Category: Pattern Tests

Testing the Wheel of What Square by A Yarn of Serendipity

I had the pleasure of testing the Wheel of What Square by A Yarn of Serendipity – a beautifully textured Afghan block that’s easy to customize with colours and perfect for mix-and-match patchwork blankets.

A new design by Pam Knighton-Haener

A few months ago, back in August, I had the pleasure of testing another pattern for Pam Knighton-Haener of A Yarn of Serendipity. Pam has just released her beautiful new design: the Wheel of What Square.

The Wheel of What Square is another lovely Afghan block that perfectly complements all of Pam’s other designs. Like most of her squares, this one is designed in Aran / worsted weight yarn (#4). It measures about 11 or 12 inches, depending on whether a 4.5 mm or 5 mm crochet hook is used. All of Pam’s 11–12 inch squares share the same stitch count per side, so you can easily mix and match them to create a gorgeous patchwork blanket.

About the pattern

The pattern is rated as intermediate, but as always, Pam provides detailed, round-by-round photos that make it easy to follow along – even if you’re not an advanced crocheter.

Pam also includes two different colour versions in her pattern:

  • Version 1 uses four colours
  • Version 2 is worked in a single colour for a clean, classic look

My Test Version of the Wheel of What Square

For my test version I used Stylecraft Special DK from my stash and a 4 mm hook.

I opted for some light, summery colours.

As I used five colours in my version, it was difficult to stick to Pam’s original colour scheme.
As so often, I created my own combination – the one you can see on the left in the photo.

My finished square measures about 25 cm (10 in). It’s a little smaller than Pam’s sample simply because I used DK / light worsted yarn (#3), while she used Aran / worsted weight yarn (#4).

I‘m totally happy with how it turned out!

A Spark of Inspiration

I have to confess, after my square was finished and blocked, it was still lying on my desk for quite a while — I just didn’t get around to taking pictures. But seeing it every day sparked a new idea in my mind:

Every time I looked at it, I thought “This design would look amazing in Christmas colours!”

So of course, I had to try it!

My Wheel of What Christmas Version

For my Christmas version, I again used yarn from my stash – a mix of Stylecraft Special DK and Yarnsmiths Create DK, with the same 4 mm hook.

This time, I followed Pam’s Colourway 1, but replaced her shades with my own festive choices:

  • Colour A: 3090 Claret Red – Yarnsmiths Create DK
  • Colour B: 1824 Cypress – Stylecraft Special DK
  • Colour C: 3045 Off White – Yarnsmiths Create DK
  • Colour D: 1834 Lincoln – Stylecraft Special DK

And the result?

I absolutely love it!

The colours give the design such a warm and festive touch – perfect for the holiday season.

Final Thoughts

The Wheel of What Square is another beautifully written and well-thought-out design from Pam. It’s fun to crochet, looks amazing in any colour combination, and fits perfectly with her other squares.

If you’d like to try the Wheel of What Square yourself, you can find Pam’s pattern on Ravelry.

My Cozy Winter Blankets in Overlay Mosaic Crochet

Explore my overlay mosaic crochet winter blankets – patterns, yarn, and colourways to inspire your own cozy crochet creations.

Here in the northern hemisphere autumn is slowly setting in. The days are getting shorter and the evenings cooler. It feels like the perfect time to curl up with a cozy blanket and a hot cup of tea. With this in mind, I would like to show you some of the winter-themed blankets I’ve crocheted over the past few years.

Since 2021, I’ve had the joy of testing one of Ana’s (from One Skein of Love) beautiful winter designs each year. All were made using the overlay mosaic crochet technique.

Winter Wonderland (2021)

Winter Wonderland was my first winter blanket back in 2021.

I found inspiration for my colours in a mood board. It showed a (Swedish?) winter landscape with a red house.
Nevertheless, when I started crocheting, I had no clear idea of how I would arrange the colours. I chose them step by step as I went along. And I was very happy with the result in the end!

To my surprise (and of course delight), many crocheters ended up following my color scheme. I hadn’t expected that!

And Mary Maxim even created yarn packs not only in Ana’s original colours but also in mine. I still feel a little proud!

My Winter Wonderland Blanket –
with a colour palette of white, various shades of grey and a little red 

Materials used

For Winter Wonderland I used Stylecraft Special DK and a 4 mm hook. In total, I used something over 1,000 g of yarn.

The finished size of the blanket is 114 x 148 cm.


My colours are

  • 1001 – White
  • 1203 – Silver
  • 1099 – Grey
  • 1246 – Lipstick
  • 1063 – Graphite

My colour placement is listed in a downloadable PDF which you can find in this post.

The pattern is available through Ravelry.

Wintry Forest (2022)

In 2022, Ana released Wintry Forest. The pattern was originally designed for a blanket similar in size to Winter Wonderland. However, when I saw it, I immediately had the idea of turning it into a wall decoration instead. Therefore I worked the pattern only over one repeat and divided it in three parts.

I still remember what difficulties I had in putting together the colours. So many failed attempts … But again, in the end, I was very happy with the result.

My Wintry Forest wall decoration –
with a colour palette of creme, blue, grey and mocha

And my wall hangings also attracted a lot of attention and kind feedback:
In November 2022, they we’re featured in „Eye Candy: No Place Like Home“, an article on the Ravelry front page.

Another proud moment! It meant a lot to me!

Materials used

For the wall hangings, I chose a combination of Stylecraft Special DK (SSDK):and King Cole Comfort DK.

My colours are

  • 1005 – Cream, SSDK
  • 1728 – Stonewash, King Cole
  • 1099 – Grey, SSDK
  • 1064 – Mocha, SSDK
  • 1302 – Denim, SSDK

My colour placement is listed in a downloadable PDF wich you can find in this post.

The pattern is available through Ravelry.

Oh, and if you are interested in my colour-journey you will find some details here.

Magic Winter (2023)

Do you know those icy winter mornings, when the sun rises with a soft pink glow? On those days my grandma used to say, „The angles are baking in heaven“. That memory instantly came back to me when I saw Ana’s 2023 design. And I knew I wanted my blanket to capture that feeling.

My Magic Winter Blanket –
with a colour palette of white, grey and peach

Materials used

Again my blanket was made with Stylecraft Special DK and a 4.0 mm hook.

Then finished blanket measures about 121 x 146 cm and I again needed something over 1,000 g of yarn.

My colours are

  • 1001 – White
  • 1203 – Silver
  • 1836 – Vintage Peach

My colour placement is listed in a downloadable PDF which you can find in this post

The pattern is available through Ravelry.

Winter’s Love (2024)

And so far the last in my series of winter blankets is Winter’s Love from 2024.

When I saw the design for the first time, I could immediately imagine it in a classic, Nordic style. So I choose a classic red- and white palette. Though I can also imagine it looking beautiful in cream and taupe tones.

Working on this blanket was a little different for me, as I was struggling with eye health issues during that time (and I’m still receiving treatment …). But despite this challenges, I love this blanket no less.

My Winter‘s Love Blanket –
with a colour palette of white and red

Materials used

My Winter‘s Love is made with Yarnsmiths Create DK. It was the first time I had worked with this yarn, but certainly not the last!

The size of finished blanket is 120 x 150 cm, using a 4. 0 mm hook. I needed 10 balls / 1,000 g of yarn. I had almost nothing left. So, with a different tension, it could be tight.

My colours are

  • 3045 – Off White
  • 3090 – Claret Red

My colour placement is listed in a downloadable PDF which you can find in this post

The pattern is available through Ravelry.

For me, finishing a big crochet project is always a very special moment – do you feel the same?

I truly love each one of my blankets, and for me they all stand for warmth and comfort during the long, dark winter months.

I hope my winter blankets have inspired you as well! There’s still plenty of time before the season begins to create your own cosy piece.

Which colours would you choose for your winter blanket?

Discover the “Around the World Square” Afghan Pattern

Some weeks ago I had the pleasure to test another design by Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity.
The Around the World Square is another lovely Afghan square with an intermediate skill level. As almost always in Pam’s patterns there are also a few special stitches this time. But everything is well explained and there are plenty of detailed pictures to help. I therefore think that even an ambitious beginner can work the pattern.

The size and the number of stitches per side, of course, fit perfectly with Pam’s other squares.
The pattern is available on Ravelry, and if you hurry, you can still get a 30% discount until the end of July. The discount also applies to all other patterns by Pam. It’s worth a look!

For my version I used Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/6 from my stash.
It is 100 % cotton and has 105 m / 50 g (115 yards / 1.76 ounces).
Hobbii classifies it as a fine/sports weight yarn. I personally find it to be more on the thicker side, almost a DK weight. I have therefore mostly use a 3.75 or 4.0 mm hook to work with it. This time I decided on my 4.0 mm Clover Amour hook and I am happy with the result.

My finished square is about 26 cm (10.5 in)

These are my colours.

Unfortunately, by now, some of them are discontinued in the 8/6 quality.

Pam offers two different colour schemes in her pattern. One uses seven colours and the other uses five.

I decided on a version with 5 colours. At first, however, I wasn’t so sure whether my colours would really go together. That’s why I didn’t simply replace the colours of the five-colour version with my own. I have once again created my individual colour placement. Even though I had doubts at first, I think the colours match quite well.

I have listed my colour placement here.

And this is the result. I’m really happy with it!

Tested Pattern Review: Dahlia of Yore Square

Last week I showed you the new design by Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity: the Dahlia of Yore Square.
Today I‘d like to show you my version of this design. I had the pleasure of helping to test the pattern and am absolutely happy with the result.

I have tried to do justice to the name with my choice of yarn. I therefore decided on Drops Muskat. I think it looks a bit vintage due to the somewhat muted colours and the silky sheen.

I have to admit, though, that I had to look up the name of the design first. I wasn’t familiar with the word yore. So, in case you feel the same way since English is not your native language either, here is the explanation I got from Google:

Yore means “long ago” and is used in the same way as “yesteryear”, “days gone by” and “old times”. Yore has a sentimental or nostalgic undertone and implies that the old times described are in some way superior to the present.

But back to my yarn and colours. Drops Muskat is a mercerised cotton and has about 100 m / 50 g. It is rated as a Double Knit (DK) / light worsted yarn weight (#3), great to work with a 4 mm hook.

I had originally bought this yarn for another project. That was so long ago that I can’t even remember what exactly it was for. In the past I have used it for another of Pam’s designs, the Sage Advice square. (Different colours but also a very nice vintage look.)
Unfortunately, Muskat is not quite easy to crochet with. You have to be very careful not to pull any threads. But the result is fantastic, isn’t it? And as I said, I like these muted colours.

Here my choice:

Drops Muskat
– 87 Pomegranate
– 09 Nutmeg
– 82 Silver Orchid

Unfortunately theses colours are very hard to capture in a photo. So, in  my photos, the Silver Orchid looks a little more silver than it is in reality.

I followed colourway 1 from the pattern and replaced
– colour A with Silver Orchid
– colour B with Nutmeg and
– colours C and D with Pomegranate

The only change I made is that I worked rounds 15 and 16 in colour C instead of B.

My finished and blocked square measures about 26 cm, that’s about 10 1/4 inch.

The pattern is available on Ravelry. Of course, the size and stitch count match Pam’s other squares perfectly.
The skill level is rated as mid-intermediate. As usual in Pam’s designs there are a few special stitches. But they are all well explained. Additionally, detailed photos for each round help in case something should be unclear. It‘s definitely worth trying!

My New Coasters – Mastering short rows in crochet

You’re probably wondering why it’s so quiet here… – well…

I am still struggling with health issues.

As I mentioned last year, I have some trouble with one of my eyes. About 4 months ago, my eyesight has got worse. My eye doc diagnosed an oedema – a kind of swelling – in my eye.  For treatment I’m now getting injections (yep, right into the eye— yikes!). After each one, I have to rest my eye for a few days, which means no reading, no sports, no bending over, etc. This of course limits my crochet projects.

But, at the moment I’m feeling hopeful! At least subjectively the treatment seems to do something good! Still, focusing on anything for too long is a struggle.

So I have to take things slowly and mostly stick to smaller projects for now.  And, yay, slowly but happy – I just finished some coasters.

And additionally , I learned something completely new: short rows. Until now, I only knew short rows from knitting. There I often used this technique for creating the heel of socks. But as far as I’ve heard, it is also sometimes used for knitting jumpers etc. But I’m not an expert on this.

Despite the different techniques, short rows in knitting and crochet are probably the same thing. In both, as the name suggests, only part of a row is worked. This makes it possible to create a particular shape.

Until now, however, I had never used it for crochet.

Gift Coasters

Last December I bought an eBook from Tatsiana (Lilla Bjorn crochet). She had a mystery make-a-long (MAL) and released 4 small patterns: Gift Coaster, Gift Bauble, Gift Mandala Garland and Pixel Coaster & Purse. All of them very lovely!

Whilst the MAL is over the patterns are still available on Ravelry – either separately or as an eBook .

Although I’ve had the eBook since December, I’ve only now found the time to start one of the projects.

I decided to start with the Gift Coaster. This pattern is using the short rows I mentioned above.

I am absolutely fascinated by the effects you can achieve with short rows and working in the back loops.

The coaster has 8 sections that are crocheted one after the other. This gradually creates a circle. The pattern is very detailed. Besides the written instructions the pdf has also a picture tutorial. It shows exactly where the stitches must be placed at the transition from a short to a long row. And there also is a link to a video tutorial if you prefer visual and spoken support. I don’t normally like watching videos. But I found this one very helpful, especially for join at the end.

My version of the Gift Coaster

My two samples are made with Schachenmayr Catania and a 3 mm hook.

Catania is a 100 % mercerized cotton yarn. It has 125 m / 137 yards per 50 g. It is classified as #2, Fine or Sport weight yarn.

My colours are 0244, Agave and 00507, Salbei.

I just love the combination of these two colours. What do you think?

Salbei (Sage) was from a limited Edition back in 2022 – I am not sure if it is still available anywhere. It was my last skein – I would love to have more!

My coasters are 15 cm in diameter. So they just turned out as they should.

I am totally happy with the result!

Beautiful 6 Inch Squares – designed by Pam

I was just going through my emails and came across a slightly older email from Pam. It was from September last year and she was telling me that the book 60 Quick Granny Squares would be available on Amazon from the beginning of November 2024. Ugh, I had completely forgotten! Time to catch up!

60 Quick Granny Squares – The Book

I don’t normally write book reviews and I don’t want this to be one either. Actually it is more about some desings by Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity – a designer for whom I sometimes test.

Back in 2023 she was asked by a book publisher if she could design some 6 inch squares.
She said yes and five of her designs are now presented in this book.
I would like to introduce them – or rather my test versions of them.  But first a word about the book

Unfortunately I don’t own it yet, so I can’t say too much about it. But I took a look at the extensive reading sample on Amazon. So I can at least give a brief summary:

In the preview I especially love the fact that all 60 designs – created by different designers – are shown there at the beginning! (A lot of books don’t offer this.)
All designs feature Cascade 220 Superwash yarn. It is a DK (#3) yarn, 100 % wool, with a yardage of 200 m / 100g. AND all designs look very beautiful!

The patterns are both, written and charted. Some of the squares are more beginner friendly, others a little more challenging.
In addition to the patterns, the book also describes various techniques and gives helpful tips. E.g. how to start a square, how to change colours, how to join the squares, and so on.
And there are some projects at the end for which the squares can be used.
A book that is definitely worth a second look!

Pam’s Designs and my test versions

As said before Pam designed five squares for this book: Shift, Sunflower Sizzle, Wriggle, Running Routes and Sol. I had the opportunity to test these designs back in 2023.

Even though the squares are actually designed for a Double Knit yarn, I used a different yarn for my tests. Two to be precise:
Drops Safran and Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4.
Both are sport weight (#2) yarns in 100 % Cotton and have a yardage of 160 m / 50 g.
Unfortunately I had not noted the hook size I was using. I assume it was a 2.75 mm hook, I’m not sure though. Due to the thinner yarn my squares turned out about 4.5 inches, which is about 11.5 cm.

For all 5 designs I used the same three colours:
Dark Taupe and Orange from Drops Safran and Apricot from Hobbii Rainbow Cotton.
A bit 70s style but I still like them!

And here the colour details …

My new versions of Running Routes, Wriggle and Shift

I lately reworked three of the squares with a different yarn. Just to see how the squares will look in 6 inch / 15 cm and – to be honest – first of all to try a new colour combination.

I used Stylecraft Special DK and a 3.75 mm hook for the new versions. They became pretty much exactly 6 inch / 15 cm tall.
The colours are completely different though – using pink and grey tones instead of brown and orange.

Here my new colour combo in Hint of Silver, Pale Rose, Parma Violet and Powder Pink:

Lovely aren’t they? I especially love the combination of Pale Rose and Parma Violet. What do you think?

To catch up completely I will now hop over to Ravelry to add my versions to the projects. I just saw that the book is also presented there. Some designers have already added their designs.

By the way Ravelry: if you take a look at Pam’s designs there you will probably notice that these 6 inch squares combine really well with her 12 inch squares. Perhaps this will lead to ideas for a new project? I’ve had something in mind for a while, but unfortunately haven’t found the time to realise it yet. Hope to manage it soon! I will let you know!

Have a lovely time 💕

My Winter’s Love blanket – it’s finished

Last weekend I made the last stitches on my Winter’s Love blanket. YAY – it is finished!

I really enjoyed working on it!

Here is a Short Summary

Winter‘s Love is the current Cal (Crochet-a-long) by Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love. The Cal already started on 22. November 2024. It is divided into 4 parts and part 4 – the last one – will already be published on Friday (13. December 2024). Time flies …
But it is never too late to get the pattern. It’s perhaps a little late to get the blanket ready for Christmas. But starting it at Christmas and finishing it for next year is certainly a very nice idea too.

In case you are interested, the pattern is available here.

During the last weeks I had the pleasure of testing this lovely pattern. I had a late start though. Due to our holidays I was only able to start working on it in the second half of October. Besides my normal life (and some health issues) it took me about 7 weeks to finish it. Late for the test – but nevertheless, 7 weeks are not too bad for finishing a blanket, I think. I am not a fast crocheter anyway!

My yarn and yarn amounts

It is the first time I have used Yarnsmiths Create DK. Yarnsmiths is an own brand from Wool Warehouse in the UK.

Create DK is an 100 % Acrylic yarn. It comes in 100 g balls and has a yardage of 290 m / 100g. It is currently available in 120 colours.

I decided to go with Claret Red (3090) and Off White (3045) for my blanket.

In total I needed

4 balls Off-White
6 balls Claret Red

I really like the quality of Create DK. It has a consistent thickness and is soft and smooth. It was absolutely fun to work with! I will have to get some more colours.

Finished Size of my blanket

My finished blanket is about 120 x 150 cm. That’s about 47 x 59 inch. I worked with a 4 mm hook.

My colour placement

After a first try (in the photo the strip on top), I decided to start my blanket with a dark background, having the motifs in white.
That means I started the foundation row in Off White (C1) and used Claret Red as C2.

I kept this scheme for the first 8 patterns of the blanket. For the last 3 patterns, however, I decided to swap the colours.

I have already written about the reasons for this in my previous post. There you will also find detailed information about what exactly I did to swap the colours. Besides there is also an overview of my detailed colour placement for all patterns of the blanket. Only the colours of the border are not listed there. Now, the slip-stitch round, front- and back layer and the joining round were all worked in Claret Red. That‘s it.

But, to make it easier, I have now also summarised my entire colour placement in a pdf file. So, if you are interested you can download it here

Winters Love colour schemeDownload

Well, that’s the end of another big crochet project. After that, I always have the feeling of falling into a kind of big hole. Do you know that?

I still have no idea what I’m going to do next. Unfortunately, I’m having problems with one of my eyes at the moment (and a few appointments at the eye doctor). So I think it’s going to be something small. Maybe some Granny Squares? Or something small for Christmas? Hm, let’s see!

Wish you a lovely time 💕

My previous posts about Winter‘s Love

Winter’s Love Cal

My Winter‘s Love blanket – A quick update

My Winter’s Love blanket – A quick Update

About a fortnight ago I showed you my current test project: Winter’s Love Cal. A new overlay mosaic pattern by Ana Morais Soares from One Skein of Love.
At that time, I had just finished about 2/3 of the blanket.

In case you missed my previous post you can read about it here

In the meantime the Cal started. Ana just released part 2 of the pattern. And yes, I am almost finished with my blanket!
All tails are knotted and cut! All slip stitches to start the border are done! And last night I started with the back layer of the border.

When I started my blanket a few weeks ago, I decided to replace Ana’s beautiful green (C1) with Off White and the cream (C2) with Claret Red. So I had a dark background and white motifs.

I really love the way how this turned out!

However, when I reached pattern 9, I had some doubts about my colour placement.

Due to my colour scheme the trees in pattern 9 were shown in white. In my opinion this didn’t go so well with the white baubles in pattern 8. I had already finished half of the pattern when I decided that it would be better to swap colours. That meant I had to go back some rows! I kept row 1 (Off White) and row 2 (Claret Red) in my old colour scheme. Then skipped row 3 of the pattern. It is a plain row of single crochet, so it did not influence the pattern. But this made it possible to continue in row 4 with Off White instead of Claret Red – and voilà, the colours had changed!

Changing the colour also had the advantage of giving the last pattern a dark background again. I liked that better as well.

Please note: If you decide to do the same for your blanket, you will have 1 row less in the number of rows. This also means that you will have 1 stitch less on the long sides when you crochet the slip stitches and the border.

Unless you do it like me. After I finished the last pattern, I added a row of single crochet in Off White. This way I started and finished the blanket with the same colour. But to be honest, it wasn’t the look that convinced me to do it. It was simply the fact that my slip stitches then had a contrasting background on both short sides. My eyes couldn’t have coped with anything else.

And here is my colour placement in detail

And a word about the yarn amounts:

So far I have used 4 balls of Off White and also 4 balls of Claret Red. There is nothing left from these balls. So with a different tension you might run short with these amounts.

Yarn is Yarnsmiths Create DK from Wool Warehouse in the UK. I worked with a 4 mm hook.

That’s all for today! I’m off to do a bit of Christmas decorating. And continue working on the border! Have a lovely time 💕

Winter’s Love CAL

Now it’s that very special time of the year again! In the northern hemisphere, winter is lurking just around the corner. Christmas is just over 5 weeks away. And Ana from One Skein of Love has just introduced her new Winter CAL (crochet along): Winter’s Love!

Winter’s Love is another blanket design in Overlay Mosaic. It matches her earlier winter designs – Winter Wonderland, Wintry Forest and Magic Winter – perfectly.

Picture by Ana Morais Soares / One Skein of Love

Lovely, isn’t it?

Winter’s Love CAL Dates

The Winter’s Love Cal will start on Friday, 22. November 2024.

It is divided into four parts.
Part 1 will be released on Friday, 22. November 2024. Parts 2 – 4 follow at intervals of one week each. So the dates are

  • Part 1 – 22. November 2024
  • Part 2 – 29. November 2024
  • Part 3 – 06. December 2024
  • Part 4 – 13. December 2024

All information about the CAL is already available on Ravelry. After you purchased the pattern you can download an introduction file with all relevant notes. Yarn amounts, size and gauge, pattern notes, abbreviations, tutorials and so on.

My version of Winter’s Love

I promised Ana in October that I would test the pattern. I’m sorry to say that I am not finished yet. Life and, unfortunately, my health got in the way a bit.

Luckily I’ve already done a good bit that I can show. And of course I’m hurrying to finish as quickly as possible.

My yarn

This time I am trying something different: Yarnsmiths Create DK.

Yarnsmiths is a relatively new yarn and an own brand from Wool Warehouse. (My favorite online yarn shop. Unfortunately located in Great Britain.)

Create DK is a 100 % Acrylic yarn. At the moment it comes in 120 different shades. I guess many of them are similar to the colours from Stylecraft Special DK. But there are also some special ones. It’s definitely worth a look!
The yardage is 290 m per 100 g ball. Recommended hook size is 4 mm.

It works up nicely! I like it and will definitely try some more colours.

My colours and colour placement

When I saw Ana’s new design for the first time I instantly thought of classic colours.
So I had originally planned to use white, red and grey to give it kind of a Nordic look.
I ordered some Off-White, Claret Red ans Storm Grey. I primarily wanted to use the off-white as a background colour and make the motifs in red. A little grey in between.

After my yarn arrived, I initially followed Ana’s pattern just replacing her cream coloured yarn with Off-White.

After the first few rows, however, I changed my mind. The claret-red fascinated me and I considered swapping the colours. 

The picture below shows both versions. The sample on top is my first one, using Off-White as background. The other one (with the little blue stitch marker) is the one with swapped colours.

What shall I say? I didn’t have to think for long! The one with the swapped colours was my favourite and became my final version. Without the grey though.
Throughout the pattern I use Off White as colour C1 and Claret Red as colour C2.

My progress so far

This is what I have so far. I just reached the end of part 2. 150 rows are done.

Now on to part 3. Another 75 rows to go.

I’ll keep you updated on my progress

And just a side note on my yarn order:

Yep, after years of abstinence, I finally dared to order from Wool Warehouse in the UK again. I hadn’t ordered there since the Brexit (the UK’s exit from the European Economic Union).
I knew that I would have to pay extra taxes. Ok, but unfortunately, I had read a lot about people from Europe who had to pay horrendous amounts. So I really wasn’t sure how everything would work.
I am happy that I finally tried it! It is nothing to be scared of!

My order was delivered by DHL. The parcel was not tracked. That was a bit of a pity because you never know when you can expect delivery. But it arrived within a week or so. I got a note from DHL and had to pick the parcel up in the post office. There I paid the import sales tax. This corresponds to the usual 19% VAT here. And I also had to pay a small handling fee to DHL. But in total the price was still reasonable.

The only thing I have to make sure of is that my order does not exceed € 150. Then there are no customs duties and I only have to pay the import VAT. I really wish I had tried it earlier!

Mystified Square

I’m happy to finally be able to show you my version of the Mystified Square.
It is the new design from Pam Knighton-Haener / A Yarn of Serendipity. The pattern has just been published. AND: it has been chosen by the Ravelry BAMCAL group as their block of the month for November.

Ravelry BAMCAL

Have you heard of BAMCAL on Ravelry?
If not, BAMCAL stands for Block-A-Month Crochet-A-Long. This is a Crochet-Along organised every year by a special group on Ravelry.

The CAL runs throughout the year. Each month 3 different Afghan squares are featured. Two squares, a 6 inch and a 12 inch, are chosen by the mods. A third is chosen by the group members in a poll. All patterns are free – at least for the month they are chosen for.
You can choose to do one or all of them – it’s up to you. At the end of the year you can combine all your squares into a blanket. Or make anything else you can think of.


I absolutely love this idea! Maybe I should join in next year?

Mystified Square – The Pattern

The Mystified Square is designed for Aran / worsted weight yarn (#4). But it will also work very well with other yarn weights. Of course, using a different yarn weight will affect the final size.

With worsted weight yarn, the finished square will be 11 or 12 inches (28 or 30,5 cm). This depends on whether a 4.5 or 5 mm crochet hook is used.

The pattern is classified as mid-intermediate. It uses various stitches, including some special ones. But no worries, they are all very well explained. And a picture tutorial helps with each round.

The design comes in two colourways, each with 5 different colours. Of course, you can also create your own colour scheme. I bet it would also look great in just one colour!

The pattern is available on Ravelry.

My Test Version

I already tested this pattern for Pam some weeks, or rather months, ago. I think it was in early August.
Of course, everything had to be kept secret until the pattern was finally published. Hard time :-)

As always, I did not use the suggested Aran yarn. I still don’t like working with it and feel a bit uncomfortable using a 5 mm hook. So, this time I decided to use up some Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/6 (a #3 yarn) from my stash.

I used colourway 2, but replaced the colours as follows

  • Hobbi Rainbow Cotton 8/6 (50 g / 105 m)
    • A – 065, Apricot (discontinued?)
    • B – 73, Pearl Gray
    • C – 047, Dark Old Rose
    • D – 049, Peach (discontinued?)
    • E – 012, Volcano Gray

Unfortunately it looks like two of my colours are already discontinued. At least I couldn’t find them in the actual Hobbii shop.

I like the way the colours come together. I just noticed that they are a bit difficult to capture in a photograph. The Dark Old Rose in particular is a little reluctant to show its true beauty…

Using a 3,75 mm hook my square turned out to be about 25 cm / 10 inch.

I really enjoyed working on this pattern and am happy with the result!

Are you going to try the pattern? If so, have fun 💕