I love yarn and I love working with yarn. I especially love crochet and Tunisian crochet.
Sometimes I test crochet patterns, sometimes I design something myself and sometimes I just make something nice for myself.
256 rows, Pattern 1 – 14, following the Cal pattern
Border
Double border
Finished Size
114 x 148 cm
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
And for those who are interested – my detailed yarn amounts
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
Long overdue update, June 2024: I’ve finally redesigned the documents with my colour scheme. Please don’t be surprised that it looks a little different, the content is the same.
Part 6 is the final part of the Winter Wonderland Cal, the instructions for the border.
It is a double border that will hide all the yarn ends. If you don‘t like double borders you can of course chose another variant. In connection with the border of my Geometrics blanket, I recently wrote how I feel about it. I don’t want to repeat myself here now, only so much: I love double borders! They are a great finish for a blanket and absolutely worth the effort. At least in my opinion.
Unfortunately this time I had some difficulties with my slip stitch round. I had planned to make a two coloured border with a back layer in Lipstick and front layer in a mix of Graphite and Lipstick. So I thought a slip stitch round in red would look nice. I started my slip stitch round in Lipstick – and had to start over, and over, and over again but didn’t get it neat.
I have recently noticed that there are differences in the thickness of acrylic yarns, even within a brand. In any case, the thread of my Lipstick seemed to be thicker and this may have caused the problems. I don’t know. My solution was to switch to Silver, so that I at least had some contrast at the top and the bottom side. I need new glasses and this made it easier to identify the stitches when working the first round.
From then on, everything went smoothly. Until I finished the first round of the front layer. Ana’s way of working a double border leaves a narrow line of the slip stitch round visible right next to the border. The Silver looked good combined with the grey parts on top and bottom of the blanket but I didn’t like the look in the darker parts of the sides at all. So I started over again and simply worked through both loops on the long sides.
If you follow my colour way I would advise that you use red for the slip stitch round! If you have the same problems as I had, I’d suggest that you use Grey or Graphite but not Silver or White. But keep in mind that Grey and Graphite will be hardly visible on the top and bottom sides.
Long overdue update, June 2024: I’ve finally redesigned the documents with my colour scheme and combined the download into one document. There you will also find the total amount of yarn required. Details on the yarn consumption are listed in this post. Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.
Now it is already week 5 of the Winter Wonderland Cal. It is the last part before the border.
As I already mentioned in my post on part 2 of the Cal, I ran into some timing issues during testing. Sometimes life gets pretty busy and we had urgent work to do on the house that couldn’t be postponed.
To get the test finished in time I had to stop working on my blanket and checked the pattern by doing a swatch over 2 repeats. Starting with pattern 11 in part 4 of the Cal …
I just used some leftover yarns that I had lying in my basket. I didn’t really care about the colours, but I like the colours I have picked up. Completely different to my blanket and a more rustic look which I also really like. What do you think?
Stylecraft Special DK in Parchment and Mocha combined with King Cole Comfort DK in the colour Stonewash.
After that I could finally finish my blanket in peace. And this is how part 5 looks in my „regular” colours.
Winter Wonderland Cal – Part 5
My entire blanket, just before adding the border.
My colour scheme.
Long overdue update, June 2024: I’ve finally redesigned the documents with my colour scheme and combined the download into one document. There you will also find the total amount of yarn required. Details on the yarn consumption are listed in this post. Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.
Week 4 of the Winter Wonderland has come. Time for the snowmen!
But before I show you the colours I used for part 4 here my
My final yarn amounts
I already listed the rough yarn amounts last week when I was still working on the border. Now here some more details, including the leftovers.
I needed a total of 13 balls Stylecraft Special DK and used 1.044 g / 3.080 m of them . This is nearly the same amount that Ana used for her blanket.
My colours Part 4
To be honest I was struggling a bit with my colour choices for this part.
Since Graphite and Lipstick that I used for pattern 8 is relatively dark, I thought that the blanket could do with something lighter again. That’s why I chose White and Silver for the part with the snowmen.
But, after I had finished their bodies and started on the heads, I wasn’t sure if this was really such a good choice. They looked kind of plump and pale.
Do you see what I mean?
But unfortunately, time usually plays a major role when testing a pattern. You have to think twice wether you rip back 15 rows or not. And as long as there is no mistake that inevitably catches the eye, you probably let it be. And so I continued even if I wasn’t very happy about it.
I was all the more pleased when I noticed that Ana had created this little fun touch! Little shawls to dress the snowme.n. They really do wonders, don‘t they?
I made 8 little shawls in Graphite and 1 Lipstick. The red shawl is worn by snowman No. 3 (the third seen from the right). I used 40 chains and I think they are exactly the right length.
.
And here my colours for part 4
Long overdue update, June 2024: I’ve finally redesigned the documents with my colour scheme and combined the download into one document. You can find a summary of the entire Cal in this post. Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.
Oh wow, it is already week 3 of the Winter Wonderland Cal!
I am currently working on the border. So next week I will be able to tell you how much yarn I used in total, how much is left, etc.
I was really a bit sad when – after these weeks – had worked the last stitch of the blanket section and cut the last thread! Such a beautiful pattern – I enjoyed testing it so much. Ok, I know I often say that! But this time it is the first time that I am 100 % happy with my colour placement. Somehow that makes it very special for me!
So, here my part 3.
My colour placement
Overdue update, June 2024: I’ve finally redesigned the documents with my colour scheme and combined the download into one document. There you will also find the total amount of yarn required. Details on the yarn consumption are listed in this post. Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.
I really hoped that the weather would get better here, but it is a typical November this year. Cold, grey, rainy and foggy. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to take some nice pictures after I had finished part 2. I actually wanted to catch up on this now. … Well … – now these will have to serve.
I’m currently working on the last twenty rows. Phew! I don’t think this has ever happened to me before. That a pattern has already been published, but I haven’t finished my test project yet. But sometimes, unfortunately, life gets in the way! I am very happy that I could at least finish the test beforehand by only doing a small swatch over 2 repeats for the last part. I used some yarn that I had on hand but actually I like the colours very much. I will have to take a picture to show you – it looks completely different.
Yarn Update
Now that I am almost finished with the blanket, I can better estimate how much yarn I will need. At the moment they are, for the blanket
4 balls White
2 balls Silver
2 balls Grey
2 balls Graphite
1 ball Lipstick
For the border I will need an extra ball Lipstick and probably one more Graphite.
My colour placement
And here the colours I used for part 2
Long overdue update, June 2024: I’ve finally redesigned the documents with my colour scheme and combined the download into one document. There you will also find the total amount of yarn required. Details on the yarn consumption are listed in this post. Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.
Recently I have often had to answer the question of how much yarn you need if you want to replace the yarn used in the instructions for a pattern with a different one. I would therefore like to tell you what problems I had with it at the beginning and how I now calculate my individual yarn needs.
Usually, the yarn used and the amount required are included in the pattern. So far so good. The problem often starts when you want to use a different brand or – even worse – a different weight of yarn for your project.
Different yarn weights – my nightmare
All the different yarn types, weights and yardages can be very confusing. I still remember well when I started crocheting again about 10 years ago, I was helpless when it came to choosing the right yarn. That was the time when I started working according to English patterns and most of them called for foreign yarns. Brands like Stylecraft, Scheepjes and Caron, to name only a few, were not available in our German retail stores. So I had to replace them with other brands. In Germany, there is also no system that classifies the different yarn weights. Only in the last few years the American system has been adopted by some companies. So I was really lost as I had no idea what was meant by terms like DK, Aran, sport weight, fingering and so on.
At first I thought that the needle size indicated on the banderole was decisive. Believe me, it isn’t. Picking a yarn based on this often meant that I had too much or too little yarn and/or that my crochet piece was not the size I wanted because my yarn was too thick or too thin.
After getting it wrong several times, I started ordering my yarn from foreign online stores to get the exact yarn that was called for in the pattern. This is how I discovered that there is a system abroad that categorises yarns into different groups. It was only after I had done a little research into the different yarn weights that I realised that the thickness of the yarn also affects the length of the thread.. This is actually logical, a thinner thread must be longer to weigh the same as a thicker one. A thicker one will be shorter instead. I had just never thought about it.
An example:
DK yarn (#3) has a yardage of between 240 and 300 m per 100 g ball, while Aran yarn (#4) has only 120 to 240 metres for the same weight.
With this knowledge, I have changed my personal system for selecting a suitable yarn. If I shop in Germany and the yarn label doesn’t say what thickness / yarn weight it is, the yardage helps me. I just have to remember the running lengths of the different yarn groups and I will know that a ball with, say, 145 metres per 50 g is a DK weight because it will have 290 metres per 100 g.
But I have learnt even more. The yardage is also helpful if I want to use a different yarn weight to the one given in the pattern. Here is an example:
Changing yarn weights
Let us say your pattern calls for 3 balls of Stylecraft Special DK but you would like to use Aran because you like your piece to be a little thicker. 3 balls Special DK are 300 g but if you buy 300 g Aran, you will definitely have too little yarn. How much do you need then? I calculate it using the yardage. Simply look at the amount of yarn needed for the pattern and calculate how many metres or yards it will be. To do this, multiply the number of balls by the length of one ball. This gives you the total yardage you need.
Now take a look at the yarn you want to use. What is the yardage of one ball? Divide the total yardage you calculated earlier by the yardage of one skein of the yarn you want to use and you will know how many balls you need to buy.
If you need more than one colour, repeat this for each colour.
To visualise this calculation, please just look at the picture below.
I never went wrong this way! At least it works for classically twisted yarns. Modern yarns with a completely different structure might be different.
The yardage of a yarn is always is indicated on the label. In many patterns, the length of the yarn is given together with the information on the yarn used. If this information is missing, simply search for the yarn in the internet, either in an online shop or directly at the manufacturer.
But please bear in mind that changing the yarn weight will affect the size of your project. For garments such as jumpers etc, I would advise against this unless you also know how to adjust the pattern.
Winter Wonderland, the new Cal by Ana Morais Soares / One Skein of Love started today. Are you ready?
As promised, I will list the colours I used row by row here At the end of this post you will find a document to download.
I used Stylecraft Special DK in White, Silver, Grey, Graphite and Lipstick. Although the pattern has now been fully tested, I am unfortunately still working on my blanket. Therefore, I am not yet able to give any details about my total yarn consumption. I will keep you updated as soon as possible.
Here a photo of „my Part 1”. Aren‘t these reindeers cute?
And here my colour placement
Update June 2024:
It’s long overdue: I’ve finally redesigned the documents with my colour scheme and combined the download into one document. There you will also find the total amount of yarn required. Details on the yarn consumption are listed in this post. Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.
Winter Wonderland is my current test project and the reason why it is pretty quite here. Ana really is keeping me busy!
Finally I can at least share some sneak peeks of this lovely pattern by Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love.
Winter Wonderland Cal hooked by ELeni
It will be her next Cal, starting on November 11. For 6 weeks she will publish a part of the pattern once a weeK. So the last part, the border, will be released on December 16. For those who want to finish it before Christmas. The blanket consists of 14 different patterns, all of which are related to winter or Christmas.
For her blanket, Ana used a lovely yarn from hobbii, called Winter Glow. Hobbi is a European online shop, originally located in Denmark.
Winter Glow is a wonderful variegated yarn (wool and acrylic mix) and the fiber varies a bit in thickness. It is ranged as Aran yarn. Ana combined two green shades of Winter Glow and a solid cream Acrylic yarn.
After sharing my project in several Facebook groups I was often asked how much yarn would be needed in DK quality.
Well, since Ana used about 3.100 m of yarn for her blanket, you need about 1.100 g DK yarn in total (based on Stylecraft Special DK). The actual consumption naturally depends on how many colours you use and what the colour combination will look like.
For all those who have difficulties to work out how much they will need from another yarn, I have put some information here.
For my blanket I use Stylecraft Special DK in White, Silver, Grey, Graphite and Lipstick. White is my main colour.
Since I am still working on my blanket I can’t say exactly how much yarn I will need. I roughly calculated 5 balls of White, 2 balls Lipstick and 2 – 3 balls of the other colours. Probably a little too much, but I wanted to be on the safe side.
For all who are interested, I will publish here which colors I used for each row.
I hope you will take part in this great Cal. You can find the pattern here.
At this point, many thanks for the nice compliments I received on my choice of colour. To be honest, I am not very good at choosing colours. That’s why I’ve looked at a lot of mood boards lately. I found this color combination at Pippin Poppycock. So the credit goes to her!
Please also see my other posts about Winter Wonderland:
Part 7 of the Geometrics Cal is out. It‘s the final part, the border.
The blanket is finished with a nice, plain double border. I did mine in two colours and used Walnut for the back layer and Copper for the front.
Do you like double borders?
Apparently many people don’t like double borders. There are always complaints about the slip stitch round on crochet forums. I remember quite well: after reading all that, I was really scared of it when I started crocheting overlay mosaic. I was so scared that I left my first piece – a little table mat – with a fringe. This also was the reason that I switched to the so-called inset mosaic. You don’t have to handle all the yarn ends there. But of course you also need a border for inset mosaic. The first pattern I worked on didn’t suggest a border, and I had no idea what I could do myself. In my search for inspiration, I came across a double border that works without slip stitches and is based solely on front post double crochet. I just gave it a try and the result was quite nice. The border gave the blanket a nice drape. It is probably an acceptable alternative to the classic double border. But I don’t think the front post dc do go with every pattern.
At some point, the time had come for me too.I did my first double border with a slip stitch start when I was testing Gretchen. As a tester you have no chance to escape, lol.
First I had to experiment a little with the tension for my slip stitches and tried out different hook sizes. But then: Wow! … Since then I’ve been a fan of double borders with slip stitch rounds!! A double border is such a nice finish. And the slip stitches ensure that the border looks neat and lies flat. I just love it! And I love doing a slip stitch round. In my opinion, it is a fairy tale that it is complicated and takes forever. After all the work you put into your blanket it is absolutely worth the effort!
Two advices though: either keep your slip stitches a bit relaxed (but not too loose) or go up a hook size AND count your stitches!
Here some more impressions of my finished blanket. Hubby grabbed it and loves it. And I am very pleased of how it turned out myself!
Happy hooking!
Edit, January 2024: Over the last few days I have revised my posts on the Geometrics Cal and the associated documents. As a supplement, you can now also download my complete colour scheme in one pdf-document here:
Hooked on Häkelmaschen 