Sleep Under the Stars blanket – finished

Posted on April 18, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

Started in May 2020 during Lockdown my star blanket, official show-name Sleep Under the Stars is finally complete. It’s not my first star shaped blanket, I’ve been drawn to them for a long time. I think it’s the novelty of making a non-rectangular or square thing once in a while. If you want to check out the three others you can see them here. Smaller sized star blankets make super car-seat or buggy blankets for littles. This is a snuggle on the sofa and read a book, or watch tv size for someone older.

It’s a weighty, soft and very snuggly blanket. This was my first time crocheting with Paintbox Simply Chunky yarn. I liked it so much I soon started to use it for other makes, including a couple of cowls. It’s really nice affordable acrylic yarn which both crochets and knits up well.

Here are the details in case you want to make a star blanket too:

Pattern: Free from Love Crafts site as you see I chose my own colour combo and no pom-poms! I finished emergency stop styley, brake hard and handbrake applied, when I felt it was the size I wanted. I didn’t do the back loops, or is it front loops only thing in the last round.

Yarn: Paintbox Simply Chunky

I used Misty Grey 303 / Slate Grey 305 / Mustard yellow 323

Hook: 6mm, I always use Clover Amour hooks

Size: 48 1/2” / 123cm

Weight: 816g

Tip: For self …don’t forget to write down which shade of yarns you’re using (I usually do but for some reason didn’t, let’s blame lockdown brain) so I’ve just spent about 10 minutes going to the window glasses on, glasses off to work out whether I used misty grey or stormy grey! They’re very, very similar.

For you…do start new rounds of colour by going into the pointy chain space and chaining 5, 3 of those chains equal 1 treble and 2 chains are for the 2 chain space which you do in between the treble(s) at every point. If it’s a row where you need 2 trebles in the point don’t worry, you add in the other right at the end of the round.

If you’re continuing in the same colour you simply slip stitch into the pointy chain space and carry on in the same way, with 5 chain stitches to begin. *If you don’t do this* and you slip stitch into a treble elsewhere it will look fine to begin with, but after a while you’ll find that you get a line of slip stitch joins. This spoils the look of the blanket. Believe me. I write from experience!

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And this is looking like a proper crochet blog again, at least for a moment. I shall have to try to finish something else which doesn’t have much left to do and then this will continue!

I’ve got lots of book recommendations, so I’ll be back soonish with another post. I’m having a fantastic reading year.

Hope you had a good Easter weekend? What have you been up to? Are you making anything at the moment, or having a break? TALK TO ME ;-)

March

Posted on April 5, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

Making: you know what-what. Slow slow progress. But I enjoy crocheting the chunky yarn

Cooking: pot-roasted lemony chicken with carrots & onions. Peas cooked in the ready made gravy at the end. Delish. Shared the recipe with my friend and baby Theo loved it too

Cooking: this cauli recipe from the excellent book below, borrowed from the library. It’s even better eaten cold for lunch, along with some green salad

Sipping: Tonic & lemon, ginger ale with lime (Dry Lent)

Reading: my first Ian Rankin book! After chapter one I wondered why I hadn’t read a Rebus before. Not sure if to continue this book, which is 23rd in the series, or start at the beginning. In the meantime I’m reading an advance reader copy of the new Rachel Hore. Any Rankin fans want to advise? Will it spoil the series if I decide to read all? Or whatever, can it just be read as a stand alone without giving too much away?

Waiting: for an MRI scan date

Looking: forward to making Hot Cross Buns again next month (this month actually, again I forgot to post these notes I made during March! I’ll set a reminder in future)

A test to see if a family member is still reading and recognises his tulips tee hee

Listening: to Spotify. I’ve made a few playlists, good eclectic mixes. Can share if you like?

Suggesting: ‘Lord it’s a Feeling’ by London Grammar – Live at Abbey Road – it’s absolutely EPIC. Play loudly (when little ears aren’t around)

Wishing: for more sunny weather so washing can be pegged out on the line again. March has had t-shirt & BBQ weather, then snow, hail, wind and rain. Four seasons in one month

Enjoying: making sourdough flatbreads for lunch one Sunday

Appreciating: our first visit to the cinema this year to see The Duke. Helen Mirren & Jim Broadbent are absolutely superb together. I think Jim’s courtroom scenes are my favourite of all his performances. Well, apart from when he’s Bridget Jones father. The scene that makes me cry every time is the ‘I just don’t work without you’ bit with Gemma Jones

Eating: defrosted Christmas turkey mixed with leftover bean chilli & veg stock, fresh coriander & grated grana padano. It made a delicious Mexican soup

Liking: that lots of National Trust properties reopen this month

Loving: the anemones which appeared all over the garden early in the month, such a colourful sight with the pinks of the heather behind

Buying: a little pot of joy for lunch! Sushi ends from a counter in Waitrose, only £1.95

Managing: my physio exercises. I’ve got a rocker board, it’s fun and hard to use, especially with my eyes closed

Watching: Upload. S2. The Marvellous Mrs Maisel S4, both are on Prime. Men Behaving Badly on BBC iplayer. The last we’ve found so good still, real laugh out loud funny, especially whenever they dance (when Neil Morrissey is Tony)

Another day, another traybake. This recipe. Tip: BB don’t need to added until 5 mins before the end

Wearing: my old pink hoodie lots. I love it and can’t bear the thought it won’t be with me forever. Should have bought a dozen

Noticing: buds on trees, daffodils, blossom and snowdrops

Following: the news…

Sorting: soft plastics for recycling. Do you do this too? You can leave them at larger supermarkets. So many collected in just a week, including pouches, plastics from fruit and veg deliveries, magazine bags, the list goes on and on

Trying: cooking Mushroom & Puy lentil bolognese for the first time. This Jamie Oliver recipe. It was tasty

Getting: stronger glutes

Coveting: can’t think of anything right now

Feeling: determined

Hearing: birdsong. This is excellent for ID and lovely background sounds: RSPB | Sounds of…Parks and Gardens

Wondering: if you have any requests for blog posts? What do you want to see more of? Anything new?

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What have you been up to in the last month? Are you seeing lots of spring flowers and buds, or is autumn coming in for you?

The best flatlay background ever

Posted on March 13, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

Do you remember the Early Morning Cowl I made and sent to a friend last January? She has a crazy number of dogs: big dogs, huge massive furry things, middle sized ones and little happy yappy ones. She walks them very, very early in the morning in fields near her home. She often text me at that time and I always replied that I was snuggled in bed, with a cup of tea! She was the ideal friend to send a cosy knit. Not that many people suit mustard and it really suits her. I have a photo of her wearing that first cowl, it was straight out of the envelope with post dog walk crazy hair, her smile is huge as I hadn’t told her it was done and posted. It’s a really lovely pic. But I don’t think she’d appreciate it being beamed around the world!

Here’s another more sedate version in soft misty grey chunky yarn. I started it (eek!) last January when we were deep in our third Lockdown. Now I love you all, you know I do, but reading that post again, I now can’t help wondering why someone, or even a handful of you didn’t say: “BUT Rachel, that’s not the only four WIPs you have, is it?! Why have you started more?” I seem to have become scattered, starting and not completing many. If you’ve read for the last decade (and I know some of you very patient lovelies have, thank you!) you know I always used to have a couple of things at the most on the go, finished them and then thoughtfully decided on the next. Now, not so much!

Perhaps continually starting new makes reflected my lack of concentration during that stressful period? Or trying to get some variety in a very dull time. Due to the Stay at Home rule we mostly all stayed indoors, apart from tramping round the fields during daily exercise sessions and tried hard to restrict the baking-eating-baking-eating habit. That left craft and reading, along with unfulfilled intentions to learn Italian, write a book and stop biting my nails.

The bees were buzzing around in the heather flowers, such a welcome sound

Tiny tete a tetes in front of a lavender bush

This year I’m really determined to focus on one thing at a time in a bid to finally finish makes and cut them down to probably just THAT SOCK.

I wanted to blog today, because it’s been a week and I felt like a chat, then I realised that you really, really don’t need, or probably want to see the Star Blanket yet again. That’s what I’ve been crocheting this week. So, I decided that it would probably be okay to have one crochet and one knitty thing on the go. It’s still keeping focus and not flitting madly about. That’s why I delved into one of the top layer of my project bags and found this cowl. I added an inch or so to it after lunch, before doing an hour’s tidying and pruning in the garden.

All the colour out there is so pretty now. I spotted lots of new growth which feels an encouraging sign of Spring. It was a real pleasure to be out in the sunshine, tidying up stray leaves, branches and twigs that blew down in the storms and to prune back some of the perennials. I cleaned the bird feeders too.

Someone spied flowers on the rosemary bush. Pretty pale mauve, aren’t they?

Cyclamen with a cheeky anemone which has come up in the middle of the clump

Many clumps of tulip leaves all around the borders, I can’t wait to see the flowers

I’ll share the Early Morning Cowl pattern shortly. It’s a little iffy timing as we’re heading into spring here, but some peeps in the Southern Hemisphere are heading into cooler temps. Plus I guess there’s plenty of time to knit one, or a stack, ready for autumn. It’s a really easy knit.

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If you’re feeling powerless and crafting helps to feel like you’re doing something to help the people of Ukraine, there are lots of ways to join in to raise funds for charity. Today I saw a gorgeous free sunflower pattern which Carol, aka Dansnan, on Insta has designed. Here’s the pattern. It’s a good use of brown and yellow oddments of yarn.

Mother Hookers are a crochet group based in Doncaster, which is in the north of England. I love following their community crochet projects. They are currently asking for sunflower brooches which they will sell in order to raise more money to send to the DEC (Disaster Emergency Committee.) They state that the Government has pledged to match donations up to 20 million pounds. All the details are on the MH page, linked above. Or perhaps you’d like to sell some within your own community?

And I finished it!

Posted on February 5, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

I finished the Granny Chevron Cowl last Sunday. There were lots of ends to darn, but I’ve always found the sewing bit quite relaxing. Such a nice achievement to start AND finish something in the same month.

You can just see the join-as-you-go row, where I’ve slip stitched along after each group of trebles, into the spaces. It’s a really neat and quick way to finish. Who wants to join by sewing, when you can crochet?

I hung it on a branch (or is it called a cane?) of fuchsia to photograph. It was really blowy last weekend as we had the tail end of Storm Malik, so it swung and forwards. I stood still capturing these two photos as it moved.

Details

Pattern On Ravelry from Zeens and Roger blog, by Rosina Northcott.

Yarn Paintbox chunky mustard yellow (323) & misty grey (303)

Hook 6mm

Height 24cm

Width 32cm

Circumference 64cm

Weight 135g, so used less than 2 balls of 100g chunky yarn

Tips

I did 8 pattern repeats, so 8 sections of colour, instead of the pattern’s 6 to get the required circumference. Remember you need to end on colour B rather than A; otherwise you’ll have one big one coloured section and it will ruin the pattern.

It’s worth watching Rosina’s You Tube video, linked to on the pattern’s blog post, for handy tips such as trebling around the first stitch of the previous row, instead of going into it at the end of each row. This saves a lot of fiddly stuff.

Before you do the join as you go row you could fix the beginning and end together with stitch marker rings (see below), it helped me to see how it was going to fit together. Finding the middle ensures you match it up accurately. I left the markers and took them out as I joined the two edges.

My poinsettia won’t be featured in every blog post for much longer, since it’s losing leaves quickly now

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And now I need to crack on with the finishing the Star Blanket, because I have a cunning plan for it. Except, I’ve just seen something that’s inspired me to try something else….oops!

What are you making at the moment? Are you feeling busy and productive, or are you in hibernation mode? I think either is good at this time of year. Here lately it’s mostly staying around 4° all day every day. If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, what are you up to? Sunshine and warmth….lovely!

I started something new!

Posted on January 22, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

The latest copy of Inside Crochet plopped onto the doormat the other day. I haven’t really read much of it yet, but did read the interview with Rosina Northcott, better known to me as Zeens and Roger on Insta. When she named her two most popular designs I wanted to check them out on Ravelry. As soon as I saw the Granny Chevron Cowl pattern I found myself reaching for my hook and chunky yarn, even without really thinking. Next a part of my brain was shouting “NO, no, no! You’re not supposed to be starting anything new! You’re meant to be finishing the stuff you’ve started. It was doable, albeit slow. What are you doing?!” Ha! Too late brain, you need to speed up next time.

Here’s the Ravelry page which will take you to the original pattern blog post.

I’ve crocheted the required 29 rows, the 30th should be the joining round but my tension must be way tighter than Rosina’s. (It does lie flat, I just threw it down without due care and attention, for a quick snap in the photo above. A girl’s got to get back to her crochet, after all.) The only thing it will go around is my leg at the mo, and a leg-warmer was not really the plan. No matter, as I’ve got lots of this Paintbox chunky yarn. But just be aware of your tension and possible need to add extra rows, in case you’ve got limited chunky yarn.

I’m listening to Daisy May Cooper’s audio book as I crochet, she’s hilarious.

I’ve been to another community book exchange, this time an official Little Free Library, as I said I would a few weeks ago. This type of box on a pole book exchange is modelled on the original Little Free Library in Wisconsin, USA. Here’s some info about that first. I love the whole thing!

If you want to see some real handmade beauties, all over the world, just Google ‘Little Free Library’. People are so creative! I’ve just seen a house shaped one, which has origami in the attic and is beautifully decorated on the outside.

Some tempting things there, but the one I immediately swapped my book for was The Guest List. I’ve read Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party and her latest: The Paris Apartment. Both are good reads, but The Hunting Party (her debut) was my favourite of the two. The Guest List is a great find. It’s one of those books where you find yourself sighing and settling down into a more comfy position halfway through the first chapter.

And further along the same road, opposite the pub and along from the church in Freeland, Oxfordshire, there is another book exchange. A not-so-small Little Free Library. I’d already swapped my book and there wasn’t really anything else I wanted, but isn’t it well stocked? Lots for children too.

I absolutely love community projects like these and apparently the first LFL (the box on the pole) in the village was a roaring success when it was set up in 2016. It’s been estimated that more than 2,000 books passed through it in the first 12 months. Woah!

I’ve always been a huge advocate and supporter of our public libraries, but I do think there is a place for both those and community book exchanges. Especially in rural communities which are not well served by public transport, or at all. Community book and toy exchanges became lifelines and positive distractions during our months of Lockdowns in 2020 and 2021 when the libraries were closed. I remember we walked to a neighbouring village during that time, and saw numerous boxes left outside people’s garden gate. Sharing books, jigsaw puzzles and children’s games had sprung up. Did this happen where you live?

I’ve left books in book exchanges, cafés, holiday homes and telephone boxes for years and years. You never know where they’ll end up and also what you will find! Actually, for Sunday lunch tomorrow I’m making a dessert from the recipe book that I swapped for my Christmas novel. (Poached pears with blackberries.)

What are you making and reading? Or are you busy doing other stuff? Have you got book exchanges or games swaps? I’ve heard of bus shelter book and game exchanges which sprung up in Lockdown. Have you spotted one? Tell us…

6 Good Things

Posted on January 14, 2022 by The Little Room of Rachell

How’s the second week of January been for you? Here it’s been mostly very, very grey and white skies, no sunshine or brightness at all. Quite hard going. Everyone I’ve spoken to lately seems to be struggling a bit post-Christmas sparkles. But what I’ve noticed is when we do get the occasional bright day, loads of people have also swarmed outside. I’ve tried to move more. Yesterday that included half an hour of hoovering; it counts, it’s still movement!

I’ve fancied some crunchy salads. This was tinned mackerel with a homemade honey and lemon dressing and pumpkin seeds sprinkled over the top.

And I’ve made a spicy chickpea sauce, with chunky slices of red onion and leek, crushed garlic, tinned and fresh tomatoes, a little veg stock, smoked paprika and red chilli flakes to liven it up. I cooked some cod fillets on top of the first half and served it with green veg. The rest I turned into a mushroom curry, cooking off some spice paste first, then adding the chickpea sauce, some sliced chestnut mushrooms and jarred peppers snipped into strips. We ate that last night with roasted cauliflower and Brussels sprouts sprinkled with salt and pepper. Yum.

I’m quite into the idea of two different meals out of one. Last week I made a spaghetti Bolognese and turned the other half of the sauce into a lasagne on Saturday. Do you do this one into two thing? Shall we share some ideas which might be useful inspo for meal planning?

Yesterday I added more to my Sleep Under the Stars blanket. The pattern link can be found here.

Here’s when I started this blanket. I can’t believe it’s nearly 2 years ago…

And here’s when I (prematurely) decided it was finished. That was more about my hand pain than anything else I think. Now I’m on a mission to make it bigger, slowly slowly, and then I *think* I have a cunning plan for it. This is the year of finishing things I’ve started in the last 3 or 4 years. Sure I said that last year too, but I’ve got my determined chin on, can you tell?!

So relaxing to sit and crochet while I listened to the rest of Blackberry & Wild Rose by Sonia Velton. It was a good story and I liked the two narrators. Crochet or knitting with an audio book or podcast are such a winning combination. Deeply relaxing.

Still reading the Crawdads book, I haven’t picked up the Mudlarks this week. I’ve been reading more of Tim Spector’s The Diet Myth. It’s fascinating. What are you reading?

And some cheery blue sky and sunny pictures from my walk on Wednesday.

It was a bracingly cold morning, but once I got warmed up I ended up tying my jacket around my waist, because I was glowing! Others trudged past wearing all the woollies and looking quite chilled. I walked just over 5 miles and treated myself to a slice of very delicious Victoria sponge for lunch! I know, I know…!

I appreciated some small kindnesses this week: B. saving me a seat at an event we were both going to and giving me a strip of raffle tickets she’d bought me. A. messaging to say there’s a new series of Vera on TV. (She does every time and for new eps of Shetland. So kind, always needed too since I’ve usually missed the ads for them.) And there was something else, but I’ve forgotten. D’oh!

Let’s call this post 6 good things? 1. Blue skies 2. Getting outside 3. Crochet 4. Books 5. Cooking 6. Kindness

What about your week? How’s it been? Do you want to list some of the good things?

Yarn Along – January

Posted on January 7, 2021 by The Little Room of Rachell

I’ve got some ends to darn on my cowl. I can send it to my friend tomorrow and then it’s officially my first make of 2021. Done. I’ll write up the pattern tomorrow.

I snuck into the Post Office yesterday to buy stamps when it was quiet in there, because the fewer the people, the better. The fewer the shops I go into at all, the better. Preferably one Grocery Delivery a week and if we haven’t got it, we’re not having it.

The News here is grim: we hear the number of deaths every day (I read this morning that we reached the total number of deaths in Australia in just one 24 hour period) that there’s a staggeringly high rate of new infections with the mutated virus which is more easily transmitted, and the NHS is close to being overwhelmed. I have had people who live abroad contact me, concerned about the news from the UK and about our third Lockdown, which came into force on Tuesday. Some are surprised. They thought we had it more under control here….

I am glad for books and reading. It’s even better than tv or films, for absorbing myself in other worlds and times. I read until 01:15 this morning. I feel very bleary today, but I got so wrapped up in Sophie Hannah’s Haven’t They Grown. Here’s a brief outline; Beth hasn’t seen her friend Flora for a dozen years, she passes her former friend’s area while taking her son to a match. Parking by her house, Beth sees the children again. Not sounding very exciting? Well the thing is that they are still precisely the same. Still three and five years old, twelve years later. What’s going on?

I’ve now read 58% of the book and really hoping the mystery isn’t going to be a massive let-down at the end. My mind is powering through all sorts of ‘explanations’ I tell you. Absorbing stuff.

I’m listening to Jess Kidd’s Things in Jars, this couldn’t be more different. Set in Victorian London it’s the tale of Bridie Devine, an unconventional lady detective who is hired to solve a very tricksy kidnapping. As with The Hoarder (Titled Mr Flood’s Last Resort in the USA) Jess Kidd writes in a very compelling way. She has such a unique style of description. The audio isn’t going fast enough, always the sign of a good book for me, so I’m listening to a chapter or two and reading a few as I go too.

Please take a few minutes to leave a comment: tell me what you’re knitting or crocheting? Tell me if you’re reading anything good, or is it bad? Is it awful? Are you just about to give up and pick something else? Maybe you’re not reading at all; you’re binge watching Netflix instead?

I know you’re still reading these posts, I see my WordPress stats and familiar names of readers on Bloglovin’ who have read for years and years. It was my NINE YEAR blog anniversary on New Year’s Eve, so WP informed me. Wheee! Can’t believe it’s been so long. I really appreciate you checking in every time I write, but it’s feeling increasingly like I’m calling into the wind. Tell me something hey? Anything. I’m winking at you.

The antidote

Posted on June 14, 2020 by The Little Room of Rachell

It’s a really long time since I woke up and fancied doing a bit of crochet first thing in the morning. So I got up straight away, before this state of mind disappeared, and along the way quickly mixed some enriched dough to bake soft white sourdough rolls later (This excellent recipe.) Then gathered up my yarn and hook to do a star shaped round back in bed, while I sipped jasmine tea. I also caught up with some of last night’s Liza Tarbuck radio show.

It was a pleasure to wake up feeling so positive and energised after what’s been my worst week of lockdown so far. I asked friends on Thursday if:

“Anyone else feeling *really* fed up with it all this week, like it’s the hardest so far now?

Relentless. Dull. Negativity everywhere. The weather change probably doesn’t help.”

The answers came flooding in and without exception everybody said they felt exactly the same.

Yesterday I found the antidote to feeling really fed up:

~Sunshine and blue skies

~A really good 7.3 mile circular walk

~Walking another – new to us – section of Shakespeare’s Way

~Bumping into a friend in a churchyard

~Going to her garden for tea and chocolate cornflake cakes

~Non-stop chatter and LAUGHTER

~Stroking her sweet cats

~Walking back reflecting on what a cheer-up fest new scenery and seeing a good friend is!

~Well earned G&Ts & Bombay mix

I think all that helped to create the buzz of energy and positivity I’m feeling this morning.

How are you finding life? Hope you’re ok. What’s your antidote?

New & Exciting

Posted on May 28, 2020 by The Little Room of Rachell

Sarah from LoveCrafts.com contacted me recently. Happily, I realised I could probably say yes to a craft related offer for the first time in yonks!

LoveCrafts.com were previously LoveKnitting and LoveCrochet but they’ve bought all together in one website. They’re on instagram too and their account is @lovecrafts.com Apparently they check out all posts which include #LoveCrafts and feature some on their page.

Sarah wrote:

We are currently celebrating all things free, including the thousands of Free Crochet Patterns on our site! We would love for you to join the party – pick out a pattern and we’d love to send you the yarn to give the pattern a go yourself and share this with your readers so they can get involved also.

Whoop! Free Yarn! And why not?

One of my favourite crochet peeps Emma of Lulu Loves uses Paintbox Yarns often. I’ve always thought how squishy and soft the thicker yarns look. This offer seemed like the perfect opportunity to try some myself.

I chose a blanket pattern from their many free crochet patterns and my own colour palette.

Then I had a complete change of heart about the pattern, because dithering seems to be my new thing these days, but the yarn was already on the way. Oops. Oh well, I decided that actually my first big make should be something easy and relaxing. A summer crochet project which I could pick up and put down and which wouldn’t put my hand under too much pressure.

Plan B has worked out REALLY well because the Sleep Under the Stars blanket has got a similar overall quantity of yarn and it’s a really fun pattern. I’ve made three similar Star Ripple baby blankets before and I kept thinking how good it would be to have an adult sized star blanket to snuggle under… Wish now granted!

I chose Paintbox Simply Chunky in the following shades:

Granite grey / Mustard yellow / Slate grey / Misty grey / Pure black / Stormy grey

I was right about the yarn being squishy and incredibly soft. I’m loving it. Chunky yarn and a 6 mm hook means the pattern works up really quickly which is good as I’m limiting how much I do. I definitely made the right final pattern choice and I’m really happy!

What are you up to during these continuing lockdown days?

Yorkshire cowl …ready & warm

Posted on March 16, 2015 by The Little Room of Rachell

As you know I bought this yarn during my visit to Holmfirth last Monday. I’ve had my eye on it for ages as I just love the colours, especially the aqua blue and turquoise. As I wrote this title, following a discussion about farming, wool and the great wealth which came from wool in Yorkshire during decades gone by, it occurs to me that if this were one of those ‘big blogs’ there might be uproar from the wool purists. My Yorkshire cowl is made from 100% acrylic. It’s named because I crocheted it during a week there, and it’s always going to remind me of walks by the sea and the coastal path. The Storyboards site gives some information about the paths. Yorkshire Cowl

I chained until I was happy with the width (I hung it around my neck as I crocheted!) and then joined the chain to form a ring, no sewing up required!

James C. Brett Marble Chunky Yarn Shade MC44

I used 175g of the 200g ball

Width (circumference) 36″

Height 11″

6mm hook

>Chain until width desired, join into a ring making sure the chain is not twisted

>Crochet rounds of trebles or doubles or half trebles (UK terms)

Turning chains should be 1 for DC, 2 for HTR, 3 for TR, 5 for DTR. The turning chain for DC does not count as a stitch, all others do.

All doubles, trebles and half trebles go into the back loop of the stitch which creates nice ridges to the fabric.

>Crossed double trebles add a bit of texture and interest to the cowl: Chain 5, *miss a stitch and DTR into the next TR, DTR into the skipped TR* repeat from * to * . Make a single DTR into the last stitch, join with a SS to the top of the chain 5 from the beginning of the round.

Next time I might make the cowl slightly smaller in width, I think maybe 32-34″ but this is really warm and you can fold the excess at the front and tuck it under the rest. These are to show some the scrummy colours in the yarn. Some people are good at selfies, some are not; especially when in windswept Derbyshire visiting Hardwick Hall.

I took the photo below from the ruins of Hardwick Old Hall looking across to the New Hall. It’s ‘new’ as in built in the 16th Century. If you can visit both I recommend it, especially to see the Elizabethan embroidery and tapestries in the New Hall.What are you making at the moment?

Flowers & Seashells

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

Yesterday I was road-testing the flower key chain pattern for Adrianne of Teeny Weeny Design and trying to get over a streaming cold, so crochet in bed was in order.

Imagine my horror when I realised that the petals were made with a combination of dc (fine) tr (not an issue) htr (quite like them) and dtr (EEEEEK!)

The dreaded dtr and me have a bit of recent history as you might know. I even started a little dtr SOS thread on Ravelry. People there are sooo helpful and knowledgeable. If you want to ask anything crochet or knitting related there’s where you need to head right away.

I watched a very short and simple YouTube video, then got on with trying them again. They are not a problem with cotton! Not an issue at all!

I’m now waiting on the next set of instructions so I can carry on with the leaves and finishing off. I’ve taken my job seriously and emailed some suggestions for the clear translation of English terms etc. It’s been really fun!

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Today I have mastered dtr with chunky yarn too.

:-D :-D :-D

I’ve had a quiet morning sitting in the sun having a second go at The Chunky Seashell Scarf that I tried a week or so ago. The dtr for some reason are not a problem now! This new found ease must be from yesterday’s petal practice. Perhaps doing them with cotton gave me confidence to try using the more bulky chunky yarn and big 6mm hook?

Want to see? (Sorry, I’m being a bit naff-twee…as if having a crochet blog wasn’t twee enough ;-))

I’m off to The Little Room now, back into the sunshine to practise a few more dtrs -my tension needs to be consistent – while I recoup some more energy for the rest of the week ahead. A friend has given me a couple of Bollywood music cds. Fab crochet-while-chair-dancing about to happen!

Feel free to tell me what you’re working on at the moment, I love a poke around online into others crafty blogs and websites.