23

Posted on October 26, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#21 ‘Blue Shades’
Garish shades actually, knowingly made bright and a bit clashing, but it’s an antidote to the grey roof outside. I like it actually, though wasn’t sure at the time of making.
This is an ingenious pattern; I assumed we’d be increasing from the bottom up and out, like other corner squares, but it’s decreasing top down. I say ‘square’ but this is going to take some blocking to achieve that!

#22 St Petersburg
I’ve read on a Ravelry forum that front post crochet can often pull the work inwards, this was a relief to read. This is my first time doing front and back post crochet and it’s quite fun. I like the warmth of the block as this technique makes a thicker fabric than other stitches.
The colour combo in the book is not the best in my opinion as it makes it look like the maker used a variegated yarn and the stitches and texture don’t show up very well, completely different colours ie: red and green and a charcoal grey might have been more effective?
I’ve added an extra round of dcs to bring it up to a 6″ square – well it is when it’s pinned out. This is the first time I’ve added another round to a block and think it’s a nice band of border.

#23 Bars and Diamonds
Not a nice one to make. Horrid! I hated crocheting trebles into the side of another; it was fiddly and annoying. I did enjoy listening to the last part of this audio book during the process, it’s superbly read by the author and made me laugh and cry. (Trying not to sob over the death of a horse when in the smart business class section on the flight home from Lisbon was not a good look.) I like the look of the pattern but will avoid repeating this technique numerous times in one design in the future!

Terrible photos I know, all taken at the same space of time but the light is so variable (poor mainly!) that the table looks different in every shot!
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I think we’ve lost some block makers on the CAL now, or at least they’ve completely disappeared out of view since the first few blocks. It is a bit of a big project and easy to get behind on, that’s not a problem as anyone can join or rejoin whenever they’re ready. I’m enjoying it still but the thought that at 2-3 blocks a week it will be going on till June is a bit daunting!

How are you getting on?

If not crocheting along with us what are you up to at the moment?

Another vintage haul

Posted on October 25, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’m back! Isn’t it grey here? We’ve been wearing t-shirts and sandals, drinking wine/beer and eating freshly caught grilled sardines/sea bream/bass with salad and new potatoes outside in sun-filled squares in Lisbon. It feels like I’ve been dropped straight back into a wad of cold grey cotton wool.

But I’ve had another great haul of crochet magazines (with a few cross stitch and embroidery mags thrown in for good measure) sent to me by a friend whose Mum is still having a major sort out. There are some classic pictures that I just have to show you.

I think this might be past it’s best as there’s a very solid little lump in the packet where there should be granules, but it’s good to know you can get shampoo for needlework

This could be a nice throw or shawl in modern colour(s) and yarn, what do you think?

Well, look at that…

“Hey babe…come back to my place and see my crochet”
Notice anything particularly wrong with the photo? (Apart from all of it.)

This is not my lighting making shiny reflections on the photo, this is what it looks like! Do we think the peppers are real or plastic?

And another! You never see these as a setting for crochet now, to give scale or as decoration.

It’s just occurred to me that I should do some Googling to see if Crochet Monthly still exists.

How are you? What are your days like at the moment?

Week 7: CAL Blocks #19 #20

Posted on October 18, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#19 Lacy Cross
I counted each corner section at the end of a round because I’d missed out a stitch on one and had a hanging hook with nothing to crochet into for the following round! So, I wrote this stitch count for the corners as the pattern increases by 4st each time:
R2:3tr
R3:7tr
R4:11tr
R5:15tr
R6:19tr

This is a really pretty square and I can imagine a whole lightweight throw made of them.

#20 Colourful Bobbles
Oh well, this picture says it all….42 ends to darn is a wasteful shame of such lovely posh wool, plus it’s a real pain and takes any enjoyment out of making the block away. As the organiser of the CAL I feel I have to do the blocks as they are, but did laugh at one CALer’s thinking (see athlyn’s photo on this Ravelry thread.)

I used the finish-the-last-stitch-with-the-new-colour method which usually works well, but in this block you can see a spot of colour to the left of each bobble.

I’m glad I wasn’t trying to replicate Jan Eaton’s exact colours as her a,b,c method doesn’t work so well when you’re a leftie. Basically if you look at the bottom right bobble that was my first as I work from L-R on the FR, turn and the bottom right bobble ends up being the first. If you’re a rightie and are furrowing your brow; don’t worry, it’s ok. I can say confidently that I’ll never make this again!

As anticipated the round block is smaller than the rows one. That’s fine I’m not worrying till it’s time to decide how to use them all. I had a message from someone who had given up the CAL after the first two blocks; when she realised they were all going to be different sizes. Oh dear.

I’m off to a (fingers crossed) sunny place today so will crochet #21 when I’m back next week. I’m going cold turkey – NO CROCHET! A knitting fiction book that I’m halfway through will be my sort-of substitute. I need a bit of a crochet holiday after completing those blankets and that bobble block!
I haven’t read the crochet mystery yet. I need brainless, easy reading at the moment as I plod on with academic reading and writing for my research dissertation. (Don’t ask.)

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How are you finding this crochet along? Is it still fun and enjoyable, or feeling like homework yet? Any blocks you’re dreading making?

Have a good end of the week and relaxing weekend :-D

Rhubarb Ripple blanket

Posted on October 16, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

It’s finished! Two blankets finished in a week feels very good.

To edge or not to edge? It just looked raw as it was, the edges appear very uneven in the photo but it’s just that I didn’t straighten it out on the carpet very well.

In the end after a fair bit of thought, and Googling others’ finished ripples, I decided that less is more. I really like the rippled top and bottom edges so just crocheted 3 rows of dc along the sides.

As everyone does, here are lots and lots of photos. I did try for a whole blanket shot but it’s so tricky and the light was bad in the bedrooms. If Summertime I could have laid it on the grass and stood on a step-ladder, but it would probably have flown away today! The thing to do is get your tape measure out, squint at the photos and visualise the finished blanket. :-)

Pattern: Attic 24

Measurements: 125cm x 180cm

Weight of finished blanket: 1.236g

80 stripes: 2 rows = 1 stripe

Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK

Hook: 4mm

10 colours:

1188 Lavender

1084 Magenta

1065 Meadow

1241 Fondant

1083 Pomegranate

1390 Clematis

1061 Plum

1432 Wisteria

1019 Cloud Blue

1003 Aster

I’ve now crocheted 4 complete blankets, with a 5th in progress at the moment. The Rhubarb Ripple is my favourite which is funny as I just grabbed a few colours out of my pack of Stylecraft to try the ripple stitch for the first time. I liked it so much I just carried on and it evolved into a blanket!

It’s Blog Law that you photograph blankets you’ve made folded up together, so here you are:

Besides the blocks

Posted on October 14, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’m busy crocheting a stripe or two at a sitting in the evenings on Rainbow Granny Stripe blanket #2 at the moment for Sunflower-head’s 6th birthday in December.

The first Rainbow Granny Stripe has been on red spotty sunflower-head’s bed, along with the Blooming Flower cushion, since they were given to her for her 4th birthday at the end of August.

I had a really sweet surprise parcel in the post yesterday, from New Hampshire in the USA. It was my first crochet murder mystery (!) and lots of bookmarks, labels, crochet and knitting patterns. Nice post is always, always, wecome!

::No sunflowers were exactly harmed in the making of this blog post, although sawn off, the heads are being carefully dried and the seeds kept for next summer.

WAtchThiS spACE foR aNOthER FINisheD BLANkeT soON!

Week 6: CAL Blocks #16 #17 #18

Posted on October 12, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Week 6 already!

#16 Waterlily
I have to say that the entire pattern for the Blooming Flower cushion is better than the one for this single block. It just makes sense with Lucy’s adaption of an old pot-holder pattern.

I chained 6 for the foundation row, not 8 as specified because the resulting hole was too big on my first try.

Row 5: I chained 6 not 7 and that may be why the petals are slightly frilly. I quite like the look, but I might do another version of this block sometime.

#17 Alternate Bobbles
The other bobble blocks were curly too and needed pinning for the CAL photographs. I will try blocking for the first time soon. This morning I grabbed what was to hand!

Another one of the blocks which has turned out to be 6″ square – always pleasing!

#18 Traditional Granny

Can you tell I grabbed a small corner of sunshine this morning?!

Paintbox blanket

Posted on October 11, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

It’s finished!

99 squares single crocheted together (right sides together so little ridges on the back of the blanket) with a few alternating rows of trebles and doubles for edging. I could’ve gone on going around and around for a long time but it felt time to stop!

Choosing where to put each colour was quite a fun process and involved me crawling around the floor moving squares while S called out “move that yellow one left…. NO…to the right of the purple one I mean…now put the purple at the top….and the orange needs to go down a row…” We then looked at it for a day or so until it really was getting difficult to move around it without the risk of spilling coffee (the horror!) I decided it was ok, took a photo on my iPhone and then used that as a reference when I crocheted the squares together.

9 x 11 squares
Blanket measures: 110cm x 140cm ish
Weighs: 900g
Yarn: Stylecraft Special DK
Hook: 4mm

This is a surprisingly heavy weight and cosy blanket when you’re snuggled underneath it.

The light’s not so good at the moment as we have very grey skies and rainy weather so sorry about the darkish photos!

The back….

The End

Posted on October 8, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

A hot water bottle cover for Vikki, as requested.

Saturday morning: Bake 2 Devil’s Food cakes

Saturday afternoon: Darn the ends in (lots of them!) and crochet the two HWBC pieces together. Find buttons. Arghh! I have mainly white, black and navy from old shirts etc. Nothing funky or bright. Use little transparent flower shaped Mollie Makes giveaway buttons. Write ‘buttons’ on my Christmas wishlist.

Saturday evening: Drop off the cover (plus the hot water bottle I’d borrowed from Vikki last weekend, so it fit perfectly) at the stage door of a West End Theatre in London making my best ‘It’s a VERY cool thing in a jiffy bag actually’ face. Three minutes later get a call from V saying thank you, she loves it. Phew! Very bright stripes may not be for everyone so I’m relieved.

Run to the tube with S. to meet friends and go to the Hammersmith Apollo for a charity comedy gig for tigers with ZSL .

That was a very good day. :-D

Posted on Facebook this morning with the caption “So, Rachel crocheted me this yummy water bottle cover, and it was immediately stolen by the cat. Predictable.”

If you want to check out V’s blog I recommend it. It’s a mix of writing and craft. Not the usual ‘everyone’s making X and so I am too’ stuff, most are unique creations. It’s cool. Very cool. Well, what do you expect from someone who works on one of the hottest London shows doing pyrotechnics and stuff?

The Middle

Posted on October 6, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Week 5: CAL Blocks #11 #13 #14 #15

Posted on October 5, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#11 Baby Blocks front

#11 Baby Blocks back

It irritated me seeing the strand of light green that I haven’t worked in properly but I made myself not unravel what I’d done. I found this block not tricky as in making my head swirl with complex instructions, but because of changing the yarn over so frequently. (I finished off the fourth stitch in the other colour shade ready for the following block.) When I crocheted the #169 Interlocking Squares block you snip and start a fresh colour each time which is much more relaxing. Give me more darning, than swapping colours every few stitches, anytime!

#13 Circle in a Square

This is one of my favourite block designs so far, along with #4 Bobble Diamond and #7 Corner Granny which were both crocheted during week 2 of the CAL.

I used the magic ring method for this block instead of the chain and not chain stitches as the pattern called for, and I think it’s probably a much tighter centre circle. I was really careful to darn in the end firmly as MCs may not be so secure as starting with a slip stitched chain.

#14 Alhambra

I started this with a magic ring too.

Is there a typo in this pattern? I tried the instructions for round 6 where it says to do 2 tr into the next 2 tr but it doesn’t look like there are 4 stitches in the block photo in the book and it looked a little top heavy, so I just did 1 tr in each of the next 2 tr and it looks right to me.

#15 Corner square

I do like these corner blocks, but if my blocks are going to become one or two blankets some are going to have to be part of the main body as I’ll have too many.

This square is very easy and quick to make, though the blocking might take a while. I’m putting that part off till….next year?!

Five weeks worth of blocks! This is a good pile already.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the last few weeks I’ve had enquiries from new readers here, or members of Ravelry, about joining this 200 Blocks CAL (crochet along) which is great. There are now 92 members signed up to the Ravelry CAL group and other block makers who are following along through this blog. I reckon there are over 100 people crocheting along with us. :-) If you want to join in then please do! I keep saying the more, the merrier.

You can start from the beginning with block #1 and send me a link to your blog which I’ll include in the CAL blog list or just comment here and let us know you’re coming along too. Alternatively start week 6 which begins tomorrow, the next set of blocks are #16 #17 and #18 (if you have time and choose to make 2-3 blocks in a week.)

NB: The Interweave site has a list of corrections for some of the block patterns #16 #35 #47 #48 #58 #79 #100 and a correction to the technique instructions for working in rounds on p.120. I think this is just for the USA publication. My book is the UK edition published in 2004 by David and Charles.

Happy crocheting!

The owl & the pussycat

Posted on October 2, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Owl #3 for Emily. Here are #1 #2 and they all look unique in their own way I see! I must crochet more owls as they can be made into really sweet magnets as well as sewn onto bags etc.

And a cross-stitched tortoiseshell cat for Gill which I put into a keyring case. It’s teeny really, only about 1″ x 2″. This little pressie is for a cat-obsessed friend who generously gives up her Saturdays to raise money for a cat charity. She has about a dozen of her own who share her and her Mr’s bed! She also talks about them as her ‘babies.’ You get the picture. At least I’ll never be stuck for a theme for presents!
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Have you created any handmade gifts lately?

Week 4: CAL Blocks #10 #12

Posted on October 1, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#10 Openwork Square
It’s vital to check there are 33 dc at the end of your foundation row and I also found counting at the end of each row 2 a good check to make sure you aren’t missing/adding a stitch. Wibbly wobbly patterns like this are easy in lots of senses – they grow fast and aren’t tricky to do – but they can funnel out or in if you’re not careful.
I wasn’t sure about this after I’d crocheted it, S thought it “looks particularly 70’s crochet” and I reckoned it was a bit string bag. After a weekend away and looking at it with fresh eyes I think it might work well as a scarf design, if you turn it on its side and squint a bit.

#11 Baby Blocks
I stopped halfway and spotted a few places where I hadn’t crocheted the yarn in properly and so decided to unravel this block. I’ve just been away for a fab long weekend with a group of friends in the oldest recorded city in Britain (guess before you click?) and so I’ll do another version this week.

#12 Fine Lines
I really like this! It’s also one of the few perfectly 6″ square blocks so far.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are now a month into the Crochet Along! It’s incredible how fast time has flown.

How are you getting on? Is 2-3 blocks a week feeling do-able?

The Beginning

Posted on September 24, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Questions I’m pondering

What bright and cheerful yarn have I got stashed away?
Which colours would make nice stripes?
Can I make this surprise thingymabob for a friend in a few ~~days~~ weeks?

Guess?

Posted on September 23, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I made the stitch exactly as before apart from a chain after each popcorn as advised by a You Tube vid (why are these mostly American women who shout?!)

The other tiny, but effective, change was to start with a magic ring as advised by Lynne on my Grrrr post yesterday. If a published crochet and knitting designer gives you advice you’d be a fool to ignore it heh?

I have satisfying pile of blocks, growing at a steady rate. I’m going to tackle another now. How are you getting on?

If you’re not crocheting along what are you making this (rainy) Sunday?

#8 Popcorn Flower GRRRRRR

Posted on September 22, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Yesterday after my last post I had an email from someone saying they didn’t like to comment publicly, but did my popcorns look a bit odd??
After affectionately calling her a nasty biatch or similar, to which S said “it’s only crochet”, I had another closer look at the block this morning.
Apart from the centre looking square rather than drawn into a circle the popcorns are a bit flat somehow, maybe just not pulled quite tight enough on the finish?

Have another look too and see what you think?

I also realised that I’ve obviously missed out a row because there aren’t enough holes. I’ve only done three – if you look from the middle outwards -rather than the block in the book which has four.

Yes it is ‘only crochet’ but the point of working my way through Jan Eaton’s 200 Crochet Block book was to learn new skills, techniques and become better, not perfect but improved.

So now you see it, now you don’t…

I’ll be back with a third time lucky #8 shortly. Grrrrr.

;-)

Week 3: CAL Blocks #7 #8 #9

Posted on September 21, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#7 Corner Granny
I like this pattern so much I made two! It’s my favourite so far in fact. I might have to try blocking for the first time so these are at their future best.

#8 Popcorn Flower
Not my favourite so far. Fiddly stitch and not that impressive for the yarn that goes into making these popcorns. Is it just plain wrong to say that getting the popcorns ready for photographing felt like XXXXXXXXXXXXXX (completely inappropriate for a crochet blog so have censored myself, but it did.)
I dislike the mid row joins too. This is not going to be a pattern which is doubled, eh?

#9 Arcadia
(Introducing my new colour – yellow.) Easily made but I’m not so keen on very holey patterns though the colours are pretty. It needs block-blockety-blocking of course.

Really looking forward to #12 Fine Lines next week, it’s pretty and has an easy rating in the book.

Come and join me on the CAL (crochet along) it’s not too late, and it’s fun but not too demanding crocheting 2-3 blocks a week :-)

Truly Vintage Crochet Patterns

Posted on September 20, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’ve just had a surprise parcel delivered, it’s incredible and I wanted to share my haul with you.
A friend who sent me sewing magazines, patterns and books recently has now sent me a whole bundle of crochet patterns. She’s having a major clear-out before decorating and has been giving piles of these away, I think they belonged to her Mother.

The term vintage is currently used so often that it’s becoming an almost meaningless term. Dictionary.com offers these definitions:

vin·tage

[vin-tij] Show noun, adjective, verb, vin·taged, vin·tag·ing.

noun

1.the wine from a particular harvest or crop

2.the annual produce of the grape harvest, especially with reference to the wine obtained

3.an exceptionally fine wine from the crop of a good year

4.the time of gathering grapes, or of winemaking

5.the act or process of producing wine; winemaking

adjective

6.the class of a dated object with reference to era of production or use: a hat of last year’s vintage

7.of or pertaining to wines or winemaking

8.being of a specified vintage: Vintage wines are usually more expensive than nonvintage wines

9.representing the high quality of a past time: vintage cars; vintage movies

10.old-fashioned or obsolete: vintage jokes

11.being the best of its kind: They praised the play as vintage O’Neill.

Origin:

1400–50; late Middle English (noun) < Anglo-French, equivalent to vint ( er ) vintner + -age -age; replacing Middle English vindage, vendage < Anglo-French; Old French vendange < Latin vīndēmia grape-gathering, equivalent to vīn ( um ) grape, wine + -dēmia a taking away ( dēm ( ere ) to take from ( see redeem) + -ia -y³)

Related forms

non·vin·tage, adjective, noun

un·vin·taged, adjective

In my surprise haul I believe I truly have a collection of vintage crochet patterns, but you can see a few of them and judge for yourself. This only a selection, including a few adverts I thought might make you smile:

Fishy popcorn

Posted on September 19, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Rainbow trout

Aren’t they beauties? We’ll be eating part of one (they’re big beauties) tonight – new potatoes, trout and salad here we come!

S has had such a good year for fly fishing that I suspect family and friends are beginning to smile with decidedly fixed ‘oh-my-goodness-here-they-come-with-more-bloody-fish’ expressions when we visit. There are several in the freezer now, so if you fancy one let me know ;-)

Practice block in Stylecraft Special DK, 3.5 mm hook.

Ok so Popcorns are not tricky exactly, just a little fiddly, but I’m just not a fan at this point. They don’t look very special to me, but I do love a good bobble stitch I’ve decided!

What are you making at the moment?

More importantly: what are you having for dinner?

Week 2: CAL Blocks #4 #5 #6 #169(!)

Posted on September 15, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

#4 Bobble Diamond
I’m pleased that I found bobbles so easy after my concern that I’d struggle. They are a piece of cake! As I said before; I checked The Harmony Guide and did a chain after each bobble to secure them.

So easy in fact that I made another! (They curl a bit at the top right and bottom left corners so I pinned them to the carpet to photograph. Anyone else have curly bobble diamond blocks?!

#5 Twin Stripes
It’s crucial to get the very end stitches of the foundation row right otherwise row 1 is completely off-kilter!

#6 Textured Bluebells
I like this one a lot, I think the DBBC colour fits the name and pattern perfectly.

And uh-hum *cough cough*

#169 Interlocking Stripes
I just wanted to see how my Debbie Bliss colours, well 8/9 of them anyway, look together. I decided there’s something missing and bought number 10 yesterday. All will be revealed soon!

A word for the future – this is a ‘darn heavy’ block (whichever method you prefer, mine’s sewing at the end of the block.)

Have you noticed that I’ve stuck to my CAL Resolution? So far so good anyway…..

I’m going for a little wander round blogland now to see how others are getting on, there are also some fab pictures on Ravelry and more being being added to the group’s projects page all the time.

This is fun! Week 3 here we come. :-D

I’m bobbling!!!!

Posted on September 8, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

My first attempt at the dreaded bobble stitch. They’re easy!

The tops of my stitches lie the other way to those pictured in Jan Eaton’s 200 block book I note. I think that’s because I’m left-handed so crochet in the opposite direction (left-right along a row) if you know what I mean?!

The Harmony Guide to Crochet Stitches advises that with bulkier bobble clusters it’s a good idea to work an extra chain stitch to close them firmly, so I have.

How are you getting on with this block?

PS: S said “You could crochet a snooker table”…I don’t think my eyes can possibly roll any more vigorously than they did.

Crochet OFSTED?

Posted on September 5, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’ve undone and re-crocheted block #1 (of the Stylecraft practice set) because I had a message yesterday saying that the reason it was smaller in size than the babycashmerino block was it had 12 rows in the first half, as opposed to -the correct- 13. Oops! Once I know there’s a mistake or something wrong, it will bug and bug me until I have to do something about it.

The funny thing is that the new and improved block is the same size as the version before, and still the same (smaller!) compared to the other DBBC block. I think it’s due to the fact that although the yarns are both DK one is definitely thinner and more wiggly than the other, plus I’m using a 4mm hook with the babycashmerino, versus a 3.5 mm hook for the acrylic. I’m honestly not at all worried about the differing sizes and I wouldn’t mix the two types of blocks anyway; it would be like using margarine and butter in the same sandwich. ;-)

Oh well, maybe I will get a ‘satisfactory’ rating from The School of Crochet OFSTED team but I don’t care. This is a fun project to practise and improve my skills, while learning new techniques.

Sorry for writing the most boring blog post ever! Xx

Week 1: CAL Blocks #1 #2 #3

Posted on September 3, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I was really keen to start crocheting something new, so I crocheted the first 3 blocks last week. I was feeling a little apprehensive about how long they would take me to accomplish, since I am probably only at an intermediate crochet level at this stage. Will I understand the patterns? Will I master bobble stitch (block #4 uh-oh) spike stitches and the dreaded popcorn which always makes me nervous for some reason, although I’ve never actually tried making one. They’re probably a cinch? I’m also between projects because I’m meant to be darning in all those pesky ends of the Rhubarb Ripple and the Target Squares blankets, but my fingers get itchy if I don’t do any crochet for a day or so.

CAL Resolution: I’m going to darn in every single end when I’ve finished a block before I begin another. Darning is fine, but not 1000 ends at once which holds up the exciting final stage of joining or edging.

Have you made any CAL resolutions? Go on, spill if you have – I’m so nosy.

Here goes then….

#1 Triangle Stripes

#2 Tiny Textures

#3 Square Target

It was all going so well with #1 until the decreasing rows

If the paper can stay this is fine!

Redo – carefully! Counting is the answer.

Stylecraft special DK (SSDK) 6″ square-ish!

Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino (DBBC) Bliss indeed! My first posh wool, it’s so soft to work with and the stitch definition is amazing. Compare block #2 SSDK & DBBC
This is 6.5″ square using a 4mm hook

Oh fudge! I thought this was a perfect first attempt. The needle highlights where the error began

Second try. Ohhh! Spot what I’ve done? (Ignore the tape measure) I added an extra row for this block to try to square it up, then decided to stick with the written pattern for the next attempt (I swear there is one more row in the pictured block in the book…)

HURRAY! Third time lucky
SSDK 3.5mm hook 5.5″ square

Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino: 4mm hook 5.5″ high & 5.7″ wide
This is my patch of marigolds

SSDK 5.5″ square

The outer pink is darker than shown – photo taken under the apple tree so the sunlight was dappled

Pleased and a bit proud of myself, mistakes and all it’s been good fun

The plan so far:
>I’m going to carry on using the two hook sizes for the two yarns.
>I’m not going to stress about the differing sizes as there’s blocking, which I’ve never tried but is meant to work like magic, also some clever soul suggested using the larger blocks for one project, the smaller ones for another.
>I’m just going to enjoy the challenge of crocheting the blocks and decide what to make out of them later.

:-D

PS:: I’ve found out a mug of earl grey tea on a lap-top does not reach a happy conclusion. Just to let you know in case you’re breezily sitting with your drink right there…. DON’T!

CAL photos

Posted on September 1, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Hello :-)

I’m aware that my CAL block makers (Rachell and the block-heads?!) are spread online: through the blogging world, Ravelry, Twitter, Flickr and some are email followers, so I thought I might do a little poll to see where the majority of you are going to show off your finished blocks. I’ve been dying to find another excuse to host a poll. I don’t know why, but I love them!

Now only vote if you’re doing the CAL with us please, don’t be norty ;-)

Naughty wool shopping

Posted on August 28, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Tuesday: I’m a terrible shopper, a classic browser who can spend hours in shops looking, touching and picking things up, even restacking and neatening displays, but I’m not actually any good at buying most of the time. Often when I go clothes shoppping I return home with multi-packs of socks. At least now they’re stripey or spotty colourful socks; not the terminal black packs I always, always bought during my non-craft decade.

This afternoon I deliberately left my yarn shopping at Mason’s till the last ten minutes before the shop closed so I would be forced to make a decision under serious time pressure. Well technically it was that, and leaving home late due to the fact that I wanted to finish last month’s Mollie Makes in the bath before moving on to the new issue. The first of my year’s birthday subscription plopped onto the doormat this morning. Ya-hoo! I know I’m very easily pleased: Mollie Makes, a hook and some socks and I’m happy.

There is a LOT more wool/yarn than this, plus fabrics and haberdashery (and two more shops in the town) but I still take very surreptitious photos in shops. It is a tad embarrassing but I thought some of you might want to see what the shop looks like since I know they send international orders.

So what I’m leading up to is that I’ve bought yarn. Better than that I’ve bought wool, proper grown up sophisticated posh wool, Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino. If it’s good enough for the Queen of Crochet Blogs (you know….) then it’s more than good enough for me. I’ve really only ever crocheted with 100% acrylic. I am a fan of the Stylecraft Special DK but seriously wanted to try something different.

It is pricey but it’s gorgeous. I adore the range of colours. I want to put it on my face and leave it there it’s so soft. I also think it’s going to produce a nice sized block for my CAL though unlike serious, sensible crocheters I haven’t been swatching. My approach is to crochet and accept whatever block appears. I’m definitely not working out yarn quantities ahead either, yikes that could end up being scary given I’ve spent lots of pennies. “Look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves” I’m choosing to think about the pennies and not the pounds in this case.

I’ve chosen a starter range of colours for my initial blocks that are inspired by my memories of our cottage garden style flower beds which were in my childhood garden here in England. I remember red-hot pokers, lupins and delphiniams, plus marigolds, little flowers called pinks, moon-daisies and iris and….

I might add some light pink and maybe a splash of yellow, but I know that I want oranges, purples, some deep dark and bright colours. So that’s everything I suppose, but no neutrals.

I’ve started putting a Cottage Garden board together on Pinterest if you need any pretty pictures to look at for inspiration. It’s a work in progress as I’m still finding my way round the site.

Thursday: I could say I’ve done a swatch, deciding to make a sample and be a sensible crocheter, or I could say I couldn’t wait and I crocheted the first two blocks. (More about that later.) Either way I’ve made a decision about the yarn I’m going to use….

…Any ideas for what I can make with softer than clouds DB baby cashmerino?

DoNT sAy a BlaNKet!!!

New crochet books

Posted on August 24, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

My books have arrived! I won them in a blog giveaway by Erin Bassett

I never usually win when I enter prize draws, raffles or lotteries but I’ve received two prizes in a week! Woo hoo!

It was hard trying to pick my favourite patterns to show you but I narrowed it down to the sunflower from the crochet flowers book, and the log cabin block (love this!) and paisley motif from the Vogue crochet stitchionary.

What is immediately impressive about both books is that they have written and diagram patterns; so although the stitches are in USA crochet terms they are easy to use whatever you are used to. Plus it should get me used to the symbols as well. I still have my Japanese and Chinese crochet books to play with at some point.

I’ll be back on Tuesday with the results of the CAL theme vote (still getting votes every day!) and a link you can put on your blog if I sort out the technology.

Happy (bank holiday) weekend everyone!

Safron’s flowers

Posted on August 22, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

My friend Safron’s favourite colour is green, and when I offered to crochet her something she asked for flowers in different shades of green that she could play with; to make into brooches etc.

I turned to my crochet magazine archive for pattern inspiration, and also made up another few simple flowers…

I’m looking forward to seeing what Safron makes with her flowers.

(Did you spot the one that looks like a cauliflower?!)

In other news: Guess what?

Prachi’s bag has arrived and she was delighted with it!

“Let me start with a big big HUG and THANK YOU for the lovely, lovely bag you made for me…it’s so beautiful, and already the envy of my colleagues! My apologies that you had to wait for so long and get worried about it not turning up…I guess it did take a while to reach, but due to some last-moment work plans I too have been out of the area for about 10 days now……Been very swamped with work lately, so this present has not only made my day but my week and month! It’ll hold my everyday items nicely and will be ideal for walks around town…love that I can knot up the strap and adjust it according to my need, very funky touch that is…and the colours are gorgeous…Rachel, you’re one talented lady, and prompt and super-thoughtful on top of that :) :) :).”

*Blush*

SOoOo glad it finally got to Prachi and most importantly that she liked it. :-D

Little star

Posted on August 20, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Having a little play with a pattern in Mollie Makes magazine, issue seventeen. It’s from Cute and Easy Crocheted Baby Clothes by Nicki Trench, though I sense possibilities for the huge festival beginning with C (or X for some!)

Rippling closer to the end

Posted on August 15, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’m doing a row or a two now and then, and am getting near to the end of the Rhubarb Ripple!

DoNT MenTIoN tHe eNDs!!!!!

200 Blocks Crochet Along with Rachell

Posted on August 14, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Introduction to my CAL:

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned starting a CAL – a crochet along – as I’ve owned this

superb book: 200 Crochet Blocks for blankets, throws and afghans by Jan Eaton for a while now but haven’t used it apart from referencing stitches and techniques. (See here if you’re interested.) I asked if anyone would be interested in making 2-3 squares a week and had an enthusiastic response.

Which block will we begin with?:

We will start from block number one and take them as they come in order (2-3 blocks a week) otherwise I just know I’ll choose all the easy ones first. The CAL would become a bit of a trial, I’d stop and I’d have to leave the blogging country!

You’ll need to get hold of a copy of the book:

If you have decided you want to join this CAL you’ll need to get hold of a copy of the book, since I can’t post patterns here as I would be infringing copyright.

This is a popular book that many crochet fans already own, and it should be easy to get hold of a copy. I have a link to it on Amazon on my sidebar to the right under ‘Books!’ If you are trying not to buy anymore books at moment you could try looking in your local library for a copy.

Themes for the CAL:

Patch suggested having a colour theme for the CAL such as:

Sea and Sand

Moonlight and Stars

Autumn Leaves.

I loved it!

I’ve added a few ideas of my own too:

Cottage Garden

Summer Fruits

If the theme fits with my yarn collection I’m initially going to use that up, but we’ll see. ~~I’m hovering between themes and so am going to vote last, because I can!~~ I’ve made myself choose a theme because I could dither for days otherwise!

So do we all need to use the same colours and type of yarn?:

NO! :-)

Once the broad theme is decided we would use our own choice of yarn, shades, colours and hook size, then compare notes as we go. It will make the CAL much more interesting especially at the end; seeing everyone’s choices.

Voting for a theme:

If you want to join us please vote on one of the following themes, via my contact me form on the ‘Hello’ page above by Tuesday 28th August

Here they are:

Sea and Sand

Moonlight and Stars

Autumn Leaves

Summer Fruits

A Cottage Garden

Sharing our progress:

I will post links to your blog as well as photos of my completed squares as we go on a weekly basis, ideally at the beginning of the following week.

Announcing the winning theme:

I’ll announce the winning theme on Tuesday 28th August here in a new blog post, then we can get our yarn together and fingers flexed ready to start the CAL.

When will the CAL start?:

From the 1st of September onwards

I’ve only just seen this post, can I still join?:

YES! At any time, the more the merrier.

:-D

It’s going to be fun!

It’s happened again???

Posted on August 3, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’ve been merrily crocheting the edges of each coloured alternative granny target square in cream, in groups of 5 at a time. I’ve completed the last today and now have 100. Hurray! Gold medal in crochet for Team GB please :-D

But how can it have happened that I now have 100 squares worth of ends to darn? Oh how can this have happened again??? I thought I’d learnt back in May that to darn as you go is the very best thing….

Sorry Brits, I think I might have put us out of the medal category. Boo!

A bit of crochet, a bit of baking

Posted on July 23, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

We’ve been having lovely weather here in the south of England after what was weeks and weeks and weeks of rain. There’s a bit of a festive looking forward to the Olympic opening ceremony vibe in the air at the moment too.

I had a request to crochet another dishcloth since the one I made in January has now come to the end of its useful life. So, I sat in the garden and whipped up a new one with my stash of dishcloth string. This time it’s rows of alternating doubles and trebles for extra strength and scrubability (new word invented?)

I’ve been making banana bread too….

….Nearly ate the first slice before remembering to take a piccy! Ooops.

Banana bread

300g ripe bananas, 15ml lemon juice, 125g shelled chopped walnuts, 75g unsalted butter, 175g dark soft brown sugar, 50ml walnut oil (I don’t have any so used olive oil) 1tsp mixed spice, 3 medium eggs (I used 2 large since it’s what I had) 325g wholemeal bread flour, 1.5 tsp bicarbonate of soda, demerara sugar

Line a 2lb loaf tin with non-stick paper, heat oven to 180 oc (160 fan assisted) 350 of / Gas mark 4.

Peel the bananas and mash with the lemon juice until smooth. Stir in the walnuts and leave to one side.

Gently melt the butter in a pan, tip into a mixing bowl with the sugar, oil and spice. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, until everything is evenly combined.

Sift the flour and bicarb into a bowl, adding the bran caught in the sieve to the flour in the bowl. Beat half the flour into the egg mixture, fold in the banana and walnut mixture, then fold in the remaining flour gently.

Spoon into the loaf tin and smooth the top. Sprinkle some demerara over the top and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Dan Lepard recipe: taken from The Guardian…oh ages ago.

This is substancial but surprisingly light in texture.

Happy days

Posted on July 19, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Ooooh a lovely day today; flowers and thank you cards from school as its the end of the academic year tomorrow, and one of my lottery winnings (£10!) gift to myself has arrived.
It is good to give, but even better to receive!
It’s been one of those super weeks in all kinds of ways. Hope it has been a satisfying one for you too.
Have a good Friday and a lovely weekend. I’m off ooop north ish to catch up with friends and check out the shops.

Colourful

Posted on July 17, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

A work in progress which I laid out last night to decide the number of squares left to crochet, so please don’t judge me by the number of yellows clumped together! They were edged while I watched tv. The answer to the how many more question is probably LOTS since there’s no one who needs a baby blanket at the moment.
I don’t really need another blanket myself with the Yorkshire blanket, which I already snuggle under, and the Rhubarb Ripple which I’m taking away to finish in August (19 stripes left! Woo hoo!) So don’t really know what to do with the alternative granny square/target square one when it’s completed…..

And I’ve photographed fly fishing flies; some home-made, some new which have just arrived by post because I like looking at the intricate workmanship of them, plus it’s a celebration since I’m enjoying having trout for dinner. I always think you could make some pretty earrings out of the more feathery colourful flies!

Sorry that the above photo is a bit fuzzy, the iphone only takes good indoor pictures when the light is very bright I think.

Practice

Posted on July 8, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I wanted to crochet something quick and bright using the recent Let’s Get Crafting Knitting & Crochet yarn the other evening, so I dug out an older edition and made this bag. This was the -almost- finished version with two identical sides double crocheted together. (I obviously also did another row compared to the pattern.)

It was good to practise because all the the stitches are double trebles, which I haven’t really used since making the chunky seashell scarf, and a few for the garland (which I’m told is now hanging in baby Alice May’s bedroom along with one of the crocheted birds, see 14th January post – sorry but the linking thingy here is not working today.)

It was fun to use the bright colours and practise ‘that’ stitch again, which incidentally is dead easy, but I baulked at actually crocheting a handle and making it up. Recently I’ve been thinking about what to do with what I make much more. I started the 100 ch then frogged it. The ‘bag’ is now a bunch of small balls of brightly coloured yarn on the bed in here; The Little Room.

I told you it was practise. ;-p

EDT: I realise that my widgets have slipped – oh the horror! – but I’m waiting for WordPress Support to get back to me on the issue. I think I have gremlins!

A Winning Sunday

Posted on July 1, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

There’s nothing like going out for lunch on a Sunday, admittedly I went out for lunch on Saturday too with a group of friends, but Sunday is different somehow. It just feels more relaxed, there aren’t hordes of people rushing around, the pace is leisurely and well, frankly rather lovely.

I haven’t had Peroni for ages and doubt I’ve ever had an egg on a pizza! It was all good and if you’re Oxford way I’d recommend this pizzeria for a spot of lunch.

~~~~~~~

This morning I had an alert saying ‘We have news about your lottery ticket’ and in the time it took to log on to The National Lottery website I’d gone from buying a Penthouse by the Thames in London, to an apartment in New York and one in Sydney. My whole life had changed, in my imagination, and I was about to tell S to leave the shopping and just come home now!

It wasn’t quite a life changing amount (£10) in the event, but I have ordered another crochet book. Woo hoo! It’s one I browsed in the library a few weeks ago. It had the most appealing patterns and the colours are well thought out.

I’m excitedly looking forward to owning my own copy.

I’m not allowing myself to start any big new projects as the Rhubarb Ripple and other items are well in progress still. (You know the ones: the Alternative Granny Squares and, probably, the Spring Flower Squares. I say probably to the last because I’m having an iffy doubting feeling about those at the mo, but that’s another story…)

Only 20 more stripes until the ripple’s completed. I’m planning on 80 I think, rather than 85. It’s feeling like a ripple marathon to be honest and I’m ticking off stripes in a notebook as I go! Seems like a good thing to do to break the psychological barrier to finishing a rather massive project ;-p)

Hope you’re having a good weekend too.

Blooming Flower Cushion: Completed!

Posted on June 26, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

A little crochet and Royal Cake

Posted on June 25, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I finshed this book earlier. It’s an extremely easy read and described as a ‘cosy mystery’ in the States apparently. I’ve never sampled a knitting murder before, as gruesome as that sounds….!

Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Co-Op, Martin’s Newsagents, a little Post office/general store – no magazine joy. Superstore Sainsbury’s further afield – BINGO! I was so happy I took this photo to mark the occasion. I need to subscribe; since I really would miss making fun of some of the patterns and miss out on the good ones. I’m not about to highlight the funnier ones now. Well, apart from to ask: would you like woolly gnomes in your garden or to create woolly ice-creams? If the answer contains a yes this is definitely the buy for you this week. Grin.

Thank you for all your lovely, lovely comments about the wonky-middled Blooming Flower cushion back. It’s not that I didn’t take any notice but I can be a bit of a perfectionist. Knowing I am capable of making something much better, and giving a wonky one as a present to a little sweetheart for her 4th birthday would have made me feel rather uncomfortable. It’s all good crochet practice too. The colours are better in my second version of the cushion back too. I just need to dc it together with the front.

We’ve just had a delivery of ROYAL CAKES. Yes! Properly ROYAL CAKES.

For the Diamond Jubilee the Queen and Prince Philip are holding celebratory tea-parties around the country. People were invited to take part in a free lottery to attend. S’s parents were successful and have been to Henley upon Thames this afternoon to have tea ‘in the presence of the Queen.’ They were very close to both, about 4 feet away apparently at one point, and dropped in on the way home to give us two Royal Brownies (seems fitting to use capitals somehow) that my MiL sneaked out in a paper cup. So sweet!

Apparently the steam powered barge the Royals travelled upon down the Thames, during the main Jubilee celebratory weekend, was moored on the river and there were a number of other boats. It sounds like the tea was quite a spread too. Jealous! But sneezing and wheezing all over the Royals is pretty uncool I imagine.

Sorry folks, I can’t hang about. I have a ROYAL Brownie to consume. :-D

PS: I bet it’s calorie-free being Royal and everything too.

Blooming thing

Posted on June 23, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I have finished my blooming flower cushion, well thought I had anyway…
After I’d dc-ed the edges together at the beginning of the week, around the sumptuous feather cushion pad I bought from a seller on Ebay, I realised that the joins of the red rounds in the middle are quite not very good. B****r!!!!
I’m going to have re-do it I think. It’s going to be a present along with the Rainbow Granny Stripe blanket but even if it wasn’t I don’t like knowing its not very good.

I have yet another cold this year, I haven’t had so many for years. I can’t believe it. The new Let’s Get Crafting Knitting & Crochet magazine was going to help operation cheer-up Rachel this morning, but wasn’t in Sainsbury’s this morning. Boo.

It’s the weekend

Posted on June 16, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Today for lunch I made Spiced bulghar, chickpea and squash salad It’s scrummy. Absolutely delicious.

• 1 butternut squash, about 1kg/2lb 4oz peeled, seeded and cut into small chunks
• 2 red peppers, seeded and roughly sliced
• 2 tbsp harissa paste
• 1 tbsp oil
• 140g bulghar wheat
• 600ml hot vegetable stock
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• juice of ½ lemon
• 150g natural bio-yogurt
• 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 180g bag baby leaf spinach

::Heat the oven to 200c/fan 180c/gas 6.

::Toss the squash and red pepper in the harissa paste and oil. Spread the chunks out on a large baking tray and roast for 20 mins until softened and the edges of the vegetables are starting to char.

::Meanwhile put the Bulghar wheat in a large bowl and pour over the hot stock, then cover tightly with cling film and leave to absorb the liquid for 15 mins until the grains are tender, but still have a little bite.

::In a separate bowl, mix the garlic and lemon juice into the yogurt and season to taste.

::Let the Bulghar wheat cool slightly then toss in the roasted vegetables, chickpeas and spinach – the leaves may wilt a little.

::Season, if you want, drizzle with the garlicky yogurt and serve warm.

Recipe from the BBC Good Food website

***The changes I’d make to the recipe are to roast the garlic with the butternut and peppers, but still have a yoghurt-lemon dressing as this works really well drizzled on top. I’d also recommend seasoning the vegetables before they go in the oven.***

And with the dressing….

This is a really tasty, healthy and filling lunch. Win win!

I’m going to crochet a few more of these over the weekend…

….while I wait for the feather cushion pad I ordered for the blooming flower cushion. The circle for the back is now complete too. It’s just a case of waiting patiently for it to arrive. I’ll post a picture when the cushion’s complete. The part I’m really looking forward to is dc-ing around the edges. Joining using dc stitches is my favourite joining method, so far.

Enjoy your weekend.

Blooming ripples

Posted on June 10, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

This weekend in free minutes I’ve been…

…working some more rows of the Rhubarb Ripple now my order from Deramores has arrived (a mere two days after ordering online)

…And trying my hand at Lucy’s blooming flower cushion. It’s very fast to make in all its gaudy loveliness. I thought it could be an accompaniment to the rainbow Granny Stripe blanket when it’s given as a fourth birthday present later in the summer.

The ripple is in an Orla Kiely designed bag sold to raise funds for a children’s cancer charity. It was sold in Tesco’s a year or so ago. There is another one of her designs for sale at the moment if you have a Tesco’s nearby. They’re only £4 and really sturdy strong bags for carrying shopping, storing large crochet blankets in progress (and wool), books or whatever. I admit I bought the newest bag a few days ago. It’s lovely.

I’ve been nominated recently for various blogger awards and would like to say that I take this as a real compliment, thank you very much. :-D

Crochet by the sea

Posted on June 2, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

A little cheeky crochet before going out to see some Jubilee celebrations, sightseeing and shopping near the sea!
I haven’t done any alternative granny squares for a long time and it’s very nice to crochet something different after lots of rippling and circles in squares!
I’ve come to a pause with the Rhubarb Ripple at the moment….I’ve run out of plum! I sense another Deramores order is about to happen.

Have a happy (Jubilee bank holiday) weekend!

A shady spot

Posted on May 25, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

What a lovely spot to crochet a few more flowers for the stringy garland from last week’s Let Get Crafting magazine. I’m sitting under an apple tree with the gentle breeze ruffling the leaves overhead.
Happy days

Red White & Blue

Posted on May 23, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee (60 years! What a woman!) and London 2012 Olympic Games are rushing towards us now. Currently the torch is travelling around the country, being passed from hand to hand. This morning I’ve heard that it’s in Wiltshire, and was being carried part of the way by a woman who has raised a lot of money for charity. It’s really good that non-celebs/sports-people are having a turn and are honoured for their service to the community or whose talents are recognised.

For the past while I’ve been taking a few of these types of pictures…

This is a road in Oxford in case you’re wondering.

And, the next one made me smile!

Creative display methods reflecting the times eh?

So the shops are getting well on board, selling anything and everything red, white and blue. With a fair few Jubilee biscuit tins etc. Good for them! I like to see it.

On another track, I walked (a 3.3m round trip – loving Endomondo sports tracker!) to a library on Monday and discovered they have a host of craft books on all sorts of the topics including: quilting, patchwork, jewellery, knitting, cake decorating….and crochet…a reallllly good selection of crochet books. So I grabbed five randomly and took them outside to sit in the sun (yes! we have sun now…hurrah!!!!!) in the quite beautiful library garden. Next time I go maybe I’ll take some photos, it’s full of clever planting, with benches placed at intervals in the quiet corners behind plants, trees and sculptures. The benches are painted a lovely blue, you can see the colour behind the books in the photos, which really works with the setting.

The Dudes book has some very nice jumpers in it with a variety of sizes. I ‘might’ have a try at something wearable later in the year. And no; I’m not ‘a dude’ but I did like the look of the solid, chunky clothes unlike lots of crocheted items for women which are often all holey and not really flattering to actually wear. Unless you’re a willowy model IMHO. The male models are pretty yummy too in this book – some of them – so that’s definitely a recommmeded ‘book to browse’ from me!

I made some notes on which patterns I liked in the books as I went, so I can go back and borrow a few at some point. There are even more to go and peruse some other time too.

Thanks to blogger Jill from Nice Piece of Work for commenting on my charity shop book at the weekend. She prompted me have a look for craft books when I was returning a novel (Lost Lady -Willa Cather, recommended read particularly if you like classic American fiction.)

I’m off to walk around the grounds of a Palace now, will post some pics soon.

Enjoy the sun, if you have some wherever you are. :-D

Happy Weekend Things

Posted on May 19, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

::Halfway through the Rhubarb Ripple blanket now::The first in the series of books. It’s predictable and easy, very comfy weekend reading in fact. The UK edition was originally called ‘Diva’s don’t Knit’…there are lots of not-so-happy comments on Amazon about this; disappointed buyers expecting this one to have been another in the series and finding they’d already read it…just to let you know.)

::A charity shop find for £1:50. It’s JAM-PACKED with patterns (charts as well as written patterns, so I ‘might’ crack charts soon – but I’m not concentrating on this until the blanket is finished.)

::And this page which makes my strange joining obsession happy!

::Some more Spring Flower circles completed (yes, yes I’m darning in the ends as I complete a batch. I’ve learnt my lesson now…:-D)

I’m watching episodes of the BBC’s Little Dorrit at the moment, my lovely friend N has lent me the box-set, today’s episode was when Mr X gets the news about X (no spoilers from The Little Room, oh no – not from me!) and I confess to having to put down my crochet and wipe my eyes…

::Loving my bucket still.

::OOoh a new edition. This magazine is improving all the time. Now with great shopping, craft courses, craft holidays(!) and blog and knitting/crochet fiction recommendations. I tend to ignore the knitting patterns and power on through to the crochet, but I might head back to knitting one day, so I have saved a stash of the magazines for then.::NO NEVER (remember my 1970s poodle wine bottle cover and Barbie toilet roll cover comment?) Susie Johns what were you thinking??!?…….This must have been a blip?

::Maybe! These are pretty.

HAPPY WEEKEND TO YOU ALL

HAVE A GOOD CRAFTY ONE

….maybe with a drop of something nice to drink…but please PleAsE don’t let it have come out of a knitted or crocheted bottle covered….ummm bottle. I implore you!!!!!

Crochet village

Posted on May 12, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Aren’t these beautiful? They really add a homely touch to a school setting, and made me feel v happy to see them being used and enjoyed.
There is a shop nearby which has started to sell old and new crochet blankets. They’re proving to be really popular with the resurgence of knitted and crocheted items.

Bank holiday

Posted on May 6, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Well, Plan B has happened this bank holiday weekend. Instead of being whisked away for a long weekend to the south coast, walking along beaches looking for messages in bottles washed up upon the sand, sea glass and interesting looking pebbles, I’ve had my leg up with ice packs on my knee and am going downstairs backwards. It seems that it is possible for your knee to go on holiday without you. You discover this when you try to get out of bed, but roll on the floor instead.

Ah well, the disappointment hasn’t lasted long since Plan A has been rebooked for another time. I’ve listened to hours of a fantastic new audio book and enjoyed the sunshine streaming into the house.

Here’s what I’ve been up to….

Now The Rainbow Granny Stripe is done and dusted its full steam ahead with The Rhubarb Ripple blanket.

Look what I’ve just bought, it stops the yarn rolling all over the place as I crochet. I might say that it also means less fluffy, bitty, velcro like yarn, but that would imply I haven’t hoovered for a while. So I won’t.

It’s a herb bucket, sooo pretty, and less than £5 from Aldi.

Then on to The Spring Flower blanket. Now this turned into a bit of a saga, enjoyable but a saga all the same today.

I’m going to start darning ends in as I go. I promise. I do like darning but it is a major faff when all you want to do is the end bit of a project as I found out last week!

Patch is right; I do have a new obsession about joining methods. If I’ve asked you 1000s of questions about your method, and you’ve answered patiently, then a big thank you to you. I’ve also watched lots of YouTube videos and scoured my magazines and crochet books. I just wanted to find the method that I enjoyed. Not necessarily the best, but the most fun. So, the above is Patch’s sewn whip-stitch method. Ho hum, the tension is bad and it was a real fiddle. I used to do lots of cross stitch, tapestry and pathwork but am out of practice and it shows.

Next I tried double crochet which I used before on the dolls blankets…

S has never been involved in my crochet endeavors so far, apart from nodding his head in a complimentary fashion (and using a piccy of The Rainbow GS on his desktop background. Now that must be high praise eh?!) but he didn’t like the green. It was just too green, he said. I tried white as I wasn’t too sure about the greenness either.

DC versus sewing is definitely the most satisfying and the tension is a perfect match too. I really like the ridge, it’s a bit different and adds a nice texture to the work. But I’m not sure about the white. It doesn’t quite make sense to me. Why would you suddenly have that white? Has it snowed in Spring?! S isn’t sure about all the random colour combinations either. I’m happy with them though. I think…

Not sure. Really not sure…

More comparison….

Bye, bye white. Zip! It’s gone!

How long should it be? I’ll see how it measures up against the RR. I’ll do some edging on it too. I’ve undone my original green joins and rearranged the colours into less random pairs. I think S was right and it is easier on the eye.

It’s been really satisfying deciding on a method of joining, rearranging the squares and realizing that my Dublin hotel crocheted squares are going to come together nicely to make a blanket.

PLeAse DONt TelL mE YoU PReferReD ThE WhItE.

:-D

Rainbow Granny Stripe – FINISHED!

Posted on May 5, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

After the first row of edging…

And this morning…

Folded in half…

The blanket is laid across a king-sized bed here, just to give you a sense of its size.

Just before Easter I asked a certain 3 year old what her favourite colours are, and without hesitation she told me ‘Yellow….pink…..and purple.’ That’s why I’ve used these particular colours for the edging.

Now I’ll put the surprise blanket away until August when she turns 4. I imagine I will be starting another Rainbow Granny Stripe in the Autumn for her sister’s 6th birthday!

Ok…now I get it

Posted on May 1, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’m on the last leg of my Rainbow Granny Stripe blanket and my fingers are itching to complete the border. BUT I have to darn those pesky ends in! I still like darning in, it feels soothing and productive, but actually I just want them gone at this point so I can carry on crocheting! I understand why people advise to darn as you go…
As you see the hook is chasing the darning needle around the last edge!

Perspective

Posted on April 28, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Coming across this dishcloth at Mum’s house on Thursday I realise how far I’ve come on with crochet in a relatively short time. I crocheted it last year and was obviously having problems reaching the end of rows, in all sorts of ways!

This makes me smile when I think of my recent crochet-angst around the Rhubarb Ripple; I have to remind myself from time to time that this is still a fairly new hobby.

Alice May & the Rhubarb Ripple

Posted on April 25, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Such changeable weather here at the moment. It’s truly April showers season. (It is doubly ironic when this, and other regions, were given hose pipe bans because we have been experiencing a lack of rainfall after drier than usual seasons. The day they were imposed the rain began!)

Sometimes the best thing to do is hurry home and get busy. After a little crochet-angst around this project I’ve been really enjoying gently focusing on the Rhubarb Ripple blanket.

It was really bothering me that the stitches weren’t lying on top of each other, namely the increases and the decreases. Plus although I said here in a very cavelier fashion that I would not undo a section after a change of hook size, I have. Lots and lots of rows, but I’m feeling much happier with it overall and am really, really enjoying gently rippling along. The stitches are now aligning as I worked out what the issue had been. I’m back to using a 4mm hook as I started with, this is because the thought of beginning from scratch when the first rows were fine was far too much to contemplate!

*This is still mainly an online diary of a beginner-intermediate crocheter so I’d like to note for self: do not drink wine and crochet a ripple. This is why mistakes happen and future crochet-angst will occur.*

As I uploaded pictures for this blog post I received a picture text of a very sweet little face, and a message giving me the details of Alice May’s birth this afternoon. Congratulations to her Mum! x

Dublin #2

Posted on April 23, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

At Kilmainham Goal I noticed some crochet. Impressive given the conditions I saw in which the prisoners would have lived. Also, it just shows how versatile those little old granny squares can be.

Sorry for the poor quality, I was rushing to join the guided tour of the original cells where the political prisioners were held, but I thought as this is technically a crochet blog you might enjoy seeing this ‘blouse’.

Walking back to the hotel later I spotted all this. Is there no bin at this person’s house?! I can picture an arm extending from a window to throw an empty out with a vague promise to self to tidy up later. I have to admit that something about this scene made me laugh as well as recoil a little. I can’t justify myself.

You’ve seen Molly Malone and her assets, Oscar reclining in the park and now here’s Phil Lynott, outside a rather nice traditional Irish pub. The Dubliners do seem to like their statues, as well as their drinking holes. I viewed a few traditional pubs, inside and out. It has to be done as part of the full holiday experience.

This was outside another bar, I love it! It reminds me of Father Ted.

Yes; I did just follow the ‘Fine Food for Feck All’ poster with cherry blossom from Trinity College. It’s my blog and I’ll be random if I want to (singing the ‘It’s my party’ song in my mind as I type that)! :-)

The Book of Kells was great and the information about how the scribes made the colours was fascinating, but the best part by far is The Long Room. If you go then take a big breath in as you enter the room. The smell is incredible. If you have no idea what the Long Room is then Google is your friend. ;-)

The Liffey and some of its many, many bridges. I wandered across the Millennium bridge, that you see in the foreground, after snapping this picture and into The Temple Bar area….

….to hear some superb live Irish music at The Quays. Sunday is a good day for relaxing with a drink in hand and a tapping foot to the music.

A few strange looks were garnered as I photographed the floor, but I liked it.

And finally here is some street poetry I passed on my way back from the live music and foot tapping.

I hope you can read it.

Dublin is great city, with so much still left unseen and undone – I’ll have to go back for a third visit one day.

And in crochet news: I’m on the last 8 or so colours of the Rainbow Granny Stripe, so expect a reveal ta-dah thingy post any time within the next few weeks. It’s slow progress compared to other stripey blanket bloggers since I am also dipping into my Rhubarb Ripple Blanket, making more Spring Flower Squares and edging some Alternative Granny Squares. Then there’s the random little other crochet makes I am side-tracked by also.

But it’s all good fun and very relaxing.

This morning….

Posted on April 4, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I only called Deramores yesterday lunchtime and here’s the new order!

I hadn’t mentioned that I bought another stash of the multi-pack last week, the second of the year already! I’m now the yarn Queen of the South.

Here’s the original lot. I really do recommend Deramores; superb service and fast delivery. Plus Stylecraft Special DK is £1.79 at the moment. It’s soft and nice to work with, no it’s not wool but it’s not bad at all for 100% acrylic.

I tried out a new pattern I’d seen online. This will be my Spring Flower blanket eventually. I used up oddments from the wave patttern I tried (below) but disliked after I compared it to Lucy’s ripple pattern. I hate waste and so every scrap turns into something else.

I’ve enjoyed trying out my new cream to edge the Alternative Granny Squares. It seems soothing after all the brightness!

Did you know I’m a leftie by the way? If you’re new and want a leftie recommendation of a great ‘learn to crochet book’ then click on the books! link to the right >>>>> it’s called Crochet Unravelled and has diagrams for lefties and those odd rights ;-p I still look at it sometimes when a bit befuddled.

Hmmm, well this my plan ahead for Easter project which hasn’t happened since there’s a lack of fun in the making. Fiddly. Squeaky horrid cheapo yarn. But it might still get completed since:

a) I hate not finishing something, even if I dislike it. (Mum’s the same I once bought us both a lovely tin of what turned out to be horrid sweets. Owning the lovely tin was the object though we both ate the horrid sweets; because it’s not good to throw things away or waste them. S thinks us both to be nutters. Obviously he’s wrong.)

b) It’s VERY cute when completed

c) I don’t like failing.

Away for trip #1 and trip #2 from tomorrow, I’ll share some pics on my return. :-D

Have a lovely Easter.

Alternative Granny

Posted on March 5, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I saw this blog post and absolutely loved it…. I especially like seeing the edges. I love the little Vs on the edge of crochet! I really do!

When I tried using Jan Eaton’s target square pattern in her book I came a cropper with the 7 ch bit, the square was a wibbly mess. (Practise makes perfect and all that, but the * and ** and repeats instructions for this square are really confusing to a bear with little brain like me.)

I saw this pattern on CrochetQueen’s blog.

Then I tried to crochet my own AG square using the pattern, but got really confused; mostly about what to do with the 5 ch. There were holes where there weren’t meant to be holes!

I wailed to CrochetQueen that I needed help. She added some tutorial pics to her pattern in about a day. What a star!

How helpful is that?

The generosity of other bloggers in giving patterns, advice and free tutorials is very much appreciated. Maybe one day when I’m more proficient I can do the same? It would be nice to pass it on….

So anyway, using CrochetQueen’s pattern and photo tutorial here’s what I’ve come up with so far…

I know I’ve basically posted the same photograph again and again and again, but I do LOVE those edges!

I used a 3.5 mm hook because I’ve realised my tension on granny squares is always a bit loose and they looked too wibbly using a 4mm.

The yarn is Stylecraft Special DK from my pack bought from here.

While I waited for these photos to load I’ve had a think about trying a slight variation on the number of trebles in each round. I’m going to have a little play again later.

Yesterday afternoon I looked out of the window to this, they really make me smile….

Can you see it? :-)

!!!!!!!!!

Posted on February 25, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’m tootling about online after my chocolate eating, crocheting, sunny Saturday afternoon and I check in to Twitterland to see this tweet and photo:

“Mr Scrappy dries his eyes after England lose to Wales at Twickenham.”

Well!!!

I didn’t realise I’d created an emotional sports fan when I crocheted Mr Scrappy…

… .or that he would be such supportive company to the 6 foot, beer drinking, peanut eating rugby watcher downstairs!

Brightness!

Posted on February 23, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

It’s growing very fast, I find that I can’t do fewer than 2 stripes at a sitting, even if time is pressing and I need to do just half a row….addictive or what?!

I think the next bit is going to go into bluey greens and I’ll try the yacky green out too; but if it fails the audition it’s OUT!

I’m enjoying the trebling but wanted to try something new. I find that I can’t just concentrate on one project, I have to try a few alongside each other. It’s like me and books. I usually have a poem anthology, a non-fiction, a fiction and maybe something else I’m dipping in and out of. Variety is the spice of life, and all that. :-)

I’m using Nicki Trench’s pattern for the wave cushion (see link at the side for the book.) I suspect this is what everyone else is calling ripple pattern. It’s great. I enjoyed it last night, but if you’re wondering why I stopped in the middle…there was a bombshell in the middle of Roger and Val have just got in that required me to stop! and talk! Then it was time for bed Zebedee…

If, unlike me, you’re a crochet expert and notice a flaw in my waves tell me please. Gently!

PS: Sorry that the pics are a bit fuzzy but I wanted to show you how I’m getting on. The flash had to do the job as the sun is in bed now, and it’s never as good as natural sunlight.

Rainy Saturday

Posted on February 18, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Today’s the perfect day for a bit of lounging on the sofa with my granny stripe blanket to keep me occupied.

Not that it resembles a blanket at all yet, I am a tiny bit tempted to make some edging and turn it into a scarf, it’s looking just like one I saw in M&S after Christmas. :-)

This is SO relaxing; it’s just simple repetitive trebles with a few chains thrown in, very very satisfying to make. Choosing the colours and watch it turn into a stripey colourful textile makes it really fun to make.

Recently I’ve made lots of small thingys which have meant following patterns and counting all the time. This Granny Stripe is refreshing crochet. No counting, no following a complex pattern (complex for me a novice, or intermediate, crocheter anyway.)

I’m a bit wary of when the time comes to add in the red (one of my favourite colours) with the PiNk! You can’t put pink and red together, it’s the LAW. I’ve grown up with this rule. I’m going to break the law. FOR THE FIRST TIME….

Then to make it worse there will also be BriGhT yellow and orange and that yacky green I showed you here…….it’s really going to challenge my sense of colour comfort.

BUT inspired by Lucy’s GS blanket (see Attic24) I’m going to use all the colours in the Stylecraft pack, in my own way. I’m not copying Lucy’s colour combinations, this is MY blanket though of course the colours are the same because they are unofficially called ‘The Lucy pack’ I’m told.

If you want the same pack click here or Google ‘Stylecraft special DK’. It’s lovely to work with and feels unepxectedly soft for 100% man-made yarn (or 100% people-made if we want to be 21st century about it.)

Back to the sofa where a cheeky bottle of English cider and a few snacks are waiting for my company. The GS might go a bit wiggly!

Happy weekend,

Rachel

Sunny morning hooky

Posted on February 17, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Lovely bright morning for a bit of hooky.

I’m experimenting with this word hooky; it does have overtones of dodgyness to my sweet innocent mind. Hooky though seems to be what the happening crochet kids on the block are saying, so if I wanna be kool I’ll give it a whirl…

The plan was to make wristwarmers now I’ve got the yarnalicious stash, but then I began wondering if I really, really wanted to wear rainbow coloured wristwarmers when I’ve got around four pairs of gloves already.

Let’s get Crafting magazine did a twitter poll the other day asking their “Question of the Week: do you still buy #knitted & #crocheted garments from shops or do you prefer to make everything yourself? #craft”

…and my reply was: “I’m not that talented and actually some machine made knitted items look far better than handmade. #honestopinion” and that really is how I feel about lots of home-made do-dahs.

Controversial?

So, I’ve decided to start a Granny stripe blanket for the little girls I love to be Aunty Rachel to. They apparently like to snuggle under a fleecy blanket sometimes to watch tv, but I think a GS snuggly soft (reliably machine washable I’m told) Stylecraft yarn blanket is the way forward for them. :-D

Deciding which colour comes next is the challenge at the moment. I’ve completed two colour stripes now and do I go purpley again or change to pink? Dark or light? I’m off to ponder one of life’s happier and easier choices.

PS: it’s been flowerarama this week so a pint glass had to suffice for my second bunch of daffs!

London, Bookcrossing, Snow & Crochet

Posted on February 6, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

It was a beautiful start to Saturday for a day in London with friends

We enjoyed a bit of bookswapping, chat, drinks and a nice lunch

When we left the next pub, where we had another quick drink, half of the books we’d left on the Boris bikes had gone.

Eeek!

Home for a warming cider, the last slice of tea-loaf and some crochet before bed.

Rock and Roll!

Crocheting in bed

Posted on January 24, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I really did go downhill yesterday, I thought that the streaming cold of Sunday would be better and probably nearly gone by yesterday but I woke up feeling really horrendous. I was even slightly tempted to take a photo to prove how hideous I looked and felt, but am truly glad I didn’t….it would be scarey viewing.

I’d read a tweet at the weekend which said something like ‘if all you want to do is sit up in bed and crochet – while watching a movie, then do’ (Or 140 characters worth of similar advice anyway!) I’ve never considered bed and crochet as being compatible; I have enough trouble with my hooks sliding down between the cushions, or onto the floor when I’m on the sofa. But as I was feeling so fragile, and bed was the cosiest place, I decided to try.

So far Mr Scrappy only had a body and one leg or arm which was all green when it was meant to be stripey.

(Here’s why it’s plain green, not colourful…)

I settled down against my pillows with my audio book of Me Before You by Jojo Moyes and made another one.

Anything you notice about them?!

I sighed and decided to carry on making Mr Scrappy’s body….while laughing out loud and feeling a little teary as the book progressed…

Lynne’s advice about using a stitch marker when crocheting in the round is sooo helpful. It really works!

Ok, so after going back and making another arm or leg I could see that crocheting after 2 glasses of wine, while watching Red Dwarf, might not have been such a great idea the other night…

I’ll undo the freakishly big plain green one and save the wool for another section of Mr S.

Not bad crochet for a poorly Rachel – especially while choking and sobbing over Me Before You.

I can’t recommend the book enough, it’s amazing by the way. So amazing I might even be listening to it again from the beginning.

Crocheting more of Mr Scrappy took my mind off how terrible I was feeling and I might even crochet in bed again one lazy weekend. Hopefully without all the germs!

Mr Scrappy (and the Hilton crochet)

Posted on January 22, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’ve got a stinking cold but have enjoyed doing a bit more of my Hilton crochet for the bag I’m making…

I wanted a smaller thing to make so Mr Scrappy was the project I began yesterday…

I really really needed some advice about stitch markers, so tweeted and got some from the ever-helpful Lynne.

The method above works sooo well!

Mr Scrappy seemed like a great way to use up my odds and ends, though as you see I lost the plot a bit last night and used all green for one of his legs or arms! Blame it on watching/listening to Red Dwarf while counting the stitches in the round…

You can also get the pattern here….

Thanks Stacey!

—————————————————–

Finally, here’s what I’ll make for dinner tomorrow…

I love chicken

I love chickpeas

I love sweet and savoury together

So this recipe from my Good Food Magazine, also available on their excellent website will be perfect.

YUM.

Pins away!

Posted on January 15, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Green is the new red/blue/grey/black for me at the moment. I’ve never ever liked the colour, but something happened last summer (even I don’t know what. ) Come September and I found myself buying a bluey green jumper, plus using green yarns in crochet projects!

Me using lime green? I’m surprised, but I like it.

I had itchy fingers last night, even after all the birdie making, and so I made a little pin cushion. It fits perfectly in my crochet tin of tricks.

This photo makes it seem like it’s a floating pin cushion planet somehow…I’m not sure how I did that!

Happy Sunday to you!

Rachel

Crochet doings

Posted on January 13, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Morning!

Here’s what I’m doing at the moment, though I’ve haven’t done much crochet this week as the work I’ve put off for so long has to be done by next Thursday. I’m going to be working next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday elsewhere so time is lacking. I can see a long weekend of sighing and a lot of Earl Grey being drunk next to a red-hot lap top! It’s my own fault, if we really need to talk blame… *smirk*

Here it is in all it’s-all-wibbly-needs-blocking-badly-‘glory’.

I’ve unravelled the first circle so far, it’s the larger one, and am going to make one of those folded circle birds everyone seems to making at the moment.

The other circle is new and improved with a smaller 3.5mm hook, and greater attention to detail…those stitches have to be counted and recounted as I go, there’s no getting away from it.

Lynne said that she goes into the back loop when ss into the 3rd chain at the end of a curcuit and she still has gappy bits, so not to worry. She is the master of knitting and crochet, so I’m not worrying about it.

These aren’t the colours I’d have chosen to put together, but I’m using scraps. The surprising thing is I’ve had many compliments on the colour combination! It’s made me like them more. I know. I’m a sucker for flattery…

This is what I call (I know; I sound like Miranda’s Mum!) The Hilton crochet. I stayed in the one in Nottingham last November without taking any crochet. I madly thought it would be good to have a break for a few days. My fingers started itching in an alarming way, so much so that there seemed only one thing to do – I had to go to the John Lewis, conveniently located next door to the hotel, and buy a hook and some cotton.

Experimenting with a different middle. I prefer this to the usual GS cross.

Those pesky ends!!! …Actually it’s not popular to say this but I don’t mind the darning at all. It makes a change and doesn’t take long at all.

Rowan HK cotton. It’s my first go with it. I like it but I’m not sure it works for clothing or a blanket, not for me anyway. Plus it’s mahoosively ££££££ for the 50g you get. They offer a nice range of colours though, I can imagine using it for decorative bits and pieces.

This is probably going to be a bag, only 25 more squares to go I reckon. Don’t hold your breath for a big reveal soon. It’s not going to happen too quickly!!!

My Boden catalogue arrived today. A littleish word caught my eye…..

It’s everywhere, isn’t it?

Fab.

Back to the grindstone. Have a good weekend!

Rachel

I never said this was a crochet blog from an expert, to inspire awe and wonder, did I?

Posted on January 10, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I know I only really started to follow patterns and really learn to crochet last New Year; but I do get despondent if my item doesn’t look exactly the one in the picture which accompanies the pattern.

I’ve been really enthused about tackling the lovely circle cushion in Nicki’s Trench’s fab crochet book and have been holding out until I have a proper posh supply of yarn. Then last night I came to the realisation that what does it matter? I need to just have a go at it.

So, I’ve had a go at it. I’ve used scraps and oddments of yarn. Not necessarily the colours I’d have chosen if I’d bought yarn, or which go anywhere in my home, but whatever! Just crochet the thing.

Nicki Trench states that this is the easiest thing in the world, that she often starts beginner crocheters on circles since they grow fast and are rewarding (or something like that..) Well, they would be fast if I didn’t have to keep undoing the circle as I go…

The issue is knowing where to go in at the end of the circle and me disliking the look at the joiny part. I just HATE the gappy bit where you’ve chained 3 at the start, then slip-stitch the 3rd chain at the end. Do you go in one loop of the chain? If you do, or if you don’t and ss to into the whole gap in between the chain and first treble, there seems to be a gappy bit. Then you have the issue after another circle of knowing whether to go into that stitch or not. The answer’s probably no. Almost certainly since I seem to have an extra stitch at the end of each row.

I decided not to let it worry me, hey let’s be free and experimental with our crochet. We’ll call it ‘free-form-Rachel’. BUT that doesn’t work when you’ve got to make a matching circle for the other side of the cushion. Shall it be a bag instead???

No.

It needs to be a circle cushion.

Back I go to undo, undo, undo.

Grrrr.

Here’s some pics before I unravel it.

I never expected to say this….

Posted on January 9, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

…but in November I was crocheting robins!

They had come to a pause until I found toy stuffing in a local shop (Darn it and Stitch in Oxford.) Haberdashry shops are few and far between these days. The robin pattern was found in the Christmas makes editon of the excellent Let’s Get Crafting Knitting and Crochet magazine. For the first robin I used the kit wool, and copied the instructions. Then I bought a cheapo ball of brown acrylic for the second; after all robins are not yellow and red! I tweeted the designer, Lynne Rowe, at the time and she said she had run out of other colours to use in the yarn kit, which is sold with the magazine. Fair enough, as the pattern is the most important thing.

I needed to think about what to use for his eyes and then sew up his bottom properly!

The ‘evil’ crocheted robins!

I will have to invest in some toy eyes if I make these again…

See you soon,

Rachel

Crocheted jar cover

Posted on January 8, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I spent my Friday evening crocheting this jar cover while sipping Lady Grey tea. I’d decided to give alcohol for January so was feeling very cleansed and virtuous. That was until, fast forward to Saturday lunch, The King’s Arms in Oxford when I finished my lovely cool pint of lager shandy and looked at my friend in horror; I’d totally forgotten I wasn’t meant to be drinking! After the 3 mile walk into town it had felt like the perfect drink. Oops.

I would really love a perfect bottom (hey, don’t we all?!) but it takes practice I guess. I am perfectionist and there are a few flaws if you look carefully.I made my own wiggly up and down pattern for the top: 3 trebles then 3 doubles repeated. The start of the design was from a Let’s Get Crafting pattern for a crocheted ‘jar’ by Lynne Rowe, but you can see where I carried on crocheting and got carried away from the white sticky outy row onwards, it’s meant to be where the last two rows of crochet fold over at the top. I kept the textured sticky outy bit (technical talk?!) because I liked it. I think I’ll do that again. You basically stop going around and around, turn the crocheted so you are now looking at the inside or the outside and go into the back loop only for the stitch. There are possibilities for more texture in dimensional projects me thinks….

The yarn, by the way, was horrendous to use as it kept splitting. It seemed more man-made than anything I’ve ever used before. But I like the colour combination. It’s very seasidey.

A present

Posted on January 7, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

I knitted my friend a dishcloth last year and since it died, after constant use, I haven’t heard the last of her wanting another. So, this time when I got my special delivery of cotton from Lincolnshire I crocheted her one…

It only took me an hour or so. I must be getting a lot faster at the hooky stuff.

A foundation row of chains, a row of doubles and then trebles all the way.

I’ve never seen anyone look so excited, and this was after all the joy of Christmas and present opening. Maybe I could start a business selling hand-made dish-cloths?!

Crochet 2011

Posted on January 6, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

Here as promised are some of my very first crochet projects, all from last year.

I’m not pretending to be a crochet expert and this blog is really going to be a journal of my progress and keeness! I also might occasionally be having a temper tantrum when something goes wrong, or be asking for help of course…

A friend wanted an iphone case and LOVES bright green and orange. This was my first attempt…

And here’s the next…

She said it could be even BRIGHTER than the prototype…

It has visible flaws but I was fairly pleased with it at the beginning of the year; as one of my first projects.

Crocheted bowls which I filled with shredded tissue paper and added chickens with chocolate eggs for an easter gift.

George the egg cosy. He’s larger than your average egg cosy, but I love him. I’ve also crocheted Henry, his brother. They are now living in London and Oxfordshire.

Those are VERY bright squares eh? Not exactly the colours I’d usually choose but it was leftover Let’s Get Crafting mag yarn. I obviously needed to block these before doing the edging. Oops. I didn’t want to undo it and start again because by then I was on to the next project. I gave it to some little girls I know to cover their mini baby dolls with!

I still haven’t blocked anything yet, but will have to sort out how soon…

Even brighter crocheted bunting I made a week ago!

I used Nicki Trench’s pattern from her fab ‘Cute and Easy Crochet’ book (one of my favourite Christmas pressies this year), and the yarn is again from a LGC mag. I’m pleased with it and think it would be great to use personalised colours to make more as a gift, for a nursery or playroom.

Apart from that little lot I’ve crocheted cotton dishcloths, a bracelet (no, I don’t wear it!) ‘the evil robins’ as I call them, the stocking from my first blog post and many more bits and pieces that I’ve forgotten for now.

I’ve practised making granny squares and tried out quite a few stitches using this book: 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets Throws and Afghans

Next time you can see more of what I enjoy seeing and doing,

Rachel

Crochet dreams

Posted on January 1, 2012 by The Little Room of Rachell

When I was quite small I really, really wanted to learn how to crochet. My German Aunty and cousins had come over to visit us, bringing me a Sindy doll. They then sat and made crocheted clothes with scraps of wool, with no pattern! Very quickly Sindy had a huge wardrobe!

I was given a Ladybird Book of Crochet (I’d love to see another copy of this, but haven’t found one so far) and tried to master crochet, but it wasn’t to be. The drawings were all for right-handers. I have a Mum who is expert at sewing and knitting but not so much a crocheter. I did get the hang of chains but that was it. I went back to patchwork, embroidery and knitting.

The dream to learn to crochet must have been dormant for years because in 2008 I suddenly had a strong desire to conquer it once and for all. My helpful Mum went to her monthly Saturday craft group and asked a friend to show her how to make a Granny square. She then patiently showed me how to hold the hook, yarn and make them do what I wanted and I was off! I couldn’t get the hang of the fiddly central ring; so just carried on trebling and chaining from Mum’s original foundation circle. I took my growing crochet to Yorkshire for a farm cottage holiday Christmas where as I worked it grew and grew while keeping my legs warm.

I finished the rug happy; although the middle is a bit wiggly since it was just a scrap of maroon DK, and the rest was oddments of DK yarn with 2 strands put together since it seemed to suit the large (6mm?) hook I was using. But, it does keep me warm when I’m snuggled on the sofa and as it was my first attempt I was thrilled with it.

Would you like to see it?

I took this photo when I was trying to really get to grips with crochet again last January, 2011, using this fab little book (pictured in the middle of The Yorkshire Blanket) which I bought from Amazon. Buy this book if you are new to crochet, or want to practise after a long break. I can’t recommend it enough particularly if you are a leftie like me. The illustrations are for both left and right-handers with very concise instructions.

I’m really enjoying trying new stitches, honing my skills and can’t get enough of doing crochet, studying crochet books, websites, the super Let’s Get Crafting magazine (when it’s crochet) or crochet blogs like the inspirational Lucy of Attic 24.

I found that I didn’t want to crochet in the summertime; because of sweaty hands I reckon and it can be hard to crochet while drinking G&Ts too! Then when I was in Boston in September I came across a novel ‘The Knitting Circle’ by Ann Hood. It really, really inspired me to take up knitting and crochet again. It’s not the genre of book I normally read but I was hooked for a while on the Knitting novel genre.

What made you start to crochet? When did you begin?

Next time I’ll post some pictures of the first items I made after using the Crochet Unravelled book and Let’s Get Crafting magazines.

Very best wishes on the first day of 2012 to you!

Rachel

From The Little Room of Rachell

Posted on December 31, 2011 by The Little Room of Rachell

Hellooo!

I hope you’ve had a good Christmas!

Today is the last day of the year and I wanted to start something new, so hello to you! Happy New Year’s Eve. It’s going to be a good year, I can feel it in my toes.

My blog will feature:

Places, food, crochet, knitting, nature and especially crochet…..it may also have a bit of Cath Kidson as I LOVE her pretty things.

I’m newish to crochet and am super keen on it. So, expect a few photos and words about my efforts this coming year, as well as some pics of the crochet I’ve done this year in 2011.

The pattern is from Let’s Get Crafting Magazine and is one designed by the fab Lynne Rowe.

Next time I’ll tell you about when I started to crochet.

Until then,

Rachell

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