Pattern Tests – Page 2 – Hooked on Häkelmaschen

My New Coasters – Mastering short rows in crochet

You might be wondering why it’s been so quiet here – so here’s what’s been going on. I’m still dealing with some health issues. As I mentioned last year, one of my eyes has been troubling me. About four months ago, my vision suddenly worsened, and my ophthalmologist diagnosed an oedema – a kind of swelling inside the eye.

I’m now receiving injections as part of the treatment (right into the eye – definitely not my favourite experience!). After each treatment, I have to give my eye several days of rest, which means no reading, no sports, no bending over, and so on. Needless to say, this limits what I can do with my crochet projects.

Still, I’m feeling hopeful! Subjectively, the treatment seems to be helping, but focusing on anything for too long remains a challenge. So I’m taking things slowly and sticking mostly to smaller projects for now. And yay – slowly but happily – I finally finished a set of coasters!

What’s more, this project taught me something completely new: short rows in crochet. Until now, I had only known short rows from knitting – where I‘ve often used them for shaping sock heels.

Despite the differences between knitting and crochet, the idea behind short rows is pretty much the same in both: as the name suggests, only part of a row is worked, which helps you create specific shapes. But before this project, I had never tried them in crochet at all.

Gift Coasters

Last December, I bought an eBook from Tatsiana of Lilla Bjorn Crochet, who hosted a mystery make-along with four delightful patterns: Gift Coaster, Gift Bauble, Gift Mandala Garland, and Pixel Coaster & Purse. Even though the MAL has ended, the patterns remain available on Ravelry – either individually or bundled as an eBook.

Although I got the eBook in December, it wasn’t until now that I finally had the time and energy to start one of the projects. I chose to begin with the Gift Coaster, which happens to use short rows.

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

The coaster consists of eight sections, crocheted one after the other to form a circle. The instructions are very detailed, and the PDF even includes a photo tutorial showing exactly where to place the stitches at the transition from short to full rows.
If you prefer visual and spoken guidance, there’s also a link to a video tutorial. Personally, I normally don’t like watching videos. But I found this one very helpful, especially the section about the joining at the end to finish the coaster.

My version of the Gift Coaster

For my samples, I used Schachenmayr Catania yarn with a 3 mm hook. Catania is 100 % mercerized cotton with 125 m / 137 yds per 50 g. It is classified as a #2 Fine / Sport weight yarn.
My colours were 0244 Agave and 00507 Salbei (Sage) – a combination I absolutely love.

Salbei was from a limited edition back in 2022, so I’m not even sure if it’s still available!

My coasters finished at about 15 cm in diameter, just as they should.

I’m completely happy with how they turned out!

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 scheme Download

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

Last updated: 12 May 2026

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

Do you know the BAMCAL on Ravelry?
BAMCAL stands for Block-A–Month Crochet-A–Long. This crochet-along is organised every year by a group on Ravelry.

The CAL runs throughout the year. Three different Afghan squares are featured each month. Two of these, measuring 6 and 12 inches respectively, are chosen by the moderators. A third square is chosen by the group members in a poll.

All patterns are free – at least for the month they are chosen. You can decide to make one or all of the squares – it’s up to you. At the end of the year, you can combine all your squares into a blanket. Alternatively, you can 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 the Mystified Square would also look great in just one colour!

The pattern is available on Ravelry. You will find a link at the end of this post..

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 followed 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 realised that they’re a bit tricky to capture in photos. 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!

Pattern Link

Mystified Square on Ravelry

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

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

Last updated: 12 May 2026

Finally I can show you an Afghan crochet 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. You will find a link at the end of this post.

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 her.

The pattern

The Tied Up With a Bow Square is designed using a #4 yarn (Aran / worsted weight). The final size will be 11 or 12 inch, depending on the hook size you use. And of course the final size and the final number of stitches per side match all the other squares Pam has designed.

The skill level is rated as mid intermediate. As with all of Pam’s designs, various stitches are used. Of course everything is explained in detail and there are clear pictures for each round to help with the stitch placement.

Talking about the pictures: Especially for one of the special stitches, the modified star stitch, I found them very helpful! For this 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 (#2) with 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 have to admit, a 3 mm hook made it a bit loose.

My finished square measures about 22 cm / 8 1/2 inch.

My colours and colour placement

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

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 inches.
I am absolutely happy with the result!

Pattern Link

Tied Up With a Bow Square on Ravelry

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

Last updated: 12 May 2026

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. You will find a link at the end of this post.
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. For example Schachenmayr Catania or Hobbii Rainbow Cotton 8/4. The reason is simply that I’ve accumulated a wide variety of colours of these yarns through crocheting amigurumi, so I am happy to use them up. Besides the great colour range, both yarns also have good stitch definition.

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

I recently used a similar colour combination for another overlay mosaic crochet test.
It was all in neutrals, and I loved the result.
I was curious to see how a colour palette like that would look in traditional crochet.

Well, I am more than happy with the result!