Gretchen

Gretchen

is my first test for Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love. 

Gretchen is a lovely blanket made in Overlay Mosaic technique.
The original blanket measures about 110 x 130 cm big and is made with 4 different colours. It is a written pattern with row by row pictures, but it also contains charts. The blanket has a plain double border and some nice tassels. 

The pattern is available in Ana’s Ravelry store.

My version of Gretchen

As I joined the test relatively late and didn’t have much time to complete it, I only made a small version: 4 repeats in width and 4 repeats in height, plus the 3 final rows. My finished blanket is about 58 x 80 cm including the border.

I used Stylecraft Special DK in only two colours, Pistachio and Meadow. Originally it was Ana’s idea to combine these two . This is a combination that is definitely out of my „comfort zone”! But – surprise -I absolutely love the result!

I replaced the main color, C1, with Meadow and the colors C2, C3, and C4 with Pistachio.
Following the pattern, the complete border should be done in color C1. I was a bit afraid of running out of Meadow, so I decided to do the back layer of the border in Pistachio and only the front layer in Meadow. My slip stitch round for the border is done in Pistachio.

The slip stitches and the first round of the border really were the hardest part. You have to concentrate and look very closely so that you don’t skip or miss a stitch. Not so easy if you don’t use a high-contrast color. My eyes almost started to water. But the result made up for it completely.

As my test piece is really small, I made some changes to the tassels. I only used two strands of yarn, one in each colour. Otherwise, they probably would have become too dominant.

To me, this was a relaxing project, and as one repeat goes over 30 rows, it didn’t get boring at all!

It is kind of strange, but when I do Mosaic crochet, there are some patterns where I prefer to follow the written instructions and others where I love to follow the charts. For me, Gretchen was definitely was a pattern to follow the chart! Don’t ask me why …

But no matter wether you work according the written instructions or the chart, in some rows it can be helpful to mark the end of a repeat with a stitch marker.

Impressions of my test project

The first repeat

Ready for the border

My finished Gretchen

I really loved testing this pattern! 

I am sure Ana had very special memories whilst designing this pattern and some special memories have accompanied me too:

My great-aunts name was Gretchen. In Germany this is an affectionate form for Margarete. 

Aunt Gretchen was born at the end of the 19th century and was the younger sister of my Grandma. After the Second World War, they lived together in a little house with a huge garden. So I was back in my childhood, sitting in the yard, playing with the wooden toys my Grandpa made for me, and having some fresh peaches or currants… sigh*