Pattern Tests – Page 2 – Hooked on Häkelmaschen

Tied Up with a Bow: Crochet Square by Pam Knighton-Haener

Finally I can show you a square that I made some weeks ago.

In August I had the pleasure to test another one of Pam’s lovely designs: Tied Up with a Bow. She now released the pattern and it’s available on Ravelry and in all her other shops.

In case you don‘t know Pam yet: Pam Knighton-Haener is an American designer and the person behind A Yarn of Serendipity. Most of the beautiful Afghan squares you can find here on my blog are designed by here.

The original pattern is made with Aran / worsted weight yarn. The final size will be 11 or 12 inch, depending on the hook size you use. The skill level is mid intermediate.

As with all of Pam’s designs, many different stitches are used. Of course everything is explained in detail and there are clear pictures for each round!
And of course the final size and the final number of stitches per side match all the other squares Pam has designed.

Talking about the pictures: Especially for the modified star stitch I found them very helpful! For this special stitch, it was much easier for me to work from the pictures than from the written instructions. However, that may be just personal.

My test version

During the test I made a version with Drops Safran, a sport weight yarn that has a yardage of 160 m / 50 g. Usually I use a 2,75 mm hook when working with this yarn, but this time I didn’t feel comfortable and switched to a 3 mm hook.

I had actually chosen 5 colours for this design. For some reason I couldn’t find a matching spot for two shades of green I had chosen, so in the end I only used 3 of my colours

71 – Marzipan
22 – Light Brown
28 – Orange

Can you see the little bows?

My colour placement

My finished square measures about 22 cm / 8 1/2 inch. I have to admit that using a 3 mm hook made it a bit loose.

My second version

After testing, I just had to make a second version. I lately fell in love with the colour Lincoln from Stylecraft Special DK. I have had two balls in my stash for ages but have never used them. Inspired by Pam’s single coloured version, I thought that the Tied Up with a Bow square would certainly look nice in this colour too. I didn‘t get disappointed …

For this version I used Stylecraft Special DK in the colour 1834 – Lincoln. Only round 11 is made with colour 1822 – Pistachio.

I used a 4 mm hook and the final square is about 26 cm / 10 inch.
I am absolutely happy with the result!

Popping Hearts

In July Ana from One Skein of Love released a new pattern: Popping Hearts. She designed it for Hobbii as a Hobbii Plus (paid) pattern.

In case you don’t know Hobbii yet: Hobbii is a shop for yarn and crafting supplies that is located in Denmark. They sell online but they also have at least two or three retail outlets in the very north of Germany. Maybe in other countries too? I don‘t know.

Ana’s Design

The Popping Hearts blanket is made in overlay mosaic technique. But it is not worked in rows, as you may be familiar with, it consists of single squares that are joined together. So it is a great project to work on in the summer! And it’s easy to carry with you to the park or the beach …

The squares are worked in the round using two colours. The colour is changed after every round but the yarn is not cut. It is simply carried along – which of course minimises the number of loose ends!

Ana used Hobbii Fluffy Day for her blanket. Fluffy Day is an acrylic yarn that is available in many beautiful colours. Her blanket consists of 5 x 5 squares and measures approx. 110 x 110 cm. The size of the blanket can easily be changed by using more or fewer squares. The same applies to the shape of the blanket.

And of course you can also play with colour. Ana has used the same colour combination for all the squares. But you can also swap the colours for every second square or make a kind of patchwork blanket with lots of different colours. It’s up to you!

Photo credit: Ana Morais Soares / One Skein of Love

The pattern is available on the Hobbii website and in Ana‘s shops.

My Challenge

During the Popping Hearts test phase I was busy with other things and couldn’t bring myself to crochet a blanket or even make a small sample on the side. So I helped with proofreading the pattern and some technical editing: checking and comparing the written texts with the charts, checking colours, abbreviations, stitch counts and so on.

When it came to translating the pattern into German, however, I had a few challenges at first.
Personally, I find it much easier to work according to English instructions. I find them much clearer and more concise. In German, it often sounds quite cumbersome to me.
So when I work according to an English pattern, I don’t translate it into German in my mind, but think in English. Unfortunately, this sometimes makes it a little more difficult when I’m working on a translation into German for Ana.

The construction of the Popping Hearts pattern is slightly different from the normal overlay mosaic worked in rows, so of course it also uses some different terms. No idea why, although I know the German crochet terms I just couldn’t remember some less common German expressions. I had difficulty translating a particular term Ana used, even though I knew there was an equivalent in German.
At this point, I had the idea to grab my hook and start crocheting. It’s amazing how a brain works in the background. Although I didn’t think in German terms when crocheting here either, it helped me and I suddenly had the German translation.
Well, this is how my square was created …
I’m pleased with the result – with the translation as well as with my square.

My Popping Hearts Square

For my sample I used Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/6 and a 3,75 mm hook.

My colours are

C1 – #25, Pastel Mint
C2 – #02, Natural White

As I only made a single square, I reduced the border a little and crocheted only two rounds. I used rounds 1 and 2 of Ana‘s border: round 1 in White and round 2 in Mint.

My finished square measures about 19 x 19 cm.

I often use these squares in my bedroom as a pad for my mobile phone or to place rings and bracelets on. Maybe I should make another one in reversed colours? Hm …

And finally, a note on the German translation: on the German Hobbii website, there is also a German version of the pattern available. However, this has been created by Hobbii and not by me. Just to prevent any confusion.

Have a lovely time 💕

Time flies …

I don’t know where the time is. This year just seems to be flying past me … We’ve just been on holiday, got a new car, celebrated Easter and now it’s already May – my birthday month …

To be honest, I haven’t done that much crochet recently. At least not much I am able to show right now.
I am still playing around with Tunisian crochet. So far I have never worked with two colours in Tunisian crochet. So I am just practicing different techniques and I’m curious to see what effects you can achieve with it.

Besides, I am currently working on a shawl in Tunisian crochet, designed by Rachel Henri.

Comme un Air de Printemps

means Spring is in the Air in English and is available on Ravelry.

I love the construction of this shawl! It is more ore less worked in strips that are connected as you go. Therefore you even don‘t need a Tunisian crochet hook. A normal hook is absolutely sufficient as long as it is long enough to carry 12 stitches or so.

I am using a 4-ply sock yarn with 76% Cotton. The colours are a soft mixture of grey, pink and lilac. Unfortunately they do not show so well in my picture.

And I was also able to do two small tests.

Easy Come Easy Go

is the new pattern by Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity that was just released. Her the link to Ravelry, but it’s also available her other platforms.

I was happy to test this pattern a few days ago and am very pleased with the result.

My version is made Stylecraft Special DK and a 4 mm hook. I followed colourway 1 – Pam offers two different ones in her pattern – and replaced the colours as follows

Colour A – 1067 Grape
Colour B – 1026 Apricot
Colour C – 1240 Soft Peach
Colour D – 1832 Mushroom

First I was a bit unsure about this colour combination but I think it worked quite well. However, I am sure this square will also look great in just one colour.

The finished square has 39 stitches per side. Of course the final size will depend on the yarn you use. Mine measures about 26 cm / 10 inch.

At the moment I’m thinking about making a wall hanging from different afghan squares. This one would be a good start. Let’s see….

Dream, Sparkle, Shine

I also helped testing a new pattern designed by Ana. Her lovely Dream, Sparkle, Shine.
Ana had chosen a great colour combination from Hobbii Mocktail yarn.

The pattern is available on Ravelry too.

I had no suitable colour changing yarn in my stash so I had to experiment a bit with my Stylecraft Special DK.

This turned out to be more tricky than I thought and I was not quite able to achieve the effect I had in mind. That‘s why I made only a smaller piece over a few repeats.

I used Cream as background colour and always used the 5 contrasting colours in the same order. I love the colour combination! (Although I didn’t get the desired effect and although a bit more contrast might be better for mosaic crochet.)

Background – 1005 Cream
Colour A – 1064 Mocha
Colour B – 1844 Toy
Colour C – 1832 Mushroom
Colour D – 1218 Parchment
Colour E – 1240 Soft Peach

Originally I wanted to make a cushion out of it, but then I had another idea. I had a simple cotton bag, a promotional gift from a pharmacy, with logo on one side. My patch had the perfect size to fit on the front side. So I made a small border – just one round of single crochet – and sewed it on. Voila – a new project bag.

And that’s all there is for today! Have a lovely time 💕

Pinwheel Square

Another test for Pam

I recently had the opportunity to test a new design from Pam Knighton-Haener / A Yarn of Serendipity: The Pinwheel Square.

The pattern was just released and is available on Ravelry.
The skill level of the pattern is categorised as mid-intermediate. As always, the written instructions are very clear and accompanied by detailed photos for each round.
Made with Aran / Worsted Weight yarn (#4) the final size of the square will be 11 or 12 inch / 28 or 30,5 cm – depending on the size of the crochet hook used. And of course, the final stitch count matches all the others from Pam’s squares.

My yarn and colours

As you may know, I often use a light weight (#2) cotton yarn for these tests. Something like Schachenmayr Catania or Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4. The reason is just that I have accumulated a lot of these yarns by crocheting amigurumi and can go with my stash. Besides they have a great colour range and a good stitch definition.

Somehow this time I decided to go with my stash of Stylecraft Special DK.

I have just used a similar colour combination for another test in overlay mosaic. Just all in neutrals. I loved the result and was curious how it would look in regular crochet.

Well, I am more than happy with the result!

I used a 4 mm hook and the final size of my square is 26 cm – about 10 1/4 inch.
If you are interested in my colour way, here my notes.

Happy hooking 💕

Stellar

My new potholder

… or new coaster? I am not sure yet …

You may have already seen that Ana from One Skein of Love has published a new blanket pattern: Stellar.

Again, it is a pattern in Overlay Mosaic – this time she used Hobbii Portobello in two different colours. Of course you can use any other yarn as well and as many colours you like. A colour changing yarn would also look great!

The pattern is available on Ana’s Ravelry page and in all her other shops.

I had the pleasure of testing this pattern and translating it into German. However, I only had little time over Christmas and the turn of the year, so I only made a small square for testing. Originally I wanted to use it as a coaster, but when I finished it I thought it would be a good size for a potholder as well.

I used Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4 and a 2,75 mm hook. Colours are 002 Natural White and 079 Dusty Blue Green.

With 170 m / 50 g Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4 is rated as a Fingering weight yarn. So it’s actually too thin to make a potholder out of it. Therefore I made a second square in reversed colours and connected them both together – just to achieve a nice thickness.

The Joining

At first I thought about joining the two squares in one step with the slip stich round. Like I did for my Wooly Friends Bag .
What I didn’t like about this method was the patience I needed. It cost me a lot of concentration to catch the corresponding stitches of both parts. All yarn tails were constantly in my way and it took me ages to get it done. I have therefore discarded this idea and tried something else:

I prepared each of the squares with a slip stich round. This gave me the opportunity to work a separate border (front layer) on each square and to use the back of the slip stitches to join the squares.

The layers are joined with simple stitches through the back of every second slip stitch.

When you do a normal double border, it can sometimes be hard to work in the back of the slip stitches in case your stitches are too tight or you started with the front layer first. That’s why I wondered if it would make a difference whether you connect the squares first or work the borders first.
I just gave it a try and initially made the border on one square, then joined it to the other one without a border. As the join is worked with a needle and not with a crochet hook, it is not difficult to work in the back of the slip stitches either way. So, in my opinion, it will not make a difference.

I worked the border on each side of the potholder like I would have done with the front layer of a double border: 4 rounds of single crochet worked in back loops only. Then both layers were joined with a slip stitch round. For the hanger, I made a thin (2 chains) I-cord from both colours and pulled it through one of the corners. That’s it!

The finished size of my potholder is 21 x 24 cm (about. 8 X 9,5 inch).

I am absolutely happy with the result!

Finished! – My Legacy Blanket

I hope you all had a great start in 2024 and are doing well!

I’d like to start the new year by showing an ‘old’ project: My Legacy Blanket.

If you’ve read my posts about this last year, you’ll know that it is a design by Pam Knighton-Haener from A Yarn of Serendipity. She designed this blanket as a legacy for her grandchildren. You can read her story here.

The blanket is made up of 12 different squares and a wide border. When Pam completed the pattern for the border last year, she also revised the instructions for the 12 squares, and I had the opportunity to test some of them.

So I started this project somewhere in July or August last year. You might remember that I had a hard time choosing yarn and colours. And also some tries and errors with my colour placement. In the end I did more than one square twice as I was not happy with my colour arrangement. To be honest, I still had doubts when I joined the squares …
BUT – surprisingly- once it was finished, everything fitted perfectly. I think it turned out pretty well and I LOVE the result!

My blanket was finished by the middle of December, but unfortunately I had no chance to take some nice pictures. We had a VERY long period with lots of rain, dark clouds, a bit of snow, fog, lots of rain again, well, you get the picture …

But now, here’s a short summary and some pictures:

My Yarn and Colours

My final choice were

Drops Lima – 65% Wool, 35% Alpaca (100 m / 50 g)
- colour 100 – Off White
Drops Merino Extra Fine – 100% Wool (105 m / 50g)
- colour 07 – Light Taupe
- colour 15 – Light Sea Green

Both are DK yarns (#3, Light Worsted).
The fact that I mixed both qualities was simply a question of the colour shades. The colour 100 – Off White looks a little softer with Lima than with Merino, probably due to the structure of the yarn. And I liked that better!

My Layout and Colour Placement

I used Drops Lima in Off White as main colour and only added a few accents with Light Taupe and Light Sea Green. So, in my notes below, I just listed the rounds with the accent colours – all other rounds are worked in Off White.

If you are interested in my colour scheme you can also download it here

legacy-blanket-colour-placement Download

Some technical aspects and measurements

My squares and the border are worked with a 4 mm hook throughout. Only for the Zipper Join and the last round of the border I went up to a 5 mm hook.

Each of my squares measures about 25 cm (about 10”). The final size of the blanket is about 90 x 115 cm ( 35,5 x 45 inch).

I am sorry, but with all my changes and redoings I did not pay attention on how much yarn I used. In total I needed a bit over 900 g of yarn. As a very rough estimation I‘d say you will need almost 50 g of Off White for each of the squares and another 100 g or 150 g for the border. Additional 2 or 3 balls of each, Light Taupe and Light Sea Green. But that’s without any guarantee.

The patterns for all these lovely squares and the border are available in Pam’s Ravelry store.

In case you missed my previous posts about this project, you will find them here

Looking at these pictures I have to say: with all its ups and downs, it was a great journey and I am absolutely happy with my make!

Have a lovely week 💕

Magic Winter – My finished blanket

You probably have seen my previous post about my test of Ana’s Magic Winter Cal when I was still working on the border. Well…

… after 840 slipstitches, 2.616 double crochets, 5.208 single crochets and another 888 slipstitches and 12 single crochets (chains not counted) the border is finished. YAY!

I opted for a two-coloured double border – all in Vintage Peach for the back layer and a combination of Silver and Vintage Peach for the front side.

In total I needed 12 balls of Stylecraft Special DK – you’ll find the detailed yarn amounts below. Made with a 4 mm hook my blanket measures about 121 x 146 cm (48 x 57 inch).

In the end, my color placement turned out to be slightly different from what I originally had in mind. But I think I got the Sunrise-on-a-frozen-winter-morning look I wanted. And – I know, I already said that last week – I am totally happy with the result!

As promised, here some detailed information about my yarn amounts.

And, if you are interested, you can download a row-by-row guide of my colour placement here.

Magic Winter Download Download

The Magic Winter CAL started last Friday and will continue until 15th December. So, there is still time to join in.
I found that most parts of the pattern worked up quite quickly. Only the tapestry parts took me a little longer. Tapestry in Overlay Mosaic needs a bit of practice. You will have to get the hang of how to carry the yarn, especially with the double crochets. However, you only need it in a few rows. In addition, you can of course also decide to omit the tapestry technique and only work the normal overlay mosaic. All up to you!

The pattern is available on Ravelry.

Personally, I’m going to snuggle up under my new Magic Winter Blanket for now.

Have a lovely time 💕

Magic Winter – My Start

Have you seen Ana‘s new Cal? Magic Winter will start on Friday, 17. November 2023. The Introduction File with all relevant information is already available on Ravelry.

I had the pleasure of testing this wonderful pattern and also do the translations into German.

The Magic Winter blanket is made in Overlay Mosaic technique and also has a small section of Tapestry Mosaic. Of course, the pattern explains how to do both.

When Ana showed me her new design for the first time, I immediately thought about a clear, cold and frozen winter morning when the sun rises with a rosy shine. On these days, my grandma used to say: ›look, the angels are baking biscuits in heaven‹. So I immediately knew how I wanted my blanket to look like: a cold and clear winter morning with a beautiful sunrise …

I used Stylecraft Special DK in White, Silver and Vintage Peach and I am very happy with the result. At the moment I‘m still working on the border and can‘t show you a finished blanket. But I can give you some impressions.

If you are interested in my colour placements, I have already listed them here for part 1 of the Cal. The rest, including my yarn amounts, will follow next week when I am hopefully finished with the blanket.

That‘s all for today. Have a lovely time 💕

Progress with my Legacy Blanket

YAY! It took a while because of all my doubts about the colours and the colour placements … But finally … all 12 squares are done! All tails worked away and all squares are blocked.

These are the three that have been missing in my collection so far.

Lauren Rose

Brood of Angels

Macey Ann

I have just prepared the first squares for joining and spent some time on the layout.

After some arranging and rearranging of the squares, I decided in favour of the layout shown on the left. I hope it will look nice!

The Zipper Join

In the Justyce Destany Border pattern for the Legacy Blanket Pam recommends to use the Zipper Join for joining the squares.

I have to admit, I am not a professional when it comes to joining squares. I once used the “Join as you go-method” for joining some granny squares – but I think that was it. So I had my first attempt on the zipper join when testing the Justyce Destany border.
The pattern contains a helpful link to a video tutorial that shows how to do this join. But, if you prefer written tutorials like I do: I also found a very clear and helpful one from Raffaella from Raffamusa Designs.
Nevertheless, the beginning is a bit fiddly – at least I think so … But I am slowly getting the hang of it.
I initially experimented a little with the hook size and finally decided on 5.0 mm hook. The squares are made with a 4 mm hook but with the larger hook size I find it easier to make the stitches even and not too tight. So far I am pleased with the result. It’s a very nice and flat join. Now on to the next ones!

Have a lovely time 💕

More Squares of my Legacy Blanket

Progress with my Legacy Blanket. The joining comes closer, 11 of 12 squares are finished now. All tails worked away and most of them already blocked!
I also revised some of my colour placements and am happy with the result!

Besides Pam just released the pattern for the Justyce Destany Border .

I was happy to help testing the border pattern. Although my blanket is not finished yet I am able to show you a sneak peek of the border.

For testing purposes I used two of my ›old‹ squares which I made right at the beginning of this journey: Drops Merino Extra Fine #50, Light Beige as main colour, #06 Brown Mix and #07 Light Brown for contrast. I discarded this colour scheme after I had worked the first two squares – somehow I didn’t like it. But – advantage – it gave me some ›leftovers‹ for testing the border.

And here some of my finished squares

Madux James

Brixton Carter-Lee

Marley Mae

Jalen Miles

Carter Jude

Olivia Grace

So far so good!
Lauren Rose (one of the revised ones) and Brood of Angels are still on the blocking board. The last one to finish is Macey Ann. Actually, Macey Ann was the very first Legacy Square I made. So it still has the ›old ‹ colour scheme and – besides now being part of my border patch – needs to be redone.

All patterns for the Legacy Blanket are available in Pam‘s Ravelry store.

Have a lovely weekend 💕