Colour recipes

It is a bit of a bug-bear of mine that so many crochet posts on social media are simply pictures, with no accompanying information about yarns, stitches, colours or techniques. Presumably the intention is for the reader to be impressed with the author’s skill or colour choice, but then what? What is to be learned by knowing that other people are making things that you admire, and no more than that?

Long-term readers of this blog will know that I always end a post by giving details of how the project was made. My initial reasons for this were quite selfish – I wanted to use the blog as a personal log, so that if I needed to repeat a project I would have a place to come back to with enough detail written down for that to be possible. I do still use it for that purpose quite often.

The second reason was more public-spirited – I am a teacher by training, and a learner by inclination, and I wanted to share my learning so that other people could benefit from it too. So here, for anyone who is interested, are the colour recipes for my granny rectangle baby blankets. If you find them useful I am glad, and if you do use any of them I would be delighted to know.

colour-recipes-2021Download

Top-knot baby hat

Having seen a few ‘top-knot’ hats on line, like this one by Annelies Baes, I thought I would have a go at making one myself:

Mine is made in Drops cotton merino dk in Lavender (23) on a 4.5mm hook. I actually started off with a free pattern by Justbehappylife, but ended up modifying it rather a lot, to make it in UK double crochet. I did scribble down what I was doing, so when I have had a chance to make another one I will share the pattern with you.

This one is for Molly Drew.

Grey is definitely a baby colour

This is the second time I have been asked to make a baby blanket in grey so I think it’s definite now – grey is a baby colour.

Mine is made in Drops cotton merino light grey (20), medium grey (18) grey (19) and off white (01) on a 5mm hook. The pattern is my favourite Bertie Baby Blanket by Little Doolally and just in case you are wondering if it is worth spending £4.80 on the pattern the answer is yes! I can’t count how many of these I have made now and every new colour combination gives me a little zing!

When pink or blue won’t do

I had a commission recently to make a baby blanket that was ‘not in baby colours’ and what fun I had completing it;

Made in Drops cotton merino off white (01) and medium grey (18) and some precious discontinued Rowan wool cotton clear (941). I think they work really well together, and hopefully the new mum will agree too.

I started with a chain of 101 which gave me 7 repeats of 14 stitches plus 3 and used Attic 24’s neat ripple pattern. My blanket measures 69 x 59cm and weighs 300g. It took 2 balls each of off white and clear, and 3 balls of medium grey, as I used that for the border too.

May challenge – Ric rac blanket

I came across this lovely stitch pattern on the Happy in Red blog, and then found the pattern for sale by Yummy Yarn and co.

It is a very simple but effective two row repeat, and I think it would lend itself to a lot of different colourways. Mine is 13 motifs wide (I think I started with a chain of 107) and 16 coloured stripes long. The finished blanket is 64 x 53cm and weighs 270g.

Made in Drops cotton merino off white (01), Wendy merino DK corn (2406) and fennel (2382), and Debbie Bliss Rialto DK Apricot (088). It took one ball of each of the three colours and three balls of the off white.

I did have major problems keeping my tension the same – which I can only put down to learning a new stitch. But a little light blocking saved the day!

One for the boys

Couldn’t resist the temptation to make another Bertie baby blanket in Drops cotton merino, and this time it’s one for the boys:

The colours are cream, ice blue, light grey and jeans blue and I used a 5mm hook, starting with a chain of 91 stiches to make a 9 motif wide blanket. The final blanket measures 77 x 60cm and took 4 balls of cream, and just over 1 ball of each of the blue colours, and weighs 350g.

And I managed to take a photo in some spring sunshine!

February challenge – It’s Bertie but not as we know him

I have been wanting for some time to make a Bertie baby blanket in a quality yarn, and recently had the opportunity to make one on commission.

Made in Drops cotton merino cream, powder pink, lilac and lavender on a 5mm hook. I started with a chain of 92 stiches to make a 91 double crochet starting row and a 9 motif wide blanket. The final blanket measures 77 x 60cm and took 4 balls of cream, and just over 1 ball of each of the pink colours. In total it weighs 340g

It is being gifted to a very ‘pink’ new mum – and I think she will love it!

Starring teddy

Time for teddy to make another appearance with my first baby blanket for 2018, and a resolution:

It is of course a granny rectangle, and this one is made in Drops cotton merino white (which is in fact a lovely warm cream colour), and Rico baby classic dk light grey, smokey blue and mauve (discontinued). I think the colours are quite calming and (in my view) also gender-neutral.

I am a little late with this year’s resolution and it might sound somewhat strange at first, but my aim is to crochet less. Before you all fall off your collective chairs I should explain a little. Last year turned out to be a year of frenetic trebling for me – baby blankets, scarves, dishcloths, you name it. I have to admit that I found the whole making thing very therapeutic, but I feel that this year less might be more.

I am not saying that there will be no more baby blankets this year (I am not even sure that would be possible) but that I will make an effort to improve my skills by trying different things. This will inevitably decrease my productivity but I think that might be a good thing.

So if you feel that I am blogging a little less, it will not be because I am neglecting you, or my crochet. It will hopefully be because I am trying something new and interesting and perhaps a little more time consuming. Wish me luck!

Twiddlemuff no. 6: join as you go squares

I have had four crochet squares made up to a Rowan pattern for ages, with no particular project in mind. Then looking through my stash recently I realised that two of them together would make one side of a twiddlemuff. A quick trawl through youtube found this short video on joining granny squares, and the result is here:

I also managed to join the two raw edges of the twiddlemuff ‘tube’ in the same way:

Made in Drops cotton merino grey, light grey and beige.
Now why has it taken me so long to learn this very useful method?

Candy crush cushion

It seems a long time ago now, but some of you might remember my Candy Crush baby blanket (here). Well I had some ends of yarn left over and managed to make some teeny tiny squares from them:

And there was just enough to put them together to make a cushion. I am quite pleased with it actually.

Charity blanket no. 9: Lily the pink

I love these colours – hot pinks muted to a lovely warmth with a charcoal background….

Made in James C Brett DK with merino DM23 (charcoal), Rowan wool-cotton Flower and Drops cotton-merino Lavender and Heather.

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

Candy crush blanket

).

Candy crush blanket

I should say at the start that I have never actually played the game this blanket is named after, but the bright colours remind me of sweet wrappers, and the name seemed to stick in my mind.

Made in Drops cotton merino dk on a 4mm hook, using Coral, Lilac, Powder pink, White, Light grey, and Pistachio.
I love the colours, and will happily use this combination again. It was nice to have some sunshine to photograph it in too:

The squares were no trouble at all to do, but the joining up was a trial, and I really must learn to join as you go….

Swatch time

Some of you may remember my baby ripple blankets in Sirdar simply recycled cotton:

Well the yarn for these blankets has been discontinued and, as my stash was almost gone, I felt a replacement was necessary. I had some Drops cotton-merino in stock and came up with these possibilities:

I am reasonably pleased with the blue colourway

But less sure about the pinks.
What do you think?

Perseverance

Things have been somewhat quiet on my blog of late – not due to a lack of crochet activity. but due to a distinct lack of success in my crochet activity. However I have persevered and I finally have a finished item to show you.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

There is a long story behind this one if you don’t mind bearing with me. It started off with the little cable cardigan that I made here, which turned out a bit too small for its intended recipient. It seemed a fairly easy task to start again with the same yarn, and a much more basic stitch to make a bigger one…..How wrong I was.
First of all I didn’t take into account how changing colour would affect the sides of the pieces and I ended up with gaping holes at every edge:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Secondly I had not thought out how a striped pattern would fit in with the sleeve shaping and ended up with this disastrous result:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I am not a perfectionist, but I really couldn’t live with the thought of using up good yarn on a piece I couldn’t be proud of, so I re-did the front and back to get rid of the holes:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

And re-did the sleeve shape to make something more compatible with the stripes:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

And now finally I have a cardigan I can pass on to my friend with pride.
Was it worth persevering with? I think so.
Will I be making another one any time soon? I think not!

Made in Drops cotton merino dk, medium grey, ice blue and jeans blue. It weighs 420g, and measures 40cm across the chest and 45cm shoulder to hem. Hopefully this one will fit!

Jack’s hat

I had some yarn left over from the cable cardigan, and wanted to make a little hat along the same lines. A quick search of Ravelry came up with this:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The pattern is a ‘Girly Preemie newborn hat’ by Julee Fort and it is free on Ravelry here. It is made of raised treble stitches with V-stitches in between, and has a clever increase system where for one row you crochet into the post, and into the top of each stitch, which doubles the stitch number while staying in pattern.
Mine would fit a newborn or premature baby, but to make a bigger one you could increase the number of stitches in the ring at the start of the pattern. Made in Drops cotton merino dk ‘Jeans blue’ on a 5mm hook.

Cable cardigan tah dah!

This project has been some time in the making, but I think it has been worth the wait. Do you remember way back in March I had these?

Well now I have this:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I went to crochet class at Kiki’s craft corner to learn how to make it, and the project has certainly taught me a lot. There was at least one point when I wondered if I would ever reach the end, but I am very glad that I persevered because I think the finished item is something to be proud of.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I made mine in Drops cotton merino DK ‘Jeans blue’ on a 4.5mm hook, and used 7 balls of yarn for a cardigan 35cm wide and 37cm long. I do have a toddler in mind for this cardigan so fingers crossed that it fits!

Better things

I have been ‘back to school’ to learn some new stitches at a local crochet class. It is such a pleasure to spend a morning sitting with like-minded folk learning something new.
I have already shown you a little peak of the back of this cardigan:

And here is the beginning of the front panels.

I know myself that they are not perfect but from a distance they look fine (!) and my confidence is growing the more that I do.
Our next class will start on the sleeves. Watch this space….

Too short

So here is a sneaky peek at another of my ‘winter blues’ projects. It is a toddler cardigan in a rather lovely cable pattern that I am being taught by Keira at our local craft centre.

Is it too short? No – I think I have stopped just in time to start decreasing for the sleeves. However I have decided that life is too short to spend my time crocheting with yarns that I don’t like, just because they happen to be cheap. So even though this is the first time I have tried this pattern, and it is definitely stepping out of my comfort zone, I am making it in a merino wool cotton mix.

Hopefully at the end of the process I will have an item to be proud of. If not I will have learned a lot by doing it, and no oil deposits will have been damaged during its creation!

Vicarno’s hoody – tah dah!

So I have finally finished crocheting round in circles to make the sleeves of this lovely hoody:

The hood itself was very straightforward, and only needed a couple of rows removing to fit the neck-line exactly:

I made it in Drops cotton merino dk medium grey, jeans blue and ice blue. It is made using half treble crochet throughout and I used a 4.5mm hook. If I did it again I might try and make the sleeve opening a bit more generous….. but I’ll get some feedback from a baby owner first!