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.
The last few weeks have been very busy. In July, Ana from One Skein of Love asked me if I could help with another test: a blanket in Overlay Mosaic crochet that she designed for a CAL (crochet along).
Of course, I said yes!
But the timeframe was pretty tight. I started the test on July 27 and finished my blanket on September 10. So only a little over 6 weeks to crochet
207 chains for the foundation
54.441 stitches for the blanket
940 slip stitches and 8 chains to start the border
1.928 stitches plus 16 chains for the back layer of the border
3.840 stitches plus 32 chains for the front layer of the border
and 972 slip stitches and 12 single crochet for the final round
That makes a total of 62.396 stitches – if I haven’t miscounted. PHEW!
Not included are the stitches I had to rework because my tension was off due to some yarn problems!
But never mind, it was worth it! And I am happy to show the first sneak peeks.
I wanted to make my Geometrics to match my When Summer turns into Fall blanket (I‘m still working on) so I chose the same colours and used
Parchment, 4 balls
Walnut, 4 balls
Copper, 2 balls
Lime, 2 balls
Gold, 1 ball
(At least that is what I have noted, hope it is correct.)
Since I didn’t follow Ana’s colour scheme, I’ll list my colour placement for each part of the Cal in the following posts.
The Cal will start on September 23 and I hope many, many people will join! You will find more information on Anas Ravelry page.
I was thinking about this step for the last months and spend a lot of time testing and comparing tools for creating a website. In the end I decided on WordPress because it is relatively widespread and WordPress themes or sites can be hosted by a large number of providers, regardless of their own web modules. And the biggest advantage: it was relatively easy for me to learn without much knowledge of html, CSS and the like.
Nevertheless I already know what I will miss about Blogger: the possibility to use different fonts and colours. For this I can place my pictures better here, define distances and write my texts more easily. Something that has always driven me crazy on my tablet so far. And that was worth the change!
As you may have noticed I also changed the name of my blog. I also thought about that for a long time. As I said, I wanted to create a connection between my native language and my crochet language because sometimes I really get tangled up in both. When I write something I often catch myself mixing English and German. So I think it represents me best if that is also reflected in the name of my blog.
The word Häkelmaschen may seem strange to you. In German it is written with ä, an umlaut, which doesn‘t exist in the english alphabet. Therefore I wanted to keep it simple and replaced the ä with an a in my web address (usually the ä is replaced with ae). After this little digression in the german language:
I hope you like my new blog – which is actually the old one – as much as I do! Thanks for stopping by.
I just want to show you the new pattern by BebaBlanket that I was able to test earlier this year
Caramel Chocolate Cake
You have to look at the photos from BebaBlanket, her original blanket looks just YUMMY.
Mine is more a Blueberry Cream Cake but it was absolutely fun to test this pattern. The skill level for this pattern is upper intermediate. There are a lot of interesting stitches and stitch combinations.
I used King Cole Baby Comfort Dk in the colours Pebble and Jeans. Here some impressions of my test piece
Where has this year gone? Now it’s already August and I have the feeling that I can’t really finish any of my private projects. My Seashell Dudes, my When Summer turns into Fall blanket are still WIPs. My new blog is still not completely finished, let alone that I have already decided on a hosting provider.
But I have finished the test for Pam Knighton-Haener / A Yarn of Serendipity. It was quite a new experience because this time I checked the written instructions and also the videos she made for certain rounds. But more on that later when the pattern is published.
And I am working on a really big project: I am testing the pattern for a CAL that will probably start at the end of September! It will be a blanket in Overlay Mosaic technique but I can‘t reveal more yet …
I don‘t know how it is with you, but in Germany the summer 2021 is very changeable. It almost reminds me of the summers in my childhood when the climate crisis was not felt as clearly as it is now. We have quite a lot of rain and so far the heat waves that we had in the past few years have not materialized. Last year we had between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius around this time. I remember it so well because back then I tested Mosaic Christmas for BebaBlanket. That was a crazy feeling to test a Christmas pattern at 35 degrees!
Mosaic Christmas
was my second pattern in Overlay Mosaic. My first one was a placemat made with Chevron Apache Waves.I already mentioned it in this post. Mosaic Christmas is a pattern designed by BebaBlanket. It has charts for 4 different motifs, Christmas Trees, Snowflakes, gifts and an ornament that can be used as a separation.The main repeat goes over 45 stitches so the size is easily adjustable and you can create a lot of different items.
Mine was meant to be either a wall hanging or a table runner, it became a table runner.
I used Stylecraft Special Dk in Cypress and Cream. My Christmas Decoration is mostly red, so Green and White/cream is always a perfect match.
I only worked two repeats in width using the following layout
Ornaments / Christmas Trees / Gifts Snowflakes Gifts / Christmas Trees / Ornaments
I didn‘t work a border but crocheted over the tails. Today I would just do a double border because I think it is a great finish but since it was only my second Overlay pattern I was just scared about all the tails. :D
So, as it is already August, if you are looking for a nice Christmas project, here some more pics
Phew, another pattern test is finished: No Limits, the new pattern by BebaBlanket.
No Limits is an Overlay Mosaic pattern worked in rounds but the pattern has also an option to work in rows. There are different charts for pattern variations, 3 for working in the round and 1 for working side to side. The best is: all variations can be combined with each other. And, when working in the round you don‘t have to cut the yarn after each round. All colour changes are made in one corner and you just carry the yarn along.
My No Limits is based on pattern variation No 2. It is made with King Cole Comfort DK in the colour Truffle (colour A) and Stylecraft Special DK in Cream (colour B) with a 4,5 mm hook.
I worked according to the chart as it is drawn (up to round 30) and repeated the pattern starting with round 19. After 3 repeats I had to stop because I ran the risk that my Truffle would not be enough for another repeat. I finished the pattern with one more round 19 in colour A and a round of back loop single crochet, also in the colour A.
My finished No Limits measures 80 cm in a square, big enough to cover my knees and lap on a chilly day.
A lovely pattern that is also suitable to play with colors a bit. But I especially like the corners.
is the new pattern by Ana Morais Soares from One Skein Of Love. At the end of last month, Ana asked me if I could test this pattern. As she wanted to release the pattern in the middle of July I didn’t have enough time to make a complete blanket. So I first tested just one repeat by crocheting a small swatch with 45 stitches and 44 rows and started the blanket afterwards.
Oh So XOXO Pattern
Oh So XOXO is an Inset Mosaic crochet pattern. For Inset Mosaic two rows (front and backside) are worked with one color. The yarn is not cut at the end of a row, so no tails to deal with.
The pattern is a repetition of two stripes with two different motifs. One repeat comprises 28 stitches and 44 rows so the size is easily adjustable.It is Ana’s fist inset pattern and has written instructions with detailed row by row pictures and also a chart.
My Oh So XOXO journey
I mostly use DK yarn for blankets and I absolutely love to use It for Overlay Mosaic. So of course I used Stylecraft Special DK for my test swatch… And made a new experience! For my taste DK yarn might be a bit too thick for Inset mosaic, at least for my taste. My swatch didn‘t have the fluffiness that Overlay has and felt pretty stiff even when working with a bigger hook …
Although I actually wanted to use yarn from my stash I made up my mind and ordered some thinner yarn, Drops Love You 7. The same quality that Ana used for her design.
Drops Love You 7 is a 100 % cotton yarn. A sport weight with a yardage of 170 m per 50 g.
My swatch in Stylecraft Special DK was made in the colours Grey and Cream. I really liked this combination! To get something similar for my final blanket I choosed the Drops colours Dark Grey and White. Of course the white is brighter than the Cream was and the Dark Grey is darker than the Graphite. Nevertheless I think it’s a beautiful and strong combination!
Drops Love You 7 is smooth and soft and I enjoy working with it. I am using my 3,00 mm Clover Amour hook.
My blanket will have the full size over 185 stitches and 286 rows (6,5 repeats). Without border it measures about 93 cm / 36,5 inch in width. I am currently working on the second pattern repeat, so still some way to go. But I love it! The pattern is easy to follow and very relaxing.
Publishing my first crochet pattern has been quite an experience. In different ways. Although I have tested various patterns in the meantime and basically believe that I know what a pattern should contain, I was surprised how much work it is to put everything on paper. It is much more than just writing down the sequence of stitches and repeats as I usually do for myself. The main difficulty for me was to formulate everything in such a way that – hopefully – everyone understands it and to give the whole thing a – hopefully – logical (and good looking) structure. I hope I succeeded in both. In any case, I can now appreciate all the work and effort that a designer puts into his design even better.
From the beginning I wanted to publish the instructions here on my blog. But I also wanted to know how it works to publish a pattern on Ravelry.
Publishing on Ravelry isn’t as difficult as I thought. You will be led through a kind of questionnaire in which you describe everything about your pattern. Basically, that’s all.
But I was a little bit overwhelmed when – within half an hour or so – I got a notification from Ravelry that my pattern made it under the top 20 on their Spotlight Debut Patterns page. Honestly, I didn‘t expect that. Actually I was more prepared for nobody to show any interest and then that – YAY!
Now I really hope that there are no mistakes in the instructions and that people are happy with the result!
Pattern testing
I‘ve finally finished a test for BebaBlanket, only some tails to work away and some pictures to take. It is a small blanket in Mosaic crochet worked in the round. The pattern will be released in the middle of July.
Another test for Ana from One Skein of Love is currently in progress. Also a blanket made with Mosaic crochet and the pattern will probably also be published this month. Fortunately it’s ok for Ana that my blanket won’t be ready by then.
Besides testing
The last few weeks I have been busy with very different things, not everything was crochet related.
Thank God hubby and I finally managed to get our first dose of the covid vaccination. So far without any problems. I spent hours in the vaccination center myself because I got an appointment – quite surprisingly and at short notice – that someone else canceled. Apparently a lot of appointments for the second shot were canceled that day (there are things I don’t understand … ). The process was correspondingly chaotic, but the staff was very friendly and tried to get everything in order.
But most of the time I spend on my tablet right now:
For some time now, I’ve been thinking about switching to another platform with this blog. I am still struggling with the design here and am looking for something that offers me more possibilities. So I am testing WordPress at the moment. It is possible to import content from Blogger to WordPress so that nothing is lost. But in my opinion everything has to be revised as in WordPress the structure (and also the fonts) are different. So I am busy behind the scenes … and I am afraid I underestimated the work that includes all of this … again …
With all the revisions, I noticed that I have mentioned my Greek Islands blanket many times but never shown it. Time to change that! So another post introducing my Greek Island blanket will follow soon.
In the meantime, here are a few impressions of our roof garden, where we had a visitor yesterday.
Some time ago I started banning plastic from my bathroom. At least as best as possible.
Among other things I now do completely without normal hair shampoo, conditioner and shower gels. Instead I use soap and shampoo or conditioner bars. And I love it! It not only saves plastic but also space in my bathroom.
This only thing is, when the bar of soap is getting smaller it is hard to deal with. So I got the idea to crochet a little soap sack to use with all the smaller pieces. It works very well!
After I finally found the time to write down the pattern I can now present my first own design.
I called it Grünschnabel.
Grünschnabel is a German word and is pronounced [ˈɡʁyːnˌʃnaːbl̩]. A Grünschnabel is a young or inexperienced person, a rookie or greenhorn in English. I thought that could be a suitable name for a first, and green, design.
The yarn is also a German brand, Camilla from Woll Butt. It is a sports weight (#2) cotton yarn, similar to Scheepjes Catona or Schachenmayr Catania.
My finished soap cozy measures about 9,5 x 10,5 cm (3,75 x 4,25 inch) and is big enough for my 7,5 x 7,5 cm ( 3 x 3 inch) soap bars.
It‘s a quick and easy pattern. If you like to make one for yourself you can download the pattern here.
Please note: this is not only the first pattern I have ever written down, it is also not tested yet. So if you spot any errors or have questions, please don‘t hesitate to contact me!
Time is flying, May (and my birthday) have gone and it‘s already June.
After a lot of rain and cold days we finally had warmer weather and some sunshine this week.
Our little baby-sparrows have fledged but they are still being fed by their parents. Since they are not yet able to fly so well they usually just sit on the roof, chirping all day and wait for food.
After finishing the tests for Ana’s beautiful Gretchen blanket and Pam’s lovely Margaret square I am now working again on the tests for BebaBlanket. One of them will be released next month, yay!
So everything works but unfortunately there is nothing new to show. Therefore here just some impressions from our blooming garden.
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.
Ana‘s original Gretchen / photo credit: Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love
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*
Hooked on Häkelmaschen 