Bertie sings the blues

There is something really quite soothing about making a Bertie baby blanket – just the right amount of repetition, and a satisfying rhythm…

This one is made in: Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino Teal (203), and silver (012), Scheepjes merino soft Michelangelo (603) and Raphael (602)., and Ella Rae cashmerino sport Icicle (29) and Fern (14). It took 3 balls of cream, two of teal and one each of the other blues and greys.

It is 9 pattern repeats wide so I started with a chain of 92, to make a 91stitch wide blanket. Mine was made on a 4.5mm hook and is cm wide and cm long. It weighs…

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Apple blossom blanket

I thought I would never be able to make another of these blankets, as the lovely Rowan ‘purelife’ organic cotton has been discontinued, but I have managed to find substitutes for most of the colours, and have come up with this:

I think the muted pinks and creams look lovely with the apple blossom which is out just now, and I am pleased that I will be able to make this particular blanket again. Of course now I want to work one up in blues……..

A blanket for Kerry Anne

You might remember that we have two dolls, saved from when our children were small, called Jack and Kerry Anne. Since I took up crochet they have provided me with some wonderful opportunities to try things on a small scale and find out if I like them.
So here, in the spirit of trying new things, is a blanket for Kerry Anne.

Made using a V-stitch, in Drops cotton merino on a 4mm hook. The colours are: pistachio, light grey, white, powder pink, lilac, and coral (left over from my https://iamsimplyhooked.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/candy-crush-blanket/).

Doing what I do best

I have had a nice time lately, making more of what I do best. Another Bertie baby blanket has been produced, and I will be dropping it off at the shop later this week.

I know there is a time for experimentation, a time for learning something new or for pushing the boundaries yarn- and colour-wise, but this felt good.

Made in Rico baby classic dk using lilac, light green, light blue, light grey, blue, ice blue and cream, on a 5mm hook. The original pattern is by Little Doolally on Ravelry.

More of the same

I have finished a couple of very satisfying projects, using up stashed yarn and re-stocking my ‘For sale’ bag.

Two baby blankets made in Sirdar simply recycled dk, on a 4.5mm hook. The colours are dip dye blue, canvas, camomile, grape, fleck, denim wash and pumice.

His and hers

I have managed to finish another of my ‘must use some yarn from stash’ projects.

It is a baby ripple blanket in Sirdar ‘simply recycled’ cotton, and if you have been following me for a while you might notice that it is very like the one I sent to baby Frank in New Zealand a few months ago.
https://iamsimplyhooked.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/flying-to-new-zealand/
I was pleased with the blanket at the time, and couldn’t resist buying more yarn when I saw it had been discontinued at Wool Warehouse. It is so frustrating to find the right combination of colours in a yarn that you like, only to have some of them discontinued a few months later. On the other hand I feel guilty keeping a stash of yarn that I don’t yet have a use for – it is a dilemma I am sure you have all had too.
Anyway I now have a pair of ‘his and hers’ blankets, ready to be sold. Hopefully to someone who likes muted colours and natural tones as much as I do!

Another Bertie baby blanket

I wanted to try a softer colour scheme for the Bertie baby blanket, and this is what I have come up with:

It is made in Rico baby classic dk on a 5mm hook, using blue, ice blue, light grey, cream, light green, light blue and lilac (discontinued). Why is it that just when I am thinking of using more of a yarn it gets discontinued??

Bertie baby blanket – tah dah!

I am so pleased with this….

It is a good example of why sometimes it is better to buy a pattern and have a guaranteed outcome, than spend ages messing around trying stitches to achieve the effect that you want without necessarily getting there. I had already spent most of a Saturday afternoon trying out wave-like stitches when I realised that the exact pattern that I wanted was available on Ravelry. For £3.00 my problem was solved and within minutes I was well on the way to making an actual blanket rather than just another swatch.

There are two big thank-you’s for this one:
Little Doolally on Ravelry for the Bertie baby blanket pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bertie-baby-cot-pram-blanket
Little Tin bird for the original colour suggestions from her baby ripple blanket number three: http://www.littletinbird.co.uk/2010/05/08/baby-ripple-number-three/

The yarn was Rico baby classic dk in cream (3 balls) plus one ball each of light blue, light green, light grey, turquoise, ice blue and blue. I cast on 90 +2 stitches, rather than the 80 +2 suggested, and used a 5mm hook. The final blanket is 71 x 54 cm and weighs 225g!
And here is a close up of the lovely stitch pattern:

The healing power of crochet

I have been off work for a while recuperating from a small operation. Long periods of rest were required, which turned into long periods of time spent in the company of some yarn and a crochet hook.
I made four blankets….

Three cushions, three scrunchies, several mushrooms (!) one mandala and countless granny squares….
To be honest I did not make a very good patient, but I can think of no better way of spending time sitting down than doing so with a crochet hook in hand. And I am hopeful, really hopeful, that next week I will be fit enough to go back to work and stay there!

Busy as a bee

The sun has been shining and I have been busy making my honeycomb blanket.

Unfortunately the midge season has started here in Scotland and the bees were not the only insects flying around as I crocheted.

Baby ripple blanket – one for the boys

At last – a finished project!

It is made in Sirdar Simply Recycled 51% cotton/49% acrylic yarn, and the colours are Denim wash, Dip-dye blue, Fleck, Pumice and Canvas, made in treble crochet on a 4.5mm hook. I used Lucy from Attic 24’s neat ripple pattern, and her method for filling in the gaps at the beginning and end of the blanket (Thank you Lucy!)
http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/neat-ripple-pattern.html

The layout for the stripes is the same as my last Baby Ripple blanket (one for the girls) and is shown here:
pink ripple layout

I cast on 101 stitches for the blanket, and worked as many rows as it took to get a good rectangle shape that ended with the same colour that I had started with (in this case pumice). The finished blanket measures 65x54cm and took 2 balls of dip-dye blue, and one ball of each of the other colours.

I’d love to see other people’s ripple blankets too….

Bertie baby blanket – work in progress

It has been a while since I have blogged a work in progress – and this one is a bit of a departure from my usual colour palette.

It is a pattern that I bought from Little Doolally on Ravelry, and I can highly recommend it – very simple stitches, very clearly explained, and I love the honeycomb effect that it produces.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bertie-baby-cot-pram-blanket

The yarn is Rico baby classic, and I’ll let you know what colours I have used once I am a bit further along with it!
The tiny pencil case is from Paperchase and makes an excellent crochet hook holder.

And in case anyone is wondering – no I have not finished the blue ripple blanket (waiting for yarn), nor made the linings for my cable cushions (waiting for a clear table!) So I had at least two of what are known locally as UFO’s (Unfinished objects) when I started this one…..
How many UFO’s have you got?

Another baby ripple blanket – work in progress

Do you ever do this – finish a project and straight away start working out what other colours you could do it in?

The yarn is Sirdar ‘Simply Recycled’ dk in Dip-dye blue, Denim wash, Fleck, Pumice and Canvas, on a 4.5mm hook. I am not sure if it is blue enough yet, but I am working on it.
The Winnie the Pooh tin is my pin store – a little over 30 years old now!

Baby ripple blanket – one for the girls

I have recently discovered Sirdar ‘Simply Recycled’ acrylic/cotton dk yarn, and love its muted tones.

The colours are Camomile, Grape, Fleck, Pumice and Canvas, made in treble crochet on a 4.5mm hook. I used Lucy from Attic 24’s method for rippling, and filling in the gaps at the beginning and end of the blanket (Thank you Lucy!)

The main change I made to my last Ripple blanket was to do double rows of ‘background’ colours and single rows of ‘highlight’ colours. This allowed me to mix a wider variety of tones than I have in the past – and got rid of that one neat edge, one scrappy edge problem that comes with only changing colours on even rows!

The colour progression is quite interesting – I had three ‘background’ colours (Pumice, Canvas and Camomile) and two ‘highlight’ colours (Fleck and Grape) and alternated them as shown in the ‘pink ripple layout’ link below. Although there are only five colours in the blanket there is quite a long pattern repeat (about 21cm) which I think is pleasing. The arrangement also gives some interesting colour effects as each highlight colour gets the chance to stand out against all three background colours.

pink ripple layout

http://www.deramores.com/blog-awards: This blog entry is my submission to the Deramores Blog Awards 2014.
Deramores is the UK’s number one online retailer of knitting and crochet supplies.

Pretty in pink

My current work-in-progress is a baby ripple blanket in soft pinks and greys.

The yarn is Sirdar ‘simply recycled’ dk in Camomile, Grape, Fleck, Pumice and Canvas, on a 4.5mm hook.
The darker purple is Rowan glace Garnet (I think) but it didn’t pass the test swatch audition!

The paintbox blanket

So called because the coloured squares and cream borders remind me of a child’s paintbox

Made in Debbie Bliss Rialto 4 ply 100% wool, on a 4mm hook, using Mauve, Sea green, Pale blue and Silver. The other colours are from my friend’s stash collection (everyone needs a friend like this!) The border is Rowan wool-cotton 4 ply in Antique.
The idea for the blanket came from a French website called ‘knitted art’ (see below) and the chart for the squares is by Denise Plourde on Irishlace.net, although I modified the corners slightly. The border is a lovely triangle shape, from a tutorial by Moogly on Youtube.
Did I have fun? Yes!

http://knittedart.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/sept-jours-sept-liens-22/
http://www.irishlace.net/crochet/granny-squares.html

Finished ripple blanket

And here is the finished product…

Made in Rico baby classic dk blue, ice blue, turquoise and light grey on a 4.5mm hook. I used Lucy from Attic 24’s tutorial on how to ripple, and fill in the gaps at the start and end of the ripples (see below) then finished with a plain border of treble crochet.

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/neat-ripple-pattern.html

Another retro baby blanket

The original colour scheme for ThredHED’s lovely retro baby blanket

The pattern is by Heather Westerby of ThredHED (see her blog below) and she donated it to MSF’s pennies per hour of pleasure scheme. You can download it as a pdf patern in UK or US terms, and it also has a really helpful chart. In return you give a donation to MSF. It is such an effective pattern using very easy stitches and I have already had hours of pleasure from making it.
Crocheted on a 4mm hook using Stylecraft ‘Life’ (75% acrylic, 25% wool) in mint, silver grey, and charcoal. The yellow is Wendy Jubilee DK (also 75% acrylic, 25% wool) in Vanilla. Although I love the buttery yellow colour the Wendy yarn doesn’t have such a good stitch definition as the Stylecraft yarn, and I won’t be using it again. It used less than 100g of each colour and my final blanket measures 76 x 54 cm.

http://thred-hed.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/retro-babybuggy-blanket.html

http://www.p-hop.co.uk/index.php/patterns/crochet-patterns/retro-baby-buggy-blanket/

The colour purple

I have just finished a mitred square blanket in a purple colour scheme

It is made in Rowan wool cotton DK on a 4mm hook, in Bilberry, Grand, Frozen, Clear and Antique.
The cushion is bought (Gisela Graham I think) and I would like to make one myself – in some kind of shell stitch?

Three of a kind

 

Three different colurways of the mitred square blanket

Perhaps I should move onto something new soon!