Part 5 of the Hello Spring Cal is out. It is the last part of the blanket body. So it’s almost done. Next week the instructions for the border will follow.
Next week I will show you how I made the mounting for the wall hanging. Add on I will list my yarn amounts.
Here a few impressions of mine:
My colours Part 5
Long overdue update, July 2024: I have finally redesigned the documents for my colour scheme and combined the download into one file. Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.
Week 4 of the Hello Spring Cal starts, now it is already half way done. One more part will follow next week and then it will be border time!
Just two more pictures this week – again, not the best quality! Again we had a long period of bad weather! Sorry!
And here my colours
Long overdue update, July 2024: I have finally redesigned the documents for my colour scheme and combined the download into one file. Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.
It is already week 3 of the Hello Spring Cal. The time flies! However, I just felt thrown back a few weeks. We haven’t had that much snow for years. This is our old pine tree on Saturday morning, 02.April 2022. Hello Spring!
But I don’t want to miss to share
My colours Part 3
Long overdue update, July 2024: I have finally redesigned the documents for my colour scheme and combined the download into one file. Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.
Just in time for the start of the second part of the Hello Spring Cal I would like to show you my part 2 and share my colour placement..
But first …
… I‘d like to show you my finished wall hanging.
I worked over 5 repeats and it is about 60 cm (24 inch) wide.
It will be a decoration in our hall. Unfortunately it is too dark there to take a good photo. The colours are hard to capture anyway!
My colours part 2
According to my original plans, I only wanted to use 4 colours for my wall hanging – mainly White, Khaki, Pistachio and a little Saffron to spice it up. In part 2 I changed my mind!
The picture below shows my first attempt on part 2. Probably a bit too much Khaki?
And here my second version, after playing a bit with Tomato
My colour placement:
Long overdue update, July 2024: I have finally redesigned the documents for my colour scheme and combined the download into one file. Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.
Since some people have asked me about it, yes, I will post my progress, parts and colours here. So let us begin with my
Yarn and colours
I used Stylecraft Special DK and a 4 mm hook. My colours are
1001 White
1822 Pistachio
1027 Khaki
1081 Saffron
1723 Tomato
When I saw Ana‘s pattern I actually had a different colour scheme in mind and my first approach was slightly different. But somehow it didn’t work, even thoughI tried two different colour placements. I had the feeling that it might be a bit dark for a spring theme. At the same time, I had no idea how to proceed with the colour placement. That’s why I discarded it.
Nevertheless, I LOVE these swatches. I haven’t frogged them yet and will keep them as inspiration. I know for sure that I will use these colours some day!
While looking for other colour combinations, I came across a drawing with stylised flowers in two different shades of green on a white background. Somehow that said >Spring< to me. To achieve this look I choose White and Pistachio as main colours and added a little bit of Khaki. Spiced up with a few splashes of Saffron and Tomato.
And here are the colours I used for part 1
Long overdue update, July 2024: I have finally redesigned the documents for my colour scheme and combined the download into one file. Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.
The days are not only getting a bit longer but also a bit warmer. The first bushes and trees are sprouting and the sparrows are preparing their nests under our roof. Spring is coming in the northern hemisphere!
Ana from One Skein of Love is celebrating the season with her Hello Spring Cal. Another project that has kept me busy in the last weeks, between Midnight Snowflakes, sock knitting, a short holiday and „normal” life.
I started testing the Hello Spring Cal in early February. The pattern is designed as a blanket and – similar to Winter Wonderland – consist of different designs that can be combined in various ways. Due to time constraints I only worked 5 repeats this time – it will be a beautiful wall decoration when I am finished.
My colours were inspired by a drawing I found on the internet: flowers in two or three different greens on a white ground. They looked so fresh and airy and reminded me immediately of spring. Unfortunately I cannot share it here due to copyrights but I tried to copy this look using Stylecraft Special DK from my stash.
I used mainly White and Pistachio combined with Khaki and a little bit of Saffron and Tomato.
The Cal will start next Monday, 21. March 2022 and runs for 6 weeks. More information and of course also the pattern are available in Ana’s Ravelry store.
Due to the lovely holiday we had last week I am still working on the border but I hope to show you more next week!
While revising my Pattern Tests page I noticed that I still haven‘t shown my Fancy Nancy square. Shame! So I thought I would write a quick post to catch up!
Fancy Nancy is a design by Pam Knighton-Haener from a Yarn of Serendipity. I tested this pattern already in October last year.
Normally her squares are designed to use an Aran cotton yarn. I must confess not exactly my favorite yarn. At least I haven‘t found one I like to work with yet. So this time I decided to try my standard acrylic DK yarn. Just to see how it works.
I used Stylecraft Special DK in Copper, Parchment and Gold, my favorite autumn colours. I followed her colour scheme 2 and only switched the colour for the last round.
With Aran the squares should be 28 cm (11 inch) or about 30 cm (12 inch) depending on the hook size. With DK yarn my Fancy Nancy became 25 x 25 cm (about 10 inch) tall.
I am very pleased with my result although I assume a cotton yarn would work better. Pat uses a lot of trebles and double trebles in her patterns. These stitches just look better when they are blocked. Unfortunately I still have problems to block acrylic yarn properly.
Fancy Nancy Square
I started testing for Pam in September 2020 and since then had the opportunity to test four of her lovely squares. Well, five, to be correct! I just finished testing her latest design. The pattern has not been published yet, so I cannot show it. But what I can show again are the squares I have made so far.
Carter Jude SquareMargaret SquareBrood of Angels
Maybe I should get some suitable cotton yarn and make some more? One day it would make a beautiful blanket.
All of Pam’s designs are so rich in texture, they would even look great in a solid colour.
If you would like to try one of Pam’s designs just visit her Ravelry store. She also offers some of her patterns for free, have a look!
I am probably a bit late with my review of the past year, but better late than never, as we say. I have been working on a new test since the middle of December and hardly have time for anything else. Due to various circumstances the time frame to finish this test is more than sporty. It is a beautiful blanket but that’s all what I can tell you for now – it is a still a BIG secret.
Review 2021
Scrolling through my photos and thinking about the past year there were definitely some highlights. Like every year I was surprised how many there were and tried to capture them here.
One of the biggest highlights in 2021 was that I started my blog, otherwise I would not be sitting here writing this post right now. It all started last February on blogspot with “This and That – made by ELeni“. Later I decided to rework the blog completely and switch to WordPress. A decision I do not regret to this day.
Through the blog I got in touch with Ana from One Skein of Love. Now I test for her and am one of the admins of her Facebook group. As life goes!
From a crochet point of view 2021 had started with several tests for Dana from misssBerlin. It is always so much fun to create her little Dudes. In 2021 we had the The Succulent Dudes, The Suga’ Dudes, and The Carnival Treat Dude s. Unfortunately I did not manage to finish my Seashell Dudes, just as I did not finish my When Summer turns into Fall blanket.
And in between, apart from some tests for BebaBlanket, I also worked with Pam from A Yarn of Serendipity again: The Margaret Square, Brood of Angels and Fancy Nancy, which I haven‘t shown here yet.
And, oh yes, I wrote down my own pattern, my first one, published on Ravelry. That was also quite an experience!
Quite a busy year!
And of course not forgetting the short holiday that we were able to take despite the pandemic. Something very precious in times like these. And the first peach from our little peach tree. Unfortunately we could only harvest one, the others fell from the tree before they were rally ripe. But the one was so sweet and delicious!
And, after one and a half socks have been hiding in my knitting basket since the beginning of 2020, they were finally finished for Christmas. Hubby has new socks and loves them.
I am curious to see what 2022 will bring! I wish you all the best for this year!
256 rows, Pattern 1 – 14, following the Cal pattern
Border
Double border
Finished Size
114 x 148 cm
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And for those who are interested – my detailed yarn amounts
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Long overdue update, June 2024: I’ve finally redesigned the documents with my colour scheme. Please don’t be surprised that it looks a little different, the content is the same.
Part 6 is the final part of the Winter Wonderland Cal, the instructions for the border.
It is a double border that will hide all the yarn ends. If you don‘t like double borders you can of course chose another variant. In connection with the border of my Geometrics blanket, I recently wrote how I feel about it. I don’t want to repeat myself here now, only so much: I love double borders! They are a great finish for a blanket and absolutely worth the effort. At least in my opinion.
Unfortunately this time I had some difficulties with my slip stitch round. I had planned to make a two coloured border with a back layer in Lipstick and front layer in a mix of Graphite and Lipstick. So I thought a slip stitch round in red would look nice. I started my slip stitch round in Lipstick – and had to start over, and over, and over again but didn’t get it neat.
I have recently noticed that there are differences in the thickness of acrylic yarns, even within a brand. In any case, the thread of my Lipstick seemed to be thicker and this may have caused the problems. I don’t know. My solution was to switch to Silver, so that I at least had some contrast at the top and the bottom side. I need new glasses and this made it easier to identify the stitches when working the first round.
From then on, everything went smoothly. Until I finished the first round of the front layer. Ana’s way of working a double border leaves a narrow line of the slip stitch round visible right next to the border. The Silver looked good combined with the grey parts on top and bottom of the blanket but I didn’t like the look in the darker parts of the sides at all. So I started over again and simply worked through both loops on the long sides.
If you follow my colour way I would advise that you use red for the slip stitch round! If you have the same problems as I had, I’d suggest that you use Grey or Graphite but not Silver or White. But keep in mind that Grey and Graphite will be hardly visible on the top and bottom sides.
Long overdue update, June 2024: I’ve finally redesigned the documents with my colour scheme and combined the download into one document. There you will also find the total amount of yarn required. Details on the yarn consumption are listed in this post. Please don’t be surprised that the files look a little different, the content is the same.
Hooked on Häkelmaschen 