Some of you will remember the original ‘Flying to New Zealand‘ blanket, which I made for my first great-nephew. The blanket has stood the test of time, but sadly the yarn that it was made in (Sirdar simply recycled) was discontinued some time ago.
I have been looking for a replacement for those lovely chalky colours and natural cottony feel, and have come up with this:
Made in Scheepjes Softfun Denim (2489), Slate Blue (2602), Cloud (2530). Mist (2627) and Lace (2426) on a 4.5mm hook. The pattern is Attic 24’s Neat ripple pattern, and my blanket is 7 ripples wide. It took two balls of Denim and one ball each of the other colours.
It is a long time since I have made a ripple blanket, but I have one on my hook right now:
Made in almost the last of my Sirdar simply recycled dk stash, in dip dye blue, canvas, fleck, demin wash and pumice on a 4.5mm hook.
I would also like to report that I am 20 days into my self-imposed yarn drought and still holding out!
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.
I know that dishcloths aren’t the most memorable of objects, but this one is also a pattern swatch.
The stitch is called ‘Fan and V’ and it is from Sarah Hazell’s lovely book ‘200 crochet stitches’ which has photo’s, written instructions and charts to guide you through each stitch.
It is made in Sirdar ‘simply recycled’ dk ‘Greenhouse’ (discontinued) on a 5mm hook, and I think I cast on 42 stitches. The final cloth measures 24 x 24cm, and took about 35g of yarn.
So the good news is I have a new dishcloth, and one less ball of yarn in my stash. I am too embarrassed to tell you how many balls there are still to go….
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.
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!
It is a while since I have blogged, but I have not been entirely idle. Some time ago I resolved to use up some of my stash before buying more yarn, and this has been a surprisingly creative decision! In an inspired moment I modified the pattern for the tuck-away string bag so I could crochet the handles first and simply stop crocheting the bag itself when I ran out of yarn. So I now have three less balls of yarn in my stash, and three more useful string bags:
I have attached the pattern here: Stashbuster string bag and would be pleased to have feedback from anyone who tries it out.
Here is a picture of the start of the bag itself, which always strikes me as rather pretty:
Written in UK crochet terms ch = chain dc = double crochet (sc/us) tr = treble (dc/us) ss slip stitch.
Handles (make 2): Leave a long tail and cast on 30 stitches. Do 2 rows of dc, leave another long tail and fasten off. The tails should be on opposite ends of the handle. You will use these to attach the handles to the finished bag.
Base circle (make 2): Make a magic loop (or chain 5 and ss into first stitch)
Ch 3, do 8 tr into magic loop (= round 1, 9st) ss into ch
Ch 3, do 2 tr into each stitch space (= round 2, 18st) ss into ch
Ch 3, do 2tr into each double stitch space on previous row, and 1 tr into each single stitch space (= round 3, 27st) ss into ch
Ch 3, do 2tr into each double stitch space on previous row, and 1 tr into each single stitch space (= round 4, 36st) ss into ch
Ch 3, do 2tr into each double stitch space on previous row, and 1 tr into each single stitch space (= round 5, 45st) ss into ch
Ch 3, do 2tr into each double stitch space on previous row, and 1 tr into each single stitch space (= round 6, 54st) ss into ch
Ch 3, do 1 tr into each stitch space on previous row. (= round 7, 54 st) ss into ch.
Fasten off.
Place circles right sides together and dc them together leaving a gap of 13sts.
Make buttonhole: Dc 6 across gap edge, 2ch, miss 1 dc, 6dc.
String bag body: Chain 8 miss 2dc, dc in next dc, chain 8, continue around and include 2nd gap edge.
Next round: chain 8, dc in next ch 8 space. Continue like this until you have run out of yarn, or until the bag is as big as you want it. Fasten off.
Attach handles: Approx 5 loops apart on bag. Fasten off.
Sew button on: to the base circle opposite the buttonhole.
I used Sirdar simply recycled dk, which is an acrylic/cotton mix, and a 5mm hook. The colour is called ‘pollen’ and it bears a slightly unfortunate resemblance to a burger bun when folded up (perhaps I could develop this as a theme!)
It does however open to form quite a spacious bag….
My nephew and his partner have recently had a baby boy in New Zealand, and I sent a crocheted blanket out to them:
I now have a lovely picture of baby Frank, wrapped in his blanket, to treasure.
Astonishingly the blanket co-ordinates perfectly with their duvet cover – who knew?
My daughter requested some new scrunchies this week, so I raided my stash and came up with these:
I made her one some time ago by crocheting around an elastic band, but that broke quite quickly so these are based on a 10cm length of 5mm wide sewing elastic. The method is fairly simple – sew the elastic into a circle, double crochet as many stitches as will fit round the elastic circle. Then do a row of treble crochet making two trebles into every stitch. Finish off and thread in ends as usual, then give to the happy recipient!
You will recognise the yarn, and the blankets that they were used for!
Sirdar Simply Recycled in Camomile and Denim wash, and Rowan cotton glace in Garnet.
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….
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!
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.
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.
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!
Simply hooked 